Mega Man 7

Mega Man 7
Also known as: Rockman 7: Shukumei no Taiketsu! (JP) Developers: Capcom, unknown external company (Minakuchi Engineering?) Publishers: Capcom (JP/US), Laguna (EU) Platform: SNES Released in JP: March 24, 1995 Released in US: September 1, 1995 Released in EU: November 20, 1995 This game has unused objects. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused items. This game has unused abilities. This game has debugging material. This game has a hidden sound test. This game has regional differences. This game has revisional differences. This game has a prototype article

Dr. Willy has escaped from prison, thanks to some robots he stashed away for just such an occasion! At least in Mega Man 7, they don't even try to pretend the main villain is someone other than Dr. Wily...

Due to “Bad Timing” on part of the dev team, the game was only in development for three months before it was released.

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Prototype Info

Sound Test

Code C0062004 (C0062804 for the Japanese version) will load a sound test after the Capcom logo. The cursor used to choose between sound effects and music is invisible.

Object Viewer

Code C0062002 (C0062802 for the Japanese version) will load a fairly complex object viewer after the Capcom logo. Controls are as follows:

• Left / Right – Cycle through object animations.
• A + D-Pad – Move object around.
• B + Up or Down – Cycle through objects.
• X + D-Pad – Flip object horizontally or vertically.
• Y – Play current animation.
• D-Pad (2P) – Move cursor.
• Y + Left or Right (2P) – Change width of cursor.
• Y + Up or Down (2P) – Change length of cursor.

Unused Beat Weapon

Setting 7E0B9D to FF will allow you to select an unimplemented weapon, Beat, from the weapons subscreen. Beat will take the Super Adapter's place on the subscreen. Its icon has been removed from the game, however, replaced with a green M.

This picture of the Rockman 7 prototype shows the removed icon. Note also that its position in the final matches its position in the prototype, while the B. Shield and S. Adapter have been moved around.

Unfortunately, in both versions, the weapon is completely unimplemented. Most likely, the Beat weapon would have acted like it did in Mega Man 5 and 6, with Beat flying into enemies while still allowing you to shoot your buster (but not charge it). In 7, the buster behavior is the same, but Beat will never appear to attack enemies, making it pretty much worthless.

This weapon was replaced some time in the game's development with the Beat Whistle, an item that lets you escape from bottomless pits.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

1P and 2P Cursors

Object Viewer ID #2C, Animations 01-02

Variants of the stage select cursor that aren't present at all in the prototype. There is a 2P mode in the game, but it's a fighting game and the character selection uses no cursor. There might have been plans for a cooperative version of the main game.

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Weapon Icons

Unused	Pause Menu

Located at $1958E0 are unused weapon icons. They use the palette from the currently loaded weapon, except for the Rush Items which use the 'common' palette which is always loaded in VRAM for things like life/weapon drops, HUD, explosions, etc. This might suggest that at one point weapon icons would be displayed on the weapon bar, in the same manner as in the Mega Man X series. These unused icons don't actually match the weapon bar, but they do match the style in the pause menu. The weapon icons in the pause menu use a single palette, except for Rush Search which uses a copy of the 'common' palette.

Unused Objects and Animations

Mega Man

Mega Man doing... something. Possibly meant for a cutscene.

Mega Man has a throwing animation, similar to many weapons from games before it such as the Metal Blade. This being present possibly means the lineup of weapons could've changed drastically.

A bunch of sprites for varying purposes in the intro stage's car ride. Not much to say about it.

Burst Man

Object Viewer ID #0C, Animation 06

This animation of Burst Man never appears in-game. Perhaps he was meant to shoot bombs out from his head?

Junk Man

Object Viewer #32, Animations 04-07

There are variants of the spinning drums found in Junk Man's stage.

There are four different versions of the drum, and only the two smaller ones appear in the stage.

Bunby Met

Object Viewer ID #35, Animations 00-14

This object's graphics were removed from the final version. However, the prototype still has them.

Probably meant for the intro stage, where they would come in from the background after Dr. Wily escaped from prison.

After dropping off the Mets, they'd retract their arms and fly off. Even in the prototype version, this object isn't used, however.

Rubble graphics also appear in this object pack.

The prototype includes the sprite assembly data, but the animation data wasn't quite finished yet, only going up to 0A. The final's data matches exactly what was in the prototype, just with the completed animation data added in, now going up to 14. Porting the completed animation data to the prototype (or alternatively, inserting the removed compressed graphics back to the final game) makes viewing these additional animations possible.

Animations 0B-0D

Here we have the Mets after being dropped off.

Animations 0E-10

These are the propellers for the Bunby Tops.

Animations 11-14

And lastly, 4 different colored explosions.

Time Bomb Platforms

Object Viewer ID #3B, Animations 00-07, 0B-10

A whopping seven variants of the floating Time Bomb platform are unused in the game. The only version that's used is the 4-count platform moving right. The left-moving versions aren't used at all.

