Proto:Mega Man X8/Trial Version

This is a sub-page of Proto:Mega Man X8.

This page is rather stubbly and could use some expansion. Are you a bad enough dude to rescue this article?

A Trial Version of Mega Man X8 was included in the PlayStation 2 version of Mega Man X: Command Mission.

General Differences

• The title screen has a plainly-colored background and no gear. There's also no fade or zoom.
• With the exception of the title screen shout-out, the English demo uses the Japanese sound files.
• Both L buttons are assigned to character swapping.
• Both R buttons are assigned to Double Attack.
• The character models seem to be of a lower quality and softer shading, similar to Mega Man X7.
• The portraits for conversations use art based on the character models with full brightness applied.
• There's no way to immediately terminate conversations.
• Metals make a rather subdued "plink" sound when collected.
• The AT Gauge looks a bit different and flashes, when full, instead of glowing.
• The Double Attack effect is a solid, orange-red color instead of a green, grid-textured sphere.
• If the player misses their Double Attack, the AT Gauge does not refill.
• If the player has two characters and one gets defeated, there is no way to recover the other.
• Enemies empowered by a MAME-Q (Bulbrite) have a "charge shot" animation behind them instead of a full-body energy field.
• MAME-Q units make no noise when embedding into allies.
• Bone Battons seem slightly more aggressive.
• There is no sound when a player's attack is deflected.
• The screen doesn't flash when an enemy's guard is broken.
• Metalls don't lose their guard when they pop up to chase the player.
• Moledig units don't make a charging sound when doing their charge attack.
• Moledig units don't seem to throw rocks with their charge attack.
• Spiky units don't turn around when bumping a wall. Instead, they just change textures, seemingly.
• Protectoral units completely lose their shields when their guard is broken.

Character Differences

• There is no "secondary" attack for any character - there isn't even a button for it.
• Dashing isn't instant for any character, so it's impossible to "spam" it to move faster.
• The normal jumping sound plays when a character dash-jumps.
• X's Charge Shot seems somewhat less spectacular when compared to the final game.
• X loses his charge if hit by an enemy.
• Axl's rate-of-fire seems to be half of the final game's.
• Axl does not fire blue bullets in addition to his orange-red ones.
• There is a slight delay and a swirl of energy before Axl opens fire.
• Axl doesn't have his Copy Shot ability.
• If an enemy is in the background, Zero will occasionally turn to swing toward it when attacking. This can cause him to miss.

Stage Differences

• Alia's hints are unskippable, but the only hint she provides is how to cross the gap before the first arena room (and even then, the player has to fall into the pit to trigger it).
• Before the first arena door, the MAME-Q embeds into the first Bustard unit instead of the second.
• The Bone Battons in the first arena will drop right onto the player instead of just above them.
• Enemy arenas don't give the player rewards.
• The small alcove right after the first arena isn't blocked off by a destructible rock.
• There is no Rare Metal in the alcove after the first arena.
• The Queen Bombee appears in the background when entering the Metall/Moledig area of the stage, then flies away.
• Alia doesn't tell Zero he needs to use his double jump to get to the platform just outside the second boss arena.
• There are less items in the alcove above the boss door.
• Crabs-Y's hitbox seems a little awkward and difficult to attack.
• Vile does not appear after Crabs-Y is defeated.

Unused Graphics

The demo only contains the first stage, ending after defeating the boss, but several graphics from later parts of the game are present on the disc, including textures of the three navigators and bosses like Bamboo Pandamonium and Earthrock Trilobyte.

Proto	Final

The stage select screen had Signas in the background.

Proto	Final

Proto	Final

The stage select mugshots and stage pictures are still in development, and some have provisional names:

• Kani (crab) - Crabs-Y
• Niwatori (chicken) - Burn Rooster
• Ari (ant) - Gravity Antonion
• Sanyouchuu (trilobite) - Earthrock Trilobyte

• 00 - OP stage (Opening stage, Noah's Park)
• 01 - Cyber stage (Troia Base)
• 02 - Kaiten stage (Rotation stage, Primrose)
• 03 - Sennyuu stage (Infiltration stage, Pitch Black)
• 04 - Toshi stage (City stage, Dynasty)
• 05 - Agari Sagari stage (Rise and Fall stage, Drop Dead/Inferno)
• 06 - Chaser stage (Ride Chaser stage, Central White)
• 07 - Giant robo stage (Metal Valley)
• 08 - R. Armor stage (Ride Armor stage, Booster Forest)
• 09 - Kidou elevator stage (Orbital elevator stage, Jakob)
• 10 - Sigma copy stage (Gateway)
• 11 - Sigma stage (Sigma Palace)
• Sigma
• Black Zero
• Armor X
• Ultimate

Proto	Final

The Lab. The prototype lab is near identical to the one in Central Tower's Hunter Base in Mega Man X: Command Mission, but gained a "new" appearance in the final.

Music

The few tracks that exist in the prototype have largely the same compositions as those featured in the final, but some of the instruments, notably the electric guitar chords, sound slightly different.

Proto	Final
Stage Begin Stage Clear Weapon Get

Unused Track

A track which isn't present in the final game at all, but also seems to miss the cut in the prototype as well! It sounds particularly similar to the "Ranking" theme used upon completing a level in the final. The actual Ranking theme is used on the "Thank you for playing" screen in the proto, however, rendering this track redundant.