Mega Man X3

"Better than the SNES version? No..."

Well, here's the in-depth review of the highly famed MegaMan X3 (at least, to some of us). The PSX version, released after who knows how much after the SNES version, was sadly not released in the US. However, was it really worth it? Let's see...

Graphics: 8 / 10 -- The graphics were crisp and clear for a SNES game. Fortunately, they didn't change the graphics, so it still remains as good as it was on the SNES.

Animation: 10 / 10 -- Yup, the animation here is totally spiff. It was perfect. There were more than oh let's say 8 frames of animation when X ran. There were FIVE, count 'em five different levels of shots, each looking differently. Zero's Beam Sabre attack was animated well! He looks cool when doing the beam sabre.

Cinemas / FMV / Anime Sequences: 6 / 10 -- The addition of FMVs into the game were good, but slightly annoying at times. For example, the game had an opening sequence when you started a game, or when you entered any boss stage you have not conquered yet. It would show them doing something rather cool, then ends with their name being displayed. Rather cool, but tedious when you just had to enter the stage to collect something then exit.

Sound: 9 / 10 -- The sound is, none too surprisingly, very good, as general in an X game, or any Mega Man game for that matter. The synthetic music from X2 is gone, thankfully (for some of you... I missed that) replaced by an all guitar track! Guitars and Drums were the main instruments, while a few others coped along. Some tracks were very good, for example the Doppler Stages 1 and 2, and Toxic Seahorse's stage.

Sound Effects: 8 / 10 -- The general staple of MMX sound effects, ranging from X's 'pshoo' X-Buster sound effect to the classic 'Charging' effect to the Dash sound effect. All of them should be familiar to old veteran MMX players. The Explosions did not sound as loud and clear as others, but it was still... good.

Plot: 5 / 10 -- Well, you can't have a different plot in a Mega Man game. Typically, you have 8 Mavericks you have to deal with. When you defeat 2, 'Doppler' the Reploid Scientist who turned the robots against you starts to get worried and sends three of his best units after you. As you defeat more Mavericks, the storyline will slowly unfold as you find out where Doppler's hideout is. Depending on who dies and who lives, the ending will change... slightly. So it is essential to play the game at least twice to get the good scoop of what's going on at the end of this game.

Gameplay: 10 / 10 -- Yes, here's the part where the game REALLY shines. You still have the usual four capsule upgrades by Dr. Thomas Xavier Light, and 8 Heart Tanks which increase your Life capacity by 2 and 4 Sub-Tanks. Joining the ranks are 4 Robot Carriers: The Chimera, a standard robot like in Mega Man X 1. The Hawk armor, a robot that can fly for a while like in Mega Man X 2. The Kangaroo armor, armor that has no general purpose...? And last and definitely LEAST is the Frog armor, which only works underwater. At least it doesn't short-circuit like the others while taking a dip. Another addition is 4 more capsules, which allow X to upgrade one of his systems even MORE! For example, the Helmet upgrade which allows him to restore lost Life when he's standing still, or the X-Buster upgrade which allows him to blast fully charged shots immediately should he have the stock. However, you can only choose one of them, so choose wisely... unless you know where to find the elusive 9th capsule. And last, but definitely not LEAST, is Zero's Beam Sabre, which can be yours... only for a small price of his destruction :(

For the first time, you can control Zero. He, however, is very fragile (sort of like a limited edition) and can not be replaced. He can only pick up Life capsules which restore health, and can't fight bosses or sub-bosses for that matter, making players very prudent about using him. Whether he dies or lives will determine the ending.

Zero wields his Zero Buster as well as a hecka powerful Beam Sabre which destroys ultimately anything in it's path of destruction. Usually, he is there for back-up, and nothing else, making Zero next near to worthless. And it takes longer than FF8's Eden summoning process than to charge up that Beam Sabre of his!

Control: 10 / 10 -- Control was never an issue in any Mega Man game, and it is definitely not an issue in MMX3. The controls were smooth, and L1 and R1 were used to switch between weapons. However, this might prove to be risky as you are vulnerable to attack while switching weapons, if you are not fast enough.

Challenge: 8 / 10 'Rather Hard' -- If you are not good, you might have some trouble with the last boss. However, with careful planning (and a few thwaps of Zero's beam sabre :) you will be able to pull through, likely... The special weapons in this game do not do Knights of the Round-type amounts of damage to the appropriate bosses, but it stops them in their tracks for quite a while, giving you a breather space. This will prove to turn a hulking massacre killing machine into a immoblized weasel that can't even touch you. Also, the most annoying thing is that there is a HUGE penalty for touching a Reploid -- a huge bite out of your Life reservoir. This is annoying at times, but quite bearable.

Replay Value: 4 / 10 -- Hmmm, I'd play this game two or three times to get the full experience of it, then put it in a CD rack or something, and occasionally play it for enjoyment's sake.

Pros
-Zero a playable character
-More secrets
-More challenging bosses
-Kaiser Sigma (he's real high, pardon the pun :)

Cons
-Zero dang near worthless
-Rather WIERD weapons...
-Neon Tigger, I mean Tiger (sounds... cheesy)

Overall: RockMan X3 is an enjoyable game for your PSX that can be put in there sometimes for a few hours of fun. I highly recommend it (but if you own a Saturn, then get the Saturn verion of X3, it's more recommendable).

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/30/00, Updated 07/30/00