With a bit of help from "a certain cat", I've managed to secure a handful of never-publicly-released materials from Mega Man Universe – Capcom's ill-fated Mega Man 2-inspired "Mega Man Maker" project that was axed in early 2011. My findings will be released gradually over time... but today, I'm happy to kick things off with a real treat.
For your consideration, we present to you Mega Man Universe's unreleased soundtrack (MP3 only) AND previously unseen official artwork of every MMU-style Mega Man 2 Robot Master! (illustrated by none other than Kimo Kimo). Hit the jump below and treat yourself!
The soundtrack, composed between late 2009 to 2010 by unnamed members of Capcom's internal sound team (i.e NOT "The Megas"), spans 16 tracks. It's mostly comprised of rock-based Mega Man 2 arrangements and one piece from Mega Man 1: Guts Man. His theme is jazz/swing.
Three tracks – "Metamorphosis", "Metamorphosis 2" and "Time Again" – were actually released in 2012 as part of the We are ROCK-MEN! 2 album. They were dubbed "original tracks" back then but now we know what they were composed for: Mega Man Universe itself. Note that "Time Again" is not included in the Soundcloud playlist. It's included in the download links below.
You might have heard a couple of these pieces from early Mega Man Universe trailers back in the day. Make no mistake, though: this is the first time MANY of these pieces have been heard outside of Capcom's hallowed halls. Please note that some MM2 tracks are missing. It's assumed that they were not completed before Mega Man Universe was cancelled mid-development.
Here are a some download options for ya:
Below, you'll find a batch of never-before-released Robot Master artwork. Each one comes with an image of their respective stage (some of which we've never seen before). The images are small, yes. Nothing I can do about it; that's about as big as I was able to obtain. Note that Bubble Man's image is a little different from the rest. There's a reason for that. You'll find out in a future post!
So there you have it. Mega Man Universe's elusive soundtrack is now public and we have a MUCH better idea of what the game's MM2 Robot Master cast looked like (previously shrouded in mystery). If you enjoyed these lost artifacts, I have quite a bit more on Mega Man Universe to share soon. I have details and images of:
- Mega Man and Roll's LOST SISTERS
- Why Mega Man Universe was actually cancelled
- Unproduced iOS and Wii versions
- And more!
Stay tuned, everyone!
Yup. Those are some weird looking versions of the MM2 bosses.
ReplyDeleteI've been wanting the soundtrack even after the game was cancelled.
Ahhhh, the memories. I do remember I was so pissed off at this game because it came in a time Megaman series was almost dead, breathing only with collections and minor releases. Actually, when this game was cancelled, I was not sad at all. I could care less about this game; besides, I thought, "oh, at least there is still Legends 3 and Rockman Online on the way". Poor me :(
ReplyDelete"Why Mega Man Universe was actually cancelled"
ReplyDeleteYou have my attention. :o
Thank you for sharing this, Protodude and mysterious cat person!
ReplyDeleteProtodude,Are you sure that hope Mega Man Universe wasn't cancelled for a stupid reason?
ReplyDeleteOh Protodude, you beautiful beast. Or maybe the cat is the beautiful beast... Either way, thanks for sharing, I'm looking forward to seeing more!
ReplyDeleteIs there a zip containing all sound files at once?
ReplyDeleteClick download all on the drive or dropbox it zips them
DeleteWow, this is some really exciting stuff! As somebody who honestly wanted Mega Man Universe back in the day since I had only JUST gotten into the series back in 2008, I thought it was such a shame that we never got it. Thanks for your diligence and shoutouts to the source!
ReplyDeletewere these song covers by the megas?
ReplyDeleteThis post specifically says these are NOT by The Megas.
DeleteHonestly, this kind of musicianship is way above anything The Megas could accomplish.
Quote from the post:
Delete"The soundtrack, composed between late 2009 to 2010 by unnamed members of Capcom's internal sound team (i.e NOT "The Megas"), spans 16 tracks."
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING THIS!
ReplyDelete"Mega Man and Roll's LOST SISTERS"
ReplyDelete… go on?
