If you're a keen Mega Man Legends fanatic, you might get a kick out of this. Here's some new (albeit short) footage of Mega Man Neo, the temporary title given to Mega Man Legends during its early development. The footage comes from Consoles News' VHS E3 1997 coverage. You'll have to forgive the quality; they recorded everything off-screen.
So, what are we dealing with here? For starters, the footage shows the beta version of HUD in action. The mysterious "L. Arm" gauge" visibly corresponds with the firing rate of the Mega Buster. The gauge fills at 00:24 and diminishes with each subsequent shot. This feature was removed in the final version.
When Mega Man is hit, the HUD trembles! You can see this at 00:14 and again at 00:23. Take too much damage, and the HUD even throws up a "WARNING!" message at the bottom of the screen. "NOW RECOVERING" is also prominent. Perhaps Mega Man Neo placed a larger emphasis on regenerating health?
A little hard to make out, but some aspects of the ruins are different. We've got a few unused textures here and there and that thing at 00:20. The barrier generator? Bulkier than the final version... and it has a face? Creepy.
I've always been fascinated by Mega Man Neo. Next to the famous "white city" version of Mega Man X, this is one beta I'd love to get my hands on. Until then? Well, we can always admire the images and videos.
More footage from this particular MMNeo build can be seen here.
I've never seen that white city picture before. I think I like it better than green!
ReplyDeleteSaid it before and i'll say it again, God I love being a...no, god I love this beta prototype stuff. =P
ReplyDeleteAgreeing with MegaMac, I've always loved beta stuff too.
ReplyDeleteHaha, this HUD makes Volnutt seem like The Terminator almost.
Interesting. So the time Mega takes to fire his buster again after shooting was shown in the HUD, and I assume the "Warning" and "Now Recovering" was an early version of the "Life Shield"?
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