"X to the third power"

Chances are you've heard of MegaMan, but I'll go into the Blue Bombers extensive history anyway. In 1985 (Japan) Capcom introduced what is now one of their most popular characters in MegaMan for the original Nintendo. MegaMan was like a standard platformer at the time (walk from left to right killing enemis, dodging obstacles, and of course jumping on platforms) except for one major innovation: when MegaMan defeated a stage boss he got the bosse's weapon to use. You could pick what order to fight the bosses in, so there was strategy involved in beating the bosses in the right order so you could use their weapons against other bosses. MegaMan was an instant classic and it spawned many sequals. In 1993 Capcom decided to spin MegaMan off into a new setting with all-new characters and story. This was the original MegaMan X. MegaMan (renamed X for the X series) starred in two Super Nintendo games, and in 1996 (U.S.) Capcom released a third which is where this review starts.

Game Basics/Story
MegaMan X3 (from now on known as MMX3) is basically a side scroller like the older MegaMan games. X can shoot, jump, dash, climb walls, and of course take defeated bosse's weapons. You can also sometimes choose to play as Zero who has similar abilities but can't fight bosses or get upgrades (more on the upgrades later).
The story is that in the year 21XX there exists a special type of robot called a reploid which can think and make decisions for itself. X and his best friend/partner Zero are both reploids. X was the first reploid and was created by Dr. Light, also the creator of the original MegaMan. The main story behind the X games is that Dr. Light created X and sealed him away in a capsule so X could have tests performed on him to make sure X would never harm a human.
Flash forward a few decades. Dr. Light is dead and X's capsule is uncovered by a scientist named Dr. Cain. Cain wakes up X and is amazed at the fact that X can think for himself. Cain studies X and is able based on that information to create more reploids. Unfortunately, some of these reploids decide they are better than humans and decide to kill off humanity. The world is thrown into chaos and X and his partner Zero, along with other maverick hunters (good reploids who track down mavericks like the main villain in X 1 and 2, Sigma) who you never see are humanity's last hope...
The specific story for X3 is that after twice defeating the leader of the maverick rebellion, Sigma, the thick-headed Dr. Cain decides to make more reploids. One of these is a scientist reploid named Dr. Doppler. Dopller creates a utopia where reploids and humans live in piece. Three guesses what happens next. Doppler goes maverick, leaving X and Zero to clean up the maverick mess once again.

Gameplay: 10/10
Gameplay is the most important part of any game. X3 is a basic action side scroller, but with lots of unique ideas and play features. After a short intro level you can chose one of eight animal-themed bosses to fight. When you defeat one boss you get its weapon which you can use against other bosses. However, one other interesting use the weapons have is you can use them to solve puzzles and get powerups. Is a big pillar blocking your way? Use Volt Catfish's weapon to blast it apart. The powerups you get include heart tanks which extend your lifeline, sub-tanks which let you store life restoring powerups to use later, and capsules where Dr. Light upgrades your basic abilities. Finding these gives the game lots of replay value. Trust me, you do not want to face the final boss with a small lifeline and basic armor. There are more upgrades to find, but I won't spoil them.
The challenge in this game is just about right. Levels pack plenty of enemies and obstacles, and bosses can be either very easy or very hard depending on if you have the right weapon for them. Finding all the secrets is a big challenge. Looking for them will make you play over and over again. As with all the X games, the final boss is 5 times harder than anything you've faced up to that point so be warned.
The controls of this game are effective, but might take some practice to perfect. You can charge up your blaster by holding Y button, climb up walls by holding forward towards the wall and pushing B, and dash by pushing A. Climbing up a wall using dash jumps to go faster while holding Y to charge up takes practice, but after a while you won't even notice it. If the controls seem tricky at first, keep trying. It's worth it to master this great game.

Graphics: 8/10
This game has bright and detailed graphics. The graphics have a futuristic feel to them and building seem to pop-out from the screen. You get to see 3-D rendering of X when you beat a stage, and the characters are well detailed. Like in other categories, MMX3 does great in the graphics department.

Sound: 7/10
If you've ever played an X game before, you'll recognize the music. If you haven't, the music has a techno/rock feel to it that isn't exceptional but puts you in the mood to kill some reploids. The sound effects are clear and crisp. Overall, while MMX3's music isn't quite as good as the rest of the game, the music is definately passable.

Score Tally:
Gameplay: 10/10
Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 7/10
Overall: (not an average) 10/10

Conclusion
I have played every one of the 2-D MegaMan games and this is my favorite. This was the last X game for SNES and it was a great finale for the 16-bit X games. This game is rare and expensive, but if you ever come across it, buy it. Anyone who even remotely likes platformers should have this game.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 09/13/01, Updated 09/13/01