OK, first off we have the most exciting pictures that I found: Early shots of Rockman 3!
The text below is the standard info about the game, but one very interesting point is that the 3 forms your robotic dog, Rush, could take were 1) a coil 2) a submarine and 3) a drill!!! The last one seems quite unique and different. Someone pointed out that perhaps the points in the stages where Protoman/Blues normally shows up would have been where Rockman would have to drill using Rush.
Ooh... look at those planets! Of course, this is Gemini Man's stage. The planets were taken out of the level design, but their character tiles are still in the CHR ROM of the final release of the game, and the palette still cycles as though they were there, glowing. Some of the planet CHR tiles were taken out as they needed space for the robotic penguins. It's just as well -- these planets don't look up to Capcom's standards anyway.
The robotic snake is more metallic here, as opposed to the scaly one in the final. The floor doesn't seem to move yet.
Now, Top Man's stage looks really interesting! Those look like guard towers and a city in the background. I think it looks much better than just the boring old greenhouse backdrop of the final.
Ankoku Densetsu looks a little different here. On the first stage, the sky is blue, and the 2nd level's design looks a little different.
Here's an unreleased game starring Kimba, the hero of an old (but now famous) Japanese animation.
I really like the blue vases in this early shot of ChouMakaiMura. Too bad they were taken out. (And the red clouds (?) in the background look good too.)
Here is Legend of Hero Tonma for the Famicom. Irem did a switcheroo with Famicom and PC-Engine releases. Hero Tonma didn't get released on the Famicom, but came out on the PCE instead. And, the PCE version of MeikyuuJima (Kickle Cubicle) wasn't released. Instead, the Famicom version was. Weird.
Here's an early version of that great game, Jerry Boy. The graphics are more realistic, less cutesy. Who knows? I think both versions look cool.
