Mega Man X3

"Play the SNES version"

This is quite an interesting game to talk about when talking about the Mega Man fan community. Mega Man X3 is a game that is generally considered great by fans that have got a chance to play it. The reason being? It's rare; this is one hard to find Mega Man game. There is more than one version of this game. While it was originally released on the Super Nintendo there was also a version released a short while later that is even more rare.
This version of the game a pretty spread out release, as it made it on the Sega Saturn the Playstation and the PC. But only the PC version was localized for the U.S. and it is also rare. The reason why this version is held above the SNES version is because it features animated sequences. It doesn't matter that the port really isn't that great, or that in all honesty you'd be much better off playing the SNES version if you had to choose between the two, this one has animated sequences done in the anime style and that makes it good. It doesn't matter that with the exception of two of these sequences they're all rather dull. They're there and that makes them good. Right? Personally? I don't think so.

The story basically follows X and Zero as the investigate Doppler town, named after Dr. Doppler, a reploid scientist that has cured the maverick virus in many reploids and brought them into his town to live in peace with humans. But this was all a trick as Doppler infects the reploids with a stronger version of the virus and lets them wreak havoc. And since we can't have that, X and Zero rush to the scene to put a stop to Doppler and his evil doings.

Game play additions include being able to play as an extremely limited Zero, who: has only one life and is gone forever after that, can't walk through doors or fight bosses, can only be summoned once per level, and doesn't gain any sort of enhancements. Because of this you'll always be better off using X. Zero is a useless addition. X can now collect chips that, when taken to purple capsules, will give him more enhancements, these chips can also be taken to special platforms that will give you a rather useless robot ride. There are only about two times you'll every need a robot ride and both times you'll collect a power up then discard the ride. And X, of course has a new armor to collect. Don't really expect much from it though. The new armor is very similar to X2's take away the giga attack, add the ability to dash straight up into the air, and the ability to combine your double shot for a big flashy but not that powerful shot, and you've pretty much got X3's new armor. Honestly, I don't believe any of the new features are implemented well in this particular installment.

The SNES version of X3 was lacking sound wise. The sound effects were all well and good but the music really was much to holler about. Now the sound effects aren't quite as good as many have been changed and don't sound quite right to me. The music has also been remixed for the worse and has a tendency to pause or skip after long periods of play.

Graphically it matches the SNES version on all counts, which I thought was good but lacking when compared to X2. The added anime scenes as mentioned before are rather dull. They're really nothing to brag about. The opening and ending sequences are fine as they're more like collages of various images and can be fairly interesting to watch once or twice but really are nothing amazing. And the rest are…boring. The picture quality isn't all that great either as they're a bit blurry. And just for added annoyance…load screens. They're not too long or really, or all that painful but they manage to break up the action and take you out of things.

Honestly if you want to play X3 and can get a hold of the SNES version then get that one. It's better. Better Sound. No load times. No boring anime. If you still want to play X3 and can't get the SNES version then this will work fine. Chances are though unless you're a hardcore Mega Man fan this game won't appeal to you.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 09/28/01, Updated 05/16/04