Mega Man 3

"A game that just manages to add up..."

Y'know, I remember the day I got Mega Man 3 like it was yesterday. It was Christmas, 1990. As a happy and giddy seven year old, I opened all of my presents, and along with such classics as Code Name: Viper and Dragon Warrior II, I got this game. Twelve years later, I still play it, and I still love it. Mega Man 3 isn't like any other Mega Man game. It's like ''The Empire Strikes Back'' of the Mega Man series. Compared to the other games, it's just as good, it's just darker, it's got a little extra ''something'' that makes it notable amongst a massive series of games. Something just makes it stick out.

Capcom realized when they were going to make Mega Man 3 that they couldn't make another sequel and simply leave it alone. That formula worked well for them in Mega Man 2, and now they had to improve upon this formula, perhaps even make new formulae. They had to add some features that would bring new gamers into the series, while keeping the hardened Mega Man fans interested and coming back for more. They kept the whole storyline the same, but they added many gameplay twists, and two new characters as well, that are now considered Mega Man mainstays. While we'll get into all of the new aspects of the third installment into the Mega Man series further on in the review, one can certainly say it's a mixture of familiarity with originality that makes Mega Man 3 a truly great game.

Storyline/Plot - 10/10

The storyline of Mega Man 3 is a shimmer of light in a world of NES games that had no plot to speak of. Mega Man 3 reuses and recycles the plot found previously in Mega Man 2 for the most part, which was Dr. Wily, instead of stealing robots from his old colleague, Dr. Light, builds his own, and sets out for world domination. Standing in his way again is Dr. Light's super creation, Mega Man. Dr. Light has built a new companion for him, however, in this installment, which appears in every other Mega Man game onward. His name is Rush, and he is a robotic canine companion for Mega Man. He serves three different purposes for Mega Man, each of which the Blue Bomber can call upon at any time. The Rush Coil allows Mega Man to jump higher, the Rush Jet allows Mega Man to fly, and the Rush Marine allows controlled navigation in the depths of water zones. The other new introduced character is Mega Man's brother, Protoman. Protoman is a mysterious robot cloaked in secrecy. Throughout the game it seems that he wants to actually fight you... but that's what plot twists are for. =) Otherwise, the story stays true to the Mega Man series, but like in all Mega Man games, the storyline is just not implemented properly (if at all) into the actual game itself, forcing you to read the instruction manual or waiting until you beat the game to get a grasp of what you were actually fighting for. It's not fair to the player, by any stretch of the imagination, but it gets a perfect for some innovation that Capcom seems to lose touch with later in the series.

Gameplay - 10/10

Ah yes, the brightest supernova in the Mega Man series, the high caliber gameplay. The game is just fun. What else can be said? Playing Mega Man 3 isn't a chore, it doesn't handle badly... quite the opposite, it's a pleasure to play this ''well oiled machine.'' It seems that the programmers worked out any and all glitches, while keeping the feel of this Mega Man installment in tact. For those of you who've never played a Mega Man game, it goes a little something like this. You have a choice of eight stages to choose from, each of which have an enemy robot, called a Robot Master, controlling it. When you beat the stage and the Robot Master of that stage, you get the Robot Master's primary weapon, called a Master Weapon, which you can now use on other Robot Masters and enemies for the rest of the game at your convenience. The beauty of the Mega Man series is twofold, however, and both of these qualities are carried over into Mega Man 3. First of all, you can do the stages in any order that you want, allowing for endless mixing and matching. Secondly, each Robot Master has a primary weakness to a certain Master Weapon, meaning that you have to try and figure out who is weak to what, which, again, leads to plenty of mixing and matching. It can truly be called a non-linear platform title... something unheard of, especially on the NES, except for the rest of the Mega Man series, and maybe Castlevania III.

Graphics - 9/10

The Mega Man series looks so familiar to gamers because, in essence, all of the games look the same. Mega Man 3 is no exception to this, but that's not a bad thing. Capcom could produce a Mega Man game a year for the very reason of reusing graphics, and they did it as to not be trite, but instead, give gamers a sense of familiarity, while at the same time, adding new enemies, eight new Robot Masters, and even a new Mega Man trait - sliding. His sliding animation, as well as the rest of his animation cycle remain smoothly executed and nicely done. The enemies move nicely, and for the first time in a Mega Man game, the backgrounds are in-depth, with some really nice artwork. The game remains colorful and exploits the full graphical capacity of the NES, while not going overboard like some games too often do. Otherwise, everything graphically is familiar... and there is not a thing wrong with that... that's the appeal of Mega Man, isn't it?

Sound - 9/10

In all honesty, Mega Man games have the ill music. We all know this. However, in comparison to Mega Man 2, Mega Man 3's music doesn't add up quite as much, but all of the music is still memorable, and downright fun to listen to. It gets a point taken off for that... but you'll still find yourself humming along to the music, and even pausing the game to take a quick listen to the music at length. Or maybe that's just me? Nah. The Capcom composers continue to do a great job in this game, but in comparison to Flash Man's stage and Crash Man's stage in Mega Man 2, these songs don't quite add up... but they nearly do.

Control - 9/10

Ah yes, control... always an issue in videogames, isn't it? Not here. All NES Mega Man games are easy to control, and Mega Man responds all too nicely to button commands. No lag or anything that could quite possibly kill a game. As far as using the NES controller, Capcom programmers triumph again by successfully putting in a new Mega Man feature, the slide, which you execute by pressing down and A. Nicely done, Capcom! Easily learned controllers are the key to instant fun in a videogame. Wouldn't you agree?

Replay Value - 8/10

Mega Man 3 is the longest Mega Man game on the NES series. In addition to the eight original stages, you have to go through four extra long stages (remakes of four of the original stages), and fight two Robot Masters on each board, straight out of Mega Man 2! While this was an awesome touch, the game is too long to want to play over and over again. I play it through once or twice a year, but that's it. The game is 16 stages, and four of the stages are extra long, so you have to take all of that into consideration when you really want to sit down and play. It's still fun though, as it is a nice hybrid of difficulty and practicality, while melding and infusing aspects of the game that don't make it too easy, but yet, not too hard either. Sorry, but no one likes a ridiculously hard game, and you won't find that here.

OVERALL - 9/10

Mega Man 3 adds up as a Mega Man game worth playing. I've owned my copy for 12 years now, and it's gotten so much wear as to prove to you that it's worth your playing. The Mega Man series takes a slight fall after this title, so this is the last true Mega Man game in a sense of Capcom not going crazy looking for originality. Perhaps if they stuck with the formula they used to make this game - that is, mostly familiar aspects with a new twist, the latter Mega Man games on the NES would have added up nicely, just like Mega Man 3 does. It's worth the $10 it's going for on eBay... every penny.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/28/02, Updated 05/28/02