Mega Man X3

"Hang on a minute, this looks familiar..."

Yet another Mega Man X games comes another 8/10 score. Mega Man X is just brilliant, we all know that. BUT Mega Man X2 was more or less the same, but with more levels and such tacked on. Unfortunately, Mega Man X3 falls into this problem as well. OK, so Mega Man games are pretty cool, but sometimes players get a bit sick of the same, look at Resident Evil, they changed it for Resi 4 and it was great. But all the Resident Evil games were similar. Coincidently, Mega Man and Resident Evil are both made by Capcom! Anyways, Mega Man X3 was bound to happen. So far, there isn't a Mega Man game to not get a sequel, apart from Mega Man X: Command Mission (I am still playing that but I hope another one does come, seems unlikely now though). Mega Man X3 is just like any other Mega Man sequel. But why?

First off, for those who have never played ANY Mega Man games on the NES or SNES, its pretty simple. You play as a blue robot, called Mega Man X, surprise surprise. You run from left to right, and sometimes the opposite way, or up and down and so on. Its a 2D, scrolling, platforming shooter, a bit like Capcoms old arcade games, albeit better. Along the way you will come across obstacles, a lot of spikes that kill you instantly, powerups and the like, and enemy robots. Mega Man X3 is just like the other ones, you have the introduction level, the Hunter Base HQ is being attacked. Save it, then you get a big screen with 8 ugly bosses faces on it. Choose which one you want to battle, go through the level, kick their ass, gain a new weapon, continue. Do some other levels AFTER beating all 8 bosses and complete the game. This has been used in Mega Man 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, X, X2 and well, this Mega Man game. This is pretty bad, as not many Mega Man games are different (apart from the totally awesome Legends and original Battle Network). So OK, the idea is pretty good, but the levels and pretty much everything else in the game HAVE to be the best ever to make Mega Man X3 a decent sequel.

And it does it well. The levels are pretty good, although slightly the same as Mega Man X2 (as in fun wise) they are still pretty decent and fun. Spikes are here yet again, more walls to wall jump on, more gaps to jump, and even more enemies to kill, and those famous power ups to find! You can even play as Zero on the first level, but only for 5 minutes, which is a big shame (look towards Mega Man Zero on the GBA if you want Zero action). Anyways, the levels are pretty good, nice environments, all unique to each other, but each have a similar setting to past X games, which is a shame. Still, you get loads of cool levels, that are fun to play, and aren't too hard, but not exactly easy. Great. At the end, you fight a boss.

Bosses are great this time too. OK, so some are really dodgey and a bit random, but at least fighting them is fun. Each one has their own pattern of attack, learn it, and you can win easy. As long as you can dodge their attacks. The bosses are usually based on the level, so a water level would have a water boss. And their attacks are based on that too. The bosses life bar may look daunting at first, but use their weakness, or the charged X-Buster and it goes down quickly. Thats the thing with X3. The bosses seem really easy to me, and don't offer much challegne at all. Beating a boss you will gain their weapon, which is effective against another boss, making their life go down a lot. This makes the game easier, but I find it more fun and slightly harder by using the charged X-Buster. At least the bosses are good though, a great way to finish almost all of the great levels.

Story hasn't changed much. Thats a lie. Mega Man X always has good story lines, its not the same as Mega Man on the NES (if you ask me, kill that Dr. Wily!). A new Dr, I can't quite remember his name, Dr. Doppler I think. He has used his efforts to get rid of the Mavericks, which are robots gone wrong. He has managed to tame them or so, so they don't go berserk. All is well in Dopple, a utopian community. Only a few months later, the mavericks went wrong. Again. It seems Doppler is the mastermind behind all of this as well. The perfect crime. Only Mega Man, Zero and many other Maverick Hunters can stop them. Please note non of the above is much of a spoiler,all of that is explained in the games introduction.

The graphics are the same as Mega Man X2. There are more 3D wire frame models, but not much more. The levels look a bit better, and the animation does too, but there aren't really any improvements over X2. Detailed enough characters, and enemies, and the levels are good too. The backgrounds are pretty good, and fully animated as well. The music is the same as well, so not much new in the music department either. Nice, catchy, music, that really suits Mega Man in a way. The graphics and music may be the same as last time, but hey, at least they were good last time too.

PROS:

Levels are good.
Bosses are good.
New story line yet again!
The game is still massively fun.

CONS:

The graphics and music are the same.
Nothing new added to the game basics.
Its more or less the same thing as last time.
Some bits get a bit boring.
Very easy and short.

THE RATINGS:

Graphics: 9.5/10
Audio: 8.0/10
Story: 8.0/10
Game Play: 7.8/10
Life Span: 7.0/10
Difficulty: 6.4/10
Overall: 7.8/10

My Two Pence:

Overall, Mega Man X3 is a brilliant game. Had there been more things added to the game instead of it being the SAME as the last 2, this game could of got a better score. Still a fun game to play, as long as you haven't played X and X2 to death. Its just mindless fun, killing those robots and those big bosses (which are too easy). Great game, but if more stuff was new, could of got a 9. You never know...

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