So, this is some really neat stuff, here. The soundtrack is a bit generic and nothing that hasn't been done, before… but, hey. It's still a piece of a puzzle with missing pieces.
Now, if we could only find an E3 or TGS build…
For those wondering (yes, all two of you), no, I'm not banned.
DeleteGoogle/Blogger is just silly about how it handles old, deleted user icons.
what does it mean by "Unproduced iOS and Wii versions"?
DeleteHow long have you been holding onto this news?
ReplyDeleteA cat huh... lol.
ReplyDeleteBut man! Say what you will about the robot master designs, the stage and enemy designs really look cool!
And with the way the game was structured, being able to play using an alternate set of designs for Rock and the robot masters that are closer to the traditional series aesthetic would have been a cool option!
Ah, and one last note from me:
ReplyDeleteThese arranges are seriously, seriously cool. It's as good as the arranges we got for stuff like the latter Complete Works games. Their in-house bands were really solid.
It's a shame Capcom's sound directors moved toward a more generic, commercially-appealing arrangement style for a lot of their games. Electronic is cool, but the mixing just doesn't bring out how good some of the compositions can be. (It's something you can hear in even Megaman 11, especially when compared to the piano DLC.)
Thank you for sharing this! The arranged tracks are actually great.
ReplyDeleteStill not a fan of the noodle-person art style (Heat Man looks like he was drawn by a Kindergartener), but I'm really interested in what's to come.
Revive Megaman unlimited. Wish we got this game so we could all keep megaman alive through the level creator. But make it inspired by every megaman game, not just 2. Man I wish this game released all the way back then.
ReplyDeleteOh man, this is some cool stuff! :D Lost sisters, you say?..
ReplyDelete(I'm also not too surprised that the 2011 earthquake wasn't the real reason MMU was canned. I just hope it was still a legitimate reason and not "hey, let's use this disaster as a convenient excuse"...)
@Protodude Are you sure this is the entire soundtrack? If I recall, one of the trailers featured an arranged version of Spark Man's theme, which I ended up ripping from the video years ago (although, it sounds incomplete.)
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've been told, this is everything that was completed before it was cancelled. The Spark Man theme you speak of actually WAS from The Megas used just in the trailer
DeleteFrom the ign trailer, you could hear the stage select theme which is also from the megas.
DeleteBTW, I can't wait to hear the real info regretting on how it was cancelled, because people always believe it was either the earthquake or negative feedback regrading the game's artstyle. Care to give me a hint about it?
Ah, so The Megas did do something lol. I see.....well thank you for confirming that!
DeleteGreat music. I always loved the idea of an official Mega Man Maker (though the fan-made one is so good I don't think we'd ever need an official one at this point), but the art style of Universe is just sooo bad. I'm sure some people dig it, but it really prevented me from ever being able to be excited for this game.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this with us Brian, as well as thanks to your leaker. This is extremely special, and I can’t wait to hear more about this game and it’s cancelation. I was about 10-11 years old when this game was announced, and an avid reader of the Mega Man Network. Imagine my shock when it was canceled. It’s always haunted me as a “what if” to see it released. I feel like I got a little closer today by listing to this OST. Thank you so much
ReplyDeleteAs nice as it may be for these things to have been unearthed and shared with the public, I still don't miss this game in the least, even eight years later.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to see this stuff come to light. I'm in the minority in being someone that was actually really looking forward to this game back when it was in development. I remember a lot of people kept talking badly about it, and then there was a good portion that even celebrated its cancellation. I always felt a bit alienated by the way people acted about this game, though I think a lot of people changed their tune after Legends 3 was also cancelled. This was the Mega Man game I was looking forward to the most and I'm always going to be disheartened about what could have been, especially in a post Super Mario Maker world.
ReplyDeletedont tell me.... you have info for MML 3 too?
ReplyDeleteI wish the reportedly finished Maverick Hunter X2 music would get released.
ReplyDeleteWas this ever followed up? Unless I missed it, I don't see the other articles that were promised initially such as the cancellation reason and other info that was teased.
ReplyDeleteNot yet. Additional work is being done. Just a little longer...
DeleteThank you for confirming that it's still in progress. I've been looking forward to this story. I appreciate the work you've done.
Delete