Mega Man III

"There seems to be a pattern forming..."

...and that pattern is, just like before, this GB MM installment is superior in many ways to the ones before it, but inferior in one way. I wanted to give this game an 8, but I just couldn't because of the slip up Capcom made. What slip up might that be? Read.

Story: 8
Blah blah, Dr. Wily has robots that must be killed twice to make them stay dead. Anyone who's a gamer knows the story behind this game.

Gameplay: 7
Well, just like before, you have robot bosses from the NES versions to fight, but the levels are different. To me, it seems that Capcom put more time into changing the levels around, because they are actually quite fun to play through.

Just like GB MM2 had features from NES MM3, this game has features from NES MM4, the most noticeable being the ability to use the Mega Buster.

You will be using the Mega Buster frequently. Why? MM's rapid fire ability has been slowed down to a snail's pace! :( Apparently they were trying to fix the rapid fire bug that is in GB MM1 and 2. What happened, Capcom? Us MM players have to deal out heavy damage to the robot bosses you set before us!

The jumping glitch from MM1 is also back for some reason, but it can be slightly forgiven because MM can now jump higher than before.

Some of the new enemies are actually pretty cool (I got a kick out of the Hardhat Hooligan on the insanely big jackhammer :) ).

Graphics: 8
A lot of nice detail and animation in sprites and the background; the most out of all the GB MM games thus far. This game looks very faithful to the NES version. For some reason, the smooth scrolling that was in GB MM2 is gone, though.

Sound/Music: 8
Fortunately, this game not only looks authentic but SOUNDS authentic as well for the very first time! Instead of most or all of the sound effects sounding bad, most of them sound great. The songs are all transported much better this time and sound almost exactly like how they sound on the NES!

Control: 6
Sorry Capcom, we like rapid fire, not slow-as-dough fire...

Replay Value: 4
Like before, it'll take a while after you beat it before you'll wanna pick it up again.

Bottom Line?
If only Capcom had kept the improved control from MM2 intact when making this, this would've been a very good MM port. Well, it's your choice...the tighter control and smoother scrolling of GB MM2 or the better graphic animation and detail and MUCH better sound of this one. As always, if you want something new, go for MM5. If you can get past the fact that you don't have as much firepower, the improved graphics and sound will delight you, which is why I give it a 7.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/10/01, Updated 09/10/01