Mega Man 7

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...

The game heavily relies on the Mega Man X engine from the SNES. Due to the strict schedule Capcom was on, the game was only in development for three months before it was released.

Sub-Pages#

Prototype Info Prerelease Info Notes

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.

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.

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 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.

Unknown Item#

Object Viewer ID #8D, Animation 06

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

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.

This screen is shown when starting the US or Japanese version of the game on a PAL system. You're still allowed to play a single level either by starting a new game or using a password, but when you exit the level the game will reset. This was not yet added in the prototype and was removed in the European release (though the text remains in the ROM, unaltered).

Title Screen#

Japan	International	Mega Man Anniversary Collection

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:

Weapon Get Cutscenes#

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

Roll#

Rightot (Auto)#

Weapon Names#

Four of the weapons have slightly different names:

Curiously, in the International releases of the arcade game, Mega Man: The Power Battle, the first 3 weapons kept their Japanese names. (Proto Shield doesn't exist as a weapon in that game.)

Ending#

Japan	International

Possibly one of the most infamous localization changes in gaming happened to Mega Man's final line in the game. 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, Mega Man instead claims he is "more than a robot" before directly threatening to kill Wily. Not only is this new line wildly out of character compared to pretty much all depictions of the character, it by extension makes Bass' final line ("Too late, Megaman. He who hesitates is lost. We shall return.") make a lot less sense, as Mega Man clearly wasn't hesitating like Rockman was in the Japanese script. The cutscene data was not changed either, so Mega Man still puts away his buster and talks slowly during the threat.

Revisional Differences#

• Presumably for 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. Interestingly, the platforms designed to look like Famicom controllers later in the stage weren't altered, likely because the resemblance is much harder to notice.

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".

The entire credits sequence was heavily neutered in Mega Man Anniversary Collection, possibly due to issues emulating some graphical effects used in the original SNES version. All graphics, including the Robot Masters and the final cast photo scene, were removed and replaced with simple scrolling text on a black background. The Robot Master designer credits were consolidated and placed between the sound composer and special thanks sections, and Bass and Treble are still (rather awkwardly) mentioned between the special thanks and the "AND CAPCOM ALL STAFF" message.

• The Anniversary Collection title screen removes the sound option.
• 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.
• When Wily's Capsule explodes after beating the final boss, the white flash that appears is noticeably shorter in both Mega Man Anniversary Collection and Mega Man Legacy Collection 2. A white flash is also absent in the latter, during the ending when Wily's Castle bursts into flames, making the transition less seamless.

Anti-Piracy#

When an enemy is shot with the Mega Buster, the game does a test write to SRAM, which isn't present on the retail cartridge but commonly found on devices running copies of games, such as a cartridge copier. Successful writes are counted at $1FEC and once the counter reaches 128, Mega Man's movement will be completely randomized in all directions even if the player does not press anything, and he'll fall through the floor when teleporting in at the start of a level, effectively softlocking the game.

Game Genie code 6DBB-7D0A or PAR code C39091:80 will make this measure active. Alternatively, use Game Genie code 6DF3-A7D7 to immediately activate this effect without having to shoot 128 enemies.

Region Error#

If the game detects it was an NTSC copy inserted into a PAL system, it will briefly display the above message on boot. Additionally, if you complete a stage, the same message will appear and the game will restart shortly after, denying any further progression. Notice that "game pak" is misspelled as "game pack." This measure is also present in the SNES Mega Man X games.

This check is only implemented in the Japanese and American versions of the game; the European version of this game does not have this check. The text for the region error still exists in the European version though at 0xE75B, unchanged from the international versions.

Demo Recording Functionality#

Another set of routines that try to write to SRAM are the ones used to record the demo seen after the game's opening. They are still in the ROM and would write the player's progress such as levels beaten and items collected before recording the player's input. As stated, this wouldn't work on the retail cartridge since it lacks SRAM, but would be fine on the development hardware.

References#