Wily Saucer

Object Viewer ID #47, Animations 01-02

These two larger versions of the escaping Wily Saucer aren't used in the final but were used in the prototype.

Bass

Object Viewer ID #4A, Animations 19-1A

Bass talking and standing upright while in his Treble fusion state. He never gets a chance to do this.

Bass standing upright in his Treble fusion state.

Shade Man Objects

Object Viewer ID #4F, Animation 05

An odd object found in the same pack as the other Shade Man projectiles. Might have been meant to appear around Mega Man while petrified.

Eddie

Object Viewer ID #57, Animation 01

Eddie standing still. He constantly rocks back and forth in-game.

Dr. Light

Object Viewer ID #74, Animation 07

Dr. Light talking while pointing. Looks rather strange, which is probably why it wasn't used.

Hyper Bolt

Object Viewer ID #86, Animation 0E

An odd image of the Hyper Bolt found with the rest of the graphics in Big Eddie's.

The black lines in the image fit perfectly with the Bolt counter in Auto's shop. Was this used for free items?

Huge Weapon Capsule

Object Viewer ID #8D, Animation 01

Definitely meant to be something that could be found with Rush Search, but none are placed in-game.

The item is fully functional, though, and acts like an instant W-Tank (similar to how the huge energy capsule acts like an instant E-Tank). It can be placed in-game by setting 7E19CA to 1F and 7E19CB to 0B. This will take the place of the first item on-screen.

Dr. Wily Cutscene

Dr. Wily is only seen from the chest up while he's hovering over Earth menacingly in the intro. Removing layers while this is happening shows unused portions of his body that reveals he has some rather... odd proportions. Incidentally, Dr. Wily was erroneously referred to as "Dr. Willy" in the opening cutscene. This is one of two errors that were left unchanged in Mega Man Legacy Collection 2.

(Source: Sprites, Inc.)

Unknown Item

Object Viewer ID #8D, Animation 06

Another item that never appears in the game. Perhaps this acted like an instant S-Tank?

(Source: Original TCRF research)

Regional Differences

Opening

The Japanese intro listed the previous six games with their release years. Mega Man 10 would do the same thing fifteen years later.

Title Screen

Japan	International

Just like all other Mega Man sequels before it, the subtitle was removed in the localization. In Japan, the full title is Rockman 7: Shukumei no Taiketsu! (宿命の対決!, lit. "Showdown of Destiny!").

Boss Select

The boss introduction scenes have small flavor text in the Japanese version:

Stage	Text
Freeze Man	DON'T SLIP!
Junk Man	FORGOTTEN FACTORY
Burst Man	BOMB BOMBER BOMBEST
Cloud Man	WATCH YOUR STEP
Spring Man	BOYOYON PARADISE
Slash Man	JURASSIC JUNGLE
Shade Man	MYSTERY! THE HORROR
Turbo Man	CHAMP OF THE ROADS

Weapon Get Cutscenes

To do: Provide full Japanese-English translations for all sixteen of Roll and Auto's dialogues.

In the Japanese version, Roll or Auto may replace Dr. Light in the scenes explaining the abilities of the Special Weapon obtained, each with their own humorous response.

(Source: Rockman Perfect Memories)

Weapon Names

Four of the weapons have slightly different names:

Japan	International
Thunder Strike	Thunder Bolt
Crush Noise	Noise Crush
Burning Wheel	Scorch Wheel
Blues Shield	Proto Shield

Ending

Japan	International

There is a slight change to the ending. In the Japanese version, after Dr. Wily tells Rockman that robots cannot harm humans, Rockman stops charging his Buster and remains silent. In the English translation, the silence is replaced by a threat to kill Wily, although the text speed was not changed.

Revisional Differences

• For obvious copyright reasons, the version of the game emulated in Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 removes both the Famicoms in the background of Junk Man's stage and the Game Boy that can sometimes be dug up with the Rush Search. These changes were not reverted for the Nintendo Switch release.

Original	Mega Man Legacy Collection 2

• During the ending, there's a typo in the original English script, where Mega Man says, "I don't trust you, Wily! I gonna do what I should have done years ago!!" This was fixed in the Mega Man Legacy Collection 2 where his line is, "I don't trust you, Wily! I'm gonna do what I should have done years ago!!"
• In the original English script, Bass utters "damn" in Shade Man's stage. However, in both Mega Man Anniversary Collection and Mega Man Legacy Collection 2, he says "darn".
• Due to problems with emulating the SNES's Mode 7 capabilities, the closing movie animation, up to and including the "cast photo" scene, is not shown in the Mega Man Anniversary Collection. The Robot Master design credits are all shown right after the sound composer credits, while in the original SNES version, they were scattered throughout the list. Bass and Treble's names still appear during the credits.
• In the GameCube version of Anniversary Collection, the music is awkwardly slower than the original's, probably due to emulation issues. This is not present in the PlayStation 2 version, however.