Here's a random proto track and an newly-ripped E3 trailer (@60FPS) from Mega Man X5

Three months!? Gosh, I've been out for a while.

I've been in the mood for prototype/unreleased games again lately. This time, I've taken a listening to a track I've ripped and uploaded on YouTube a year ago, from a prototype version of Mega Man X5 dated May 1, 2000.

The biggest difference to note about this track is in the middle. The first fifty seconds are consistent to the final version, but after that the main verse (or bridge, whatever's the right term for it) becomes different. If you ask me, this version emits the vastness of space much more than the final one (though the stage actually takes place in a planetarium, surprise suprise). Out of all the tracks in the proto, this one is my favorite.

The prototype itself contains a large number of rudimentary elements indicative of its progression into it's final form, all of which you can find them documented at the Cutting Room Floor. The US preview trailer, unveiled at E3 2000 convention in Los Angeles, CA that year, appears to be from this build of the game.

If you want to see the whole VHS rip in it's entirety, you can find it here and reminisce about the old days when Mega Man (and Capcom) was a bigger brand than it is today. 

Song Similarities #1: Sonic CD and Slam Dunk

Ever watch a show or a movie and notice a song in the background you thought sounded remarkably familiar to another song you've heard elsewhere before? I have. Which is why I made the unoriginally-titled Song Similarities. I'm sorry.

Inspired by the Sonic Retro forum's "This Song Sounds Like X" thread, I've began making a short clip, of hopefully several to come, that highlights interesting similarities between a pair of songs that strike me as strong coincidences that particularly resonate with me.

Now, one thing Id like to note. I'm not trying to persuading my audience that "OMG (insert artist) must have done music for (insert IP), this is like MJ/Sonic 3 all over again!" I am just simply creating these videos of what I find are trivially interesting that I nonetheless feel would be worthy of bringing up

In this specific comparison, a BGM from one scene in episode 22 of the hit anime Slam Dunk features a melody structure that sounds quite similar to the present version of the level Tidal Tempest Zone from the popular game Sonic CD. Yes, it may seem like a generic beat today but one of the

Sonic CD came out in Japan on September 23, 1993, while the Slam Dunk episode aired on TV Asahi in Japan on April 16, 1994. Any possible referencing, if at all, would have to have occurred after the game's Japanese release.