Mega Man X3

"One Megaman's best adventures gets a 32-bit upgrade"

MegaMan (Known as Rockman in Japan) started life as a small platform game hero in the late 1980's, and became a popular gaming character alike with Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog. With each new game came new robotic foes to defeat, and new weapon power upgrades with each defeated enemy. The 'X' series which first appeared on the Super Nintendo, is more or less a spin-off of the original MegaMan trilogy, featuring a new model of MegaMan, with new friends and enemies not seen in the original series.

X3, the last of the X games on Super Nintendo, was later ported to the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn with the gameplay and visuals of the Super Nintendo version with enhancements made possible due to the 32-bit capabilities these systems possessed.

Story - 8/10
X3 takes place shortly after the defeat of Sigma in the last episode. After a period of brief peace, a Reploid scientist by the name of Dr. Doppler manages to control the Maverick robots, and creates a utopian city called Dopple town that would serve as a home for the Reploids. But soon after, many Mavericks started to break free of Dr. Doppler's control, and it is not long before they beginning to create havoc. Megaman X and Zero head out to eliminate the threat without knowledge of who is behind the attack, and the fallen enemy who is restored and out to seek revenge.

Graphics/Presentation - 8/10
If you were expecting something different from the SNES version, you're going to notice it immediately. The game opens with a short animated video showing some of the events of the last 2 games, and it's well done to say the least. In the English version of the game, the opening movie is accompanied by a nice guitar instrumental tune, the Japanese version features a more mellow theme with vocals. Throughout the game, you will see various animated video clips that add to the story, and a great video of each enemy character before you enter the stage (Tunnel Rhino by far is my favourite).

The game retains almost all of the graphic quality of the SNES version, minus the transparent effects (something that wasn't programmed into the Saturn's hardware), but if you've never played the SNES version, you wouldn't notice anything missing. All of the effects done by the C4 processor in the cart version are now done through the Saturn's 3D capabilities, so there's nothing to complain about here. MegaMan X3 features colorful, well animated and at times huge character sprites, multiple scrolling layers, and varied environments. Definitely good for one of the later generation Super Nintendo games, and the Saturn has no trouble pulling it off.

The most noticeable addition to the Saturn version is a border around the game playfield - while it does look nice, it can make the game feel smaller. The SNES originally rendered the game at 256x224 - the Saturn on the other hand can not draw lower than 320x240, so Capcom stuck borders around the game to fill up the unused portion of the screen. It would have been nicer if they had reprogrammed the game to make use of the added screen space instead. If you play on a HDTV like me, you can stretch the game image to fill the screen.

Gameplay - 9/10
MegaMan X3 features the same addictive 2D platform action of the previous games. As MegaMan X, you must negotiate various stages of platform action defeating enemy robots and make your way to destroy the various Mavericks awaiting you at the end. Each defeated enemy gives you a new weapon to use that can be used to your advantage when fighting other Mavericks who have a weakness against certain elements. As X you can shoot, charge your weapon, jump, slide, and wall jump (very handy). Along the way, you can collect extra energy tanks to stock up your energy reserves, and upgrades to enhance MegaMan's abilities - which you will really need if you plan to survive to the end of the game.

The game allows you to change characters to X's friend Zero, who has some improved abilities, although he can not use different weapons, or fight the boss characters. Use Zero wisely, because if he is defeated in the course of gameplay, you can't call him again. Personally, I have played the game through many times without even using Zero at all.

Apart from the password system used in the SNES game, you have the option to save your game to the Saturn Backup cartridge, which is easier than writing down long numbered passwords. The game's difficulty can be overbearing at first, but once you've figured out the enemy patterns and weaknesses, it's much easier to play.

Multiplayer - N/A
The game does not feature a multiplayer element so I can't give a comment on this.

Control - 9/10
Playing with the Saturn pad is a smooth and easy experience, but the button spacing between Shoot and dash means you can't hold a charge while trying to dash or slide.

Soundtrack/Audio - 10/10
The most obvious enhancement the game would receive is a CD quality soundtrack, and it got a good one of that. Gone are the synthesized guitar beats, replaced with recordings of a guitar jam session that puts the cartridge version to waste. All the tracks are excellent re-compositions of the originals, and most of the songs are likable.

The game has also had an improvement in sound quality, the explosions sound more like explosions, and MegaMan's charged shots sound more satisfying than the weak, rubbery blast sound on the SNES game.

Replayability - 7/10
After playing once through, you will feel compelled to play through again to beat it with more proficiency and in a faster time.

Overall - 8/10
A fun platform game with some exploration elements that will have you backtracking to collect powers, and mastering the techniques of MegaMan and Zero. You could finish the game in a day or to, but I guarantee if you like Megaman or 2D platform games, you won't be disappointed with this one.

It's not a common find on eBay, and the PlayStation version is just as good as the Saturn port, minus the borders around the playfield.

-Steven

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/12/05, Updated 07/07/06