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"After all this Mega Man, how can I possibly have a favorite? Well, this is it."

I have a large stack of NES games buried deep in my basement. It's been ages since I last played them and it will probably be ages more until I finally dust them off again, but I just can't seem to part with them. The thought of selling them weighs heavy on my heart, but why? In reality, I don't own many astounding games; the collection is primarily made of obscure titles such as Star Tropics, Yo! Noid, and other games you could purchase at Domino's Pizza. So why don't I clear up space for something a little more valuable, like my Rush records? Well, to be honest, it's because of my Mega Man games. One could say that my passion for gaming was fundamentally shaped by the Blue Bomber; therefore, throwing Mega Man away like common trash would be utter blasphemy.

Only recently did I journey back into the NES palisades to exhume Mega Man 3 once more. I'm not sure what brought me back to the classics at this time; maybe it was due to a recent bout with Mega Man 9, or perhaps I needed a break from the disturbingly real graphics of next-gen consoles, but whatever the case, I was glad I did. Mega Man 3 is a game you will always go back to regardless of technology; it is timeless. Although many hail Mega Man 2 to be the greatest in Mega Man's 8-bit library, I believe that Mega Man 3 is slightly better.

Background:

Mega Man 3 was released in November of 1990, just over a year after Capcom released it's ambitious title, Mega Man 2. By this time, the Mega Man series had developed a substantial fanbase upon emerging from obscurity. The game saw great sales, with over a million units sold, and it has been included in many Mega Man compilation titles since; also it is downloadable on the Wii Virtual Console.

Overview:

After so many reiterations, it is unlikely that a typical gamer won't understand the general theme of Mega Man, but for those who don't, here is a quick summary. Following the prototypical release of Mega Man One, the series has continually built upon the idea of fighting robot masters to reach Doctor Wily (an evil scientist) and thwart his diabolical plot. By using unique “moves” obtained after defeating each robot master, the player sequentially defeats all of the robot masters based upon their individual weaknesses. Once all robot masters are destroyed, the player must enter Dr. Wily's castle/fortress and progress through several more levels and boss battles before reaching Wily himself; finally, once Wily is defeated, the game concludes. There's not much more to it than this; but due to amazing level design, fun bosses, and enjoyable gameplay, the formula has worked.

Story:

As with practically every early video game, Mega Man 3 lacks any sort of story, and for what story it has, it is relatively worthless. Essentially, Dr. Wily has stolen parts for a giant peacekeeping war machine from Dr. Light (Mega Man's creator). Now Wily threatens the planet with Gamma (the newly reprogrammed peacekeeping war machine) and it is up to Mega Man to stop him. Aside from this, there is a subplot that includes a confrontation between Mega Man and Proto Man, but there is not much to this. There is no riveting story here, but that is all right, 8-bit Mega Man is not about the story.

Although slightly more developed than Mega Man 2's story, it serves no purpose other than to provide reasoning for Mega Man's robotic genocide. Most of the story is communicated through the introduction, a single poorly translated sentence, and the movement of Dr. Wily's enormous eyebrows; this poor communication made the storyline confusing and not worth questioning. I had no idea why Proto man was challenging Mega Man and for the most part, I didn't know that Dr. Wily had stolen Gamma, but I really didn't care, I just wanted to destroy them. The story is part of the Mega Man formula; it is routinely recycled and altered to provide the illusion of something new, but it's not. So, as much as I want to rip into the frivolity and unoriginality of the story, I can't, rather I condone it. Stories were a precious commodity in games back when Mega Man 3 came out, so the mere fact that there is a story is an innovation. But what this means, is that the game feels like it has a narrative that was never needed. Do I need to be told that Dr. Wily is hatching an evil plot? No, that is something I can extrapolate by observing his evil skull-shaped castle. My point is, if Capcom needed a story, they should have made Mega Man 3 more story driven rather than just inject bits of narrative out of obligation.

7/10 (for having a story when stories in video games didn't exist)

Gameplay:

This is how Mega Man 3 captures the glorious position of my favorite NES Mega Man game, its gameplay. Overall, the bosses are awesome, the levels are amazing, and the challenge is sufficient. What makes this game standout is that the added gameplay features actually make for a formula-deviant Mega Man. Mega Man 3 introduces Rush (which includes a coil jump, submarine, and jet feature) and sliding. Rush is basically Items 1-3 in Mega Man 2, but simply more refined and in robotic dog form. On the other hand, sliding becomes an integral part of the game and it is ultimately a huge improvement to the Mega Man series, as it allows greater speed, dodging capabilities, and advanced level design. Now Mega Man can actually move and it is much appreciated.

In terms of bosses, you start with the option to battle any one of eight robot masters. It is my belief that these are the some of the best robot masters in any Mega Man game. Snake Man, Shadow Man, Magnet Man, and Gemini Man are just awesome; the new robot masters take the improved battle system of Mega Man 2 and take it a step further. The bosses are more unpredictable and involve a little more strategy than just well timed jumps and shots, especially now that Mega Man has the ability to slide. Also, once the eight robot masters are defeated, you surprisingly get to fight all of the robot masters from Mega Man 2 in reused an revamped Mega Man 3 levels. So, essentially, you get to fight all of Mega Man's greatest 8-bit bosses in this game. Dr. Wily's bosses were pretty enjoyable as well, but they are not extremely memorable and the battles with Proto Man were pretty bland. As much as I enjoyed most of the bosses, some are better than others. Top Man and Hard Man are simple and somewhat lame, but the battles utilize sliding to its full, which is nice.

