Released 2 years after the wildly successful Mega Man 2, Mega Man 3 burst on to the scene and took the Mega Man franchise to the next level. Dr. Wily has seen the error of his ways and has started to work with Dr. Light to create a peace-keeping robot called Gamma. 8 robots (of Wily’s I assume) that were in charge of mining operations have gone rogue and taken the 8 crystals that were powering Gamma and hidden them. Along with the new plot there are some new characters. The first one is Proto Man who appears in different stages of the game and confronts Mega Man. Mega Man must defeat him in order to progress on but never destroys Proto Man. Another new character, and a very important one, is Rush the dog. Rush comes with 3 different abilities that are essential in order to beat them game. Without understanding these abilities and mastering them completion of the game is impossible. The last new addition to the game is the slide technique. Many bonuses in the game are hidden behind 1 block high openings that require Mega Man to slide through in order to get them. This adds some variety and difficulty into the game that wasn’t there in Mega Man 2.

Graphics 9/10 – The overall graphics didn’t change much from Mega Man 2 to Mega Man 3 but they did improve. The improvements are generally pretty subtle but noticeable if you are looking for them. All the monsters are all well designed and fit the level in which they are placed. This isn’t anything new but it feels like the variety in bosses adds to the variety in monsters in each level. The levels themselves are also really interesting and unique yet again. I’ve always enjoyed the uniqueness of each level design and the visuals that are created because of that. The backgrounds are improved, for some levels, enough that I feel like the graphics deserve a bump from the 8 I game Mega Man 2 to a 9 for Mega Man 3.

Sound 9/10 – Just like how the graphics were improved in small ways from Mega Man 2 to Mega Man 3 so was the sound. Music for each level was again unique and fit very well to the level design and boss theme. The boss themes also change each time and definitely improved compared to Mega Man 2. Not much else to say about sound though. It’s still an NES game and no matter how good the sound is it was limited by what the NES was capable of at the time. However, for the NES I thought the music was well done.

Addictiveness 8/10 – I remember owning this game as a kid and playing it over and over again. At first I played it through multiple times in order to learn which powers beat which bosses the fastest. Once I knew that beating the game became a lot easier. After that I would play the game through and randomly pick bosses to see if I could beat them game without always having the best power to beat the boss. I would also do the order in reverse so I had the power from the boss that the current levels boss power would defeat easily so I would never have an advantage.

Even without doing stuff like that I feel like this game was a great game. Level designs were unique and varied with what was required to beat them. The addition of Rush made tackling tough areas easier because he provided you options you never had before. Plus, there is something about having a dog help Mega Man through his journey that makes it more enjoyable.

Story 7/10 – The story for Mega Man 3 was a definite improvement over Mega Man 2. At first it seems like the same old story. 8 robots running amok and Mega Man is needed to stop them. However, it appears that this time Dr. Wily is on your side. You also have a companion named Rush that helps you through the levels as needed which helps keep things a bit more fresh. However, the story really takes a leap compared to Mega Man 1 or 2 when Dr. Wily turns on Mega Man. After collecting all 8 crystals for Gamma Dr. Wily takes the opportunity to steal Gamma and becomes evil again. Well, more accurately he reveals what his true intentions were the whole time. After this Mega Man is again tasked with going to Dr. Wily’s fortress and defeating more robots, Gamma and Dr. Wily himself. Interjected into this entire story is Proto-man. Is he friend or foe and how will his influence affect Mega Man’s attempts to stop Wily? You’ll just have to play the game to find out.

This is in no way a revolutionary story but compared to the very basic stories from Mega Man 1 and 2 it is much more interesting than the previous games managed.

Depth 7/10 – There is certainly more depth to this game than the previous 2 games managed. The story alone adds depth that was lacking in the first 2 games but there are many more levels to complete this time around as well. There are also more extra items that can be collected using either the slide technique or Rush. This keeps the levels more interesting and helps make them feel a little less linear. There isn’t much else that could do done to prevent that problem without making the levels have direction splits that allowed options on how to complete a level. I believe this happens in later Mega Man games but Mega Man 3 remains just as linear as the first 2. The only significant option you have as to how to progress through the game is the level selection at the beginning and after Dr. Wily turns evil again. Beyond that everything is still very linear. However, for the time that was how most games operated and can’t be seen as a major fault.

Difficulty 8/10 – I found Mega Man 3 to be just as difficult as its previous games were. It is even considered by some to be one of the most difficult of the NES series. Like the previous games one missed jump quite often meant death for Mega Man. I would say that the addition of Rush did help the difficulty in some areas. Having the Rush Jet made some otherwise difficult looking areas of a map simple to beat. These were not common but Rush did come in handy many times to overcome what would otherwise be a difficult area or monster.

Boss difficulty remained the same. Without the right power up from a previous boss some bosses were nearly impossible to beat with the normal blaster. The vulnerabilities were sometimes laughable like Gemini man being weak against snakes. Not sure where the logic is on that but I imagine it was simply so that every boss had a weakness to something. Overall though the game still poses a good challenge that only becomes easier after multiple successful plays through each level.

Overall 9.5/10 – I do feel like Mega Man 3 was a better game than Mega Man 2. Mega Man 3 took all the good things from 2 and added even more good on top of that. I owned and played Mega Man 3 when I was a kid so I have a lot of nostalgic feelings towards the game which might skew my opinion of the game up a bit. However, I don’t feel like I’m exaggerating the quality of the game or the series at all. Mega Man 3 is another classic side-scrolling adventure that is sure to be enjoyed by anyone who has enjoyed previous or subsequent titles in the series.

Excellent review!
I loved this game when I was younger and I used to play it over and over much like yourself. :3

Its been a while since I played it... its an awesome game. xD

As for the weakness to snakes, maybe its cuz people with the Gemini zodiac such as myself just hate snakes.

Vanelan : who knows. That one has always puzzled me. It is totally possible that there is some truth to that but I imagine it's more likely that they just needed every boss to have a weakness to at least one other bosses ability and Gemini got the snakes....

It doesn't really matter in the end I just found it entertaining.

geeogree : Agreed.
I just an trying to rationalize what is most likely what you are saying... they ran out of weaknesses that made sense. xD

geeogree : You know Elder Slime, I might need to come to you for advice on how to write a review. Mostly because this review is amazing, so good job once again on it. Now I guess it's Mega Man 4 next?

18mlivingston : thanks! I appreciate the praise though I feel like since I've only done a handful of reviews that it isn't warranted yet.

I was going to do all the NES Mega Man games this week and then move on after that. I've played all of them so many times as a kid that coming back to them has been a lot of fun.

geeogree : Well, this is the peak, since its the best Mega Man game for NES... sorry to tell you, but this is gonna be the best review you do this week. xD

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