Early version of Mega Man 64

In May of 2000, another show at E3 was running. Mega Man made an appearance at the show, in his very first game for the Nintendo 64. While it was no more than a port of Mega Man Legends for the PlayStation, it was the first time N64 gamers who were waiting for Mega Man's appearance on the N64 got to play a Mega Man game for the platform. Later that year, Spaceworld 2000 was open and Capcom allowed players to preview a different version of Mega Man 64, this time with some effort put into it. It was the Japanese version at both shows, but everyone was able to check out how the game was progressing. This early version had some differences that never made it to the final version, and weren't in the PlayStation version either.

Shots show Mega Man battling against the Servbots in their tanks, and the Feldinaught. This early version from May was shown at E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo), and it looks very similar to the final version, and had almost no differences between the PS1 version. The Anti-Aliasing was added, so the ground is smooth without pixels, and the edges on Mega Man don't show any tearing. However, the colors here look darker, and bland. Also, you can look through Mega Man's energy meter (The black bar in the meter was removed). For the Feldinaught battle, the draw-ins in the distance aren't quite that bad in the final version. These early shots appear on the back of the Mega Man 64 box.

Version #2, October 2000:

Things are starting to improve a little. Still similar to the final version and the previous version. The black bar in Mega Man's energy meter is in, and it's staying. The draw-in is slightly improved here, however there's still a bit more fog than the final version.

Version #3, December 2000:

Version 3 of Mega Man 64 was featured at Spaceworld 2000. This time, Capcom starting to make a few changes, both downgrading and upgrading.

This final early version was probably the best out the three. Capcom released a press release for Mega Man 64, saying:

Analog Control and Rumle Pak compatible

Re-designed and condensed play field for tighter gameplay.

Re-designed enemy placement.

Time-Attack event available in multiple areas

Nintendo 64 power delivers smooth gameplay, and less polygon glitches.

Capcom actually put some effort into this version, including features that PlayStation version didn't have. The game was both upgraded, and downgraded. This versions upgrades included full analog control, made full use of the Rumble Pak, Time-Attack event being in multipule areas, and less polygon glitching (Pixels and polygon tears, which the Anti-Aliasing fixed, and no objects fading when Mega Man is infront of something). The colors in this version were also noticeably improved over the E3 versions, now brighter and more rich. The downgrades, however, were the play field was smaller, and the enemies were placed in different locations. However, doing these downgrades improved the framerate and drawins. The framerate was greatly improved over the E3 versions.

This was the final early version. All games have changes before they get released, so what's different in the final version than the last early version that was released only a month before the final version?

Final version, January 2001:

Mega Man 64 is finally released in early January of 2001. It appears Capcom made some last minute changes, and the final version looks almost nothing like the last early version. Actually, the final version is a mixture of the 2nd and last early versions. Here's what's included:

The control stick can be used, but it doesn't have analog control.

The Rumble Pak is used, but it Rumbles less than the 3rd version.

The black bar was kept.

The draw-in is nearly identical to the 2nd version, but is slightly improved in the final version.

Anti-Aliasing was used in all 3 early versions, and has been kept in the final version. However, unlike the 3rd version, objects that are in front of Mega Man still fade.

The Time Attack is still only available in 1 area like the first two versions, and the PS1 version.

The colors are brighter and more rich than the first two versions, however, a very slight downgrade when compared to the 3rd early version.

The play field isn't smaller anymore, so you get the original play field. This is good, but the framerate doesn't come close to being as consitent as the 3rd early version.

The original enemy placement was kept, rather than the new one.