The levels in Mega Man 3 represent the very best in all of Mega Man. They are not overly difficult, but they manage to be exciting and interesting. Gemini Man and Snake Man's levels are some of my favorites, both with original atmospheres and unique concepts, such as breaking eggs strategically to build paths and battling enormous snakehead mini-bosses. Every level is memorable and fun to play. Something I really enjoy is that after you defeat the original eight robot masters, you must travel through Shadow Man, Gemini Man, Spark Man, and Needle Man's stages again, but this time they are more difficult. This is the only Mega Man game that requires the player to travel through a stage more than once, and the fact that the stages are improved further adds even more value to the already great levels. My only beef with the level design is that, at certain points, the checkpoints are illogically unforgiving, especially in the recycled levels where you fight two bosses per stage. If you don't beat the first boss, you must start all the way at the beginning of the level, rather than right before the boss battle like usual, and this gets annoying. This recurs in some of Wily's stages, where you start so far back that it is disgusting. Also, in some of Wily's later stages, trap blocks, that appear to be real but are not, are introduced. These trap blocks only lead to unskilled deaths or repetitive ladder climbing, but this is just a pet peeve. All in all, Mega Man 3's gameplay is unmatched and in my opinion, the pinnacle of the Mega Man series.

10/10

Presentation:

Mega Man 3 accomplishes everything a Mega Man game usually accomplishes in terms of presentation. The music is great, the controls are simple, the graphics are pleasant, and the interface is decent but somewhat flawed. First and foremost, musically, Mega Man 3 is incredible; it has some of the most memorable songs ever produced on the NES. I've heard too many Snake Man techno remixes and Wily level 2 symphonies to not realize that Mega Man 3 has made a lasting impression. Six years since I last played it, I was able to hum along to the tune of every stage without missing a note. Maybe I have had Mega Man overload in my time, but when I can pinpoint the sound of Magnet Man's stage, disappearing blocks and all, it's proof that Mega Man 3 has an ageless soundtrack. The sound effects are great too. Capcom did well to standardize the ‘sounds' of Mega Man across its titles, because sounds like the buster shot and warping Mega Man have almost become iconic. Amazing sound.

Controls are another, nearly interchangeable standard across the Mega Man titles. Press A to jump, Press B to shoot, move with the D-Pad; the only difference is that you can press down + B to slide. The controls are very simple, which translate to a fluid gameplay experience. There are many tricky situations in Mega Man 3 that require precise control manipulation, but they are easily overcome with the straightforward and responsive controls.

For NES standards, Mega Man 3's graphics were gorgeous. With similar, yet slightly better visuals than Mega Man 2, Mega Man 3 is vibrant and eye pleasing. The sprites are detailed and the robot master portraits were very impressive. Overall, the graphics were wonderful, but in my opinion, easily overlooked for the more impressive gameplay. Mega Man could have atrocious graphics and still be great; truly the focus is not visuals (Mega Man 9 is case in point).

Finally, the interface for Mega Man 3 is good but flawed enough to be annoying. My primary complaint is with weapon switching and weapon-energy refilling. Pausing the game each and every time you need to switch weapons becomes arduous and frustrating. Capcom obviously realized this and fixed it with the Mega Man X series, but they could have done it earlier by using the select button to scroll through weapons mid-battle. Also, the fact that you must have a weapon equipped to collect energy to refill your weapons is absurd. You will constantly be pausing the game to switch weapons to grab energy. This gets really irritating when you encounter a ‘pile' of energy that is about to disappear (dropped from enemies) and you must pause over and over again to fill more than one expended weapon. Truly, I just stopped using weapons and collecting energy altogether. Besides, it doesn't help that the menu has two screens; you must constantly switch between screens to access all of you weapons, and it serves only to add distress. By allowing energy allocation without the need to have weapons equipped and by reducing the menu to one screen, Capcom could have drastically improved Mega Man 3's interface.

9/10

Epicness/Overall Impact:

Mega Man 3 is a game that I will always happily pick up and play; the enjoyment I derive from it never seems to deteriorate. Whether it is the great bosses, the killer soundtrack, or the amazing levels, Mega Man 3 has withstood the test of time. Truly, it's games like this that demonstrate the amount of work and passion that is packed into video game development, and it is satisfying to see it come through so vividly. Without a doubt, 8-bit Mega Man games have made an impact on the progression of video gaming; just look at the excessive quantity of Mega Man titles released. But what I find really interesting is the release of Mega Man 9, which all but confirms that back-to-basics reminiscence is sometimes better than contemporary gaming. Design is what makes a game, not graphical power; I would rather play Mega Man 1-6 than the technologically superior Mega Man X7 any day. Ultimately, Mega Man 3 symbolizes an apex effort of video game development that can match and even conquer many of today's AAA games.

10/10

Even though all of my NES games accomplish nothing more than accumulate dust, I like to keep them around just in case. When the Mega Man craving hits, my fix will be waiting, and believe me, it will be glorious when I inject the cartridge into my system. As much as I herald the nostalgic value of Mega Man, the games are just great, nostalgia or not. So, when the time comes that I only have space for either my NES games or my Rush records, well, I will have to say a literal Farewell to Kings.

Overall Score: 9/10 Tremendous Gaming Experience

Thanks a lot for reading my review,

Sincerely,

Brother Bartholomew

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/26/09

Game Release: Mega Man 3 (US, November 1990)