Proto:Mega Man's Soccer

This page details one or more prototype versions of Mega Man's Soccer.

A Japanese sample version of Rockman's Soccer was found and dumped by C. Davis and released on March 25th, 2024. While close to the final game, this prototype has a few features that were curiously deleted before release.

Download Rockman's Soccer (Sample) File: Rockman's Soccer (Sample).zip (1536 KB) (info)

Title Screen

Prototype	Final

• The giant "SAMPLE VERSION" text was obviously removed when the game was finished.
• The game title has no registered trademark symbol.
• The Capcom copyright tag lists the year of copyright and is written out using the game's smaller font. This is overwritten by other text when the main menu pops up, which is why it was replaced by a graphic.

Prototype	Final

• In the final game, the background fades when the main menu pops up.
• "Capcom World Cup" was changed to "Capcom Championship" in the final game, possibly to avoid a legal dispute with FIFA.

Prototype	Final

• The most substantial difference: Exhibitions matches let up to 4 people play at once through an SNES Multitap! This feature was removed from the final release, only allowing two players, though there are some leftovers in the code.

If no Multitap is present, the options are grayed out.

• All other modes only allow 2 players max in both the prototype and final release.

• Fading to the Options menu blacks out the soccer ball sprite in the game's logo. This was fixed to properly fade out in the final game.

Options

Prototype	Final

• The "OPTION MODE" header is in white instead of yellow.
• The game lists all 4 players in Key Config, even if there's no Multitap detected. However, controls cannot be adjusted in the prototype yet.
• In the prototype, the "TIME" can be set to up to 60 minutes! In the final game, this setting maxes out at 10 minutes.
• There's only one Super Shoot option in the prototype, while the final game allows it to be se for either 1P or 2P.
• There's no Keeper option in the prototype. It's always set to Automatic.

Password

Prototype	Final

• The border graphics and grid are both brighter in the prototype.
• The prototype password screen is completely textless.
• There's no credits easter egg in the prototype. There's an early set of credits in the ROM at 0x07731 in the ROM, but it hasn't been formatted for in-game use yet:

Prototype

Final

ROCKMANS(MEGAMANS)SOCCER = STAFF = <GAME DESIGN> YATSUHOU RED MINAMI <MAIN PROGRAM> KWAERU.T <SUB PROGRAM> MINK.M <GUEST PROGRAM> GERO <PROGRAM SURPORT> KOBA <GRAPHICS> 7854 ORI-CHAN MARIO-CHAN SUMIRE Q-CHAN KANIBLAST RAKKASEI-ONDO YOSHIMI SASAJIMA OKAAA-CHAN OBJ-KAKARICYOH <SOUND PROGRAM> TOMIZAWA <SOUND> OKAMOTO TOMIZAWA NORIRIN <SPECIAL THANKS> HITOMI-SAN MAKINO-SAN KWA-CHAN SASA-CHAN IWA-CHAN TANIYAN <DIRECTOR> YAKUZA! <PRODUSE> PROFESSOR F

ROCKMANS(MEGAMANS)SOCCER = STAFF = (GAME DESIGN) YATSUHOU RED MICKEY (MAIN PROGRAM) KWAERU.T (SUB PROGRAM) MINK.M (GUEST PROGRAM) GERO (PROGRAM SURPORT) KOBA (GRAPHICS) 7852 ORI-CHAN MARIO-CHAN SUMIRE Q-CHAN MATABICHI RAKKASEI-ONDO YOSHIMI KAORU OKAAA-CHAN PATRIOT-YAMAZOO (SOUND PROGRAM) TOMI (SOUND) OKA TOMI NORIRIN (SPECIAL THANKS) HITOMI-SAN MAKINO-SAN KWA-CHAN SASA-CHAN IWA-CHAN NAO (DIRECTOR) YACCYAN! (PRODUSER) PROFESSOR F THANK YOU

Gameplay

General

• In the prototype, each match only has a single half. The final game implements proper Soccer games with two halves each.
• There's no limit to the amount of Super Shots that either player can do other than the cooldown timer (336 frames, or 5.6 seconds); the setting in the Options menu doesn't do anything yet.

• As mentioned above, up to 4 players can play in Exhibition matches. The 3P and 4P markers seen here are unused in the final game.

• All players have the same listed stats of 40/62/160/160. This isn't just a display issue: All players really do have the same stats, as can be seen in the table at 40000 in the ROM. Editing the stat table reveals that stats work exactly as they do in the final game.
• Dr. Wily is in the Member Select but cannot be selected, and the bugged unlock method from the final game hasn't been implemented yet.

Capcom Championship

This mode plays out identically to the final game until the player beats Dr. Wily. In the final version, the game resets back to the title screen after defeating Dr. Wily. However, the prototype actually implements an early version of the dummied-out ending hidden in the final game:

• First, the standard "enemy joins the player's team" cutscene plays, only with Dr. Wily. This was later revised into a unique cutscene where Dr. Wily grovels, then runs away when his base starts falling apart.

• Next, the password screen appears. This is a valid password that, when entered, will warp straight to the game's ending.
• Then, the scene of Proto Man on the cliff plays.
• In the final game's unused ending, the cutscene of Dr. Wily's base exploding plays after that. That cutscene doesn't play in the prototype and may not have been programmed in yet.
• Finally, the character list screen plays, followed by the "Presented by Capcom" still with Beat. The only way out in either version is to reset the game.

Unused Graphics

A chunk of unused graphics, mostly text, can be found at 0x034200 (First image, 4BPP) and 0x036B60 (Second image, 2BPP) in the game ROM. These are from the 1993 baseball game Super Kyuukyoku Harikiri Stadium: Text from the first image includes "Pennant Race", "Tournament", "File Select", "Nihon Series" and "World Series".

(Source: Original TCRF research)