contest, Capcom prepared drawings showing basic shapes for entrants to base their designs on, such as a bipedal top-heavy base with two heads; three of the final designs (Sword Man, Clown Man, and Search Man) were based on these. Ishikawa recounted, "The submissions we'd get for the boss characters were absolutely brimming with the youthful imagination of kids. I still remember how everyone had permanent smiles painted on their faces as we looked at each and every one of the submissions that came through." Tengu Man and Astro Man had already been designed by Capcom prior to the contest. The musical score for Mega Man 8 was composed by Shusaku Uchiyama. It was the first project at Capcom that Uchiyama led himself. The Japanese version of the game features the J-pop vocal opening theme "Electrical Communication" and the ending theme "Brand New Way" by the group Ganasia. Mega Man 8 was released in Japan on the PlayStation on December 17, 1996 and the Sega Saturn on January 17, 1997. Sony initially rejected the North American PlayStation release due to the push for 3D graphics on the market at the time, but seeing that their then-competitor Saturn was soon getting its own version of the game, Sony decided to approve it on the condition that it have exclusive content so as not to give an advantage to Sega, resulting in the first editions being enclosed with a collector's 12-page full-color anthology booklet to commemorate the series' 10th anniversary. The two versions of the game, however, are not identical. The Saturn version has two added bosses from previous Mega Man games and a bonus mode with official and fan artwork, voice and music tests, and a secret animation test for the cutscenes. Music tracks slightly differ in arrangement between the PlayStation and Saturn versions, two remixes were added for the extra bosses, and Tengu Man's stage music is completely different between versions. Numerous pieces of merchandise were made available for purchase in Japan alongside the game including action figures, gashapon toys, stationary, vinyl records, and furniture. A 43-track disc containing the instrumental music was released by Team Entertainment later in 2007. Mega Man 8 was published in North America by Capcom on both the PlayStation and Sega Saturn, with the PlayStation version releasing in January 1997 and the Saturn release following two months later. In Europe, the game was supposed to be