Mega Man 3

Overview

Mega Man 3, known as Rockman 3 in Japan, is widely considered to be one of the best games in the Mega Man franchise. There are eight new robot masters to battle named Spark Man, Snake Man, Needle Man, Top Man, Shadow Man, Magnet Man, Gemini Man and Hard Man. There was also the addition of a new move which gave Mega Man the ability to slide, allowing him to reach new places and avoid enemies. Mega Man 3 introduced Mega Man's robotic dog Rush in the second iteration, which replaced the creatively named powerup's "1, 2 and 3" from Mega Man 2. The game removed Rush's ability to create a moving platform on a wall, replacing it with the Rush Submarine. While this new power-up was a welcome addition, Mega Man 3's greatest strength was its complex and challenging boss fights. The game has a few twists, such as once defeating the eight new robot masters one has to go defeat the original eight robot masters from Mega Man 2 in a powered up state. That wasn't all though; after beating Dr. Wily in his castle one assumes it's the end. Surprise! The Dr. Wily was a fake so one must to go through another level and battle him again! This makes it the longest NES Mega Man games. Mega Man 3 is the first Mega Man game to feature Mega Man's brother, Proto Man.

Series creator Keiji Inafune considers this to be one of his least favorite Mega Man games, in part because of the slide maneuver.

Story

The story takes place in the year 200X, when a reformed and nice Dr.Wily has set out to work on project "Gamma," a peace keeping robot, with Dr.Light. Unfortunately, the eight robot masters the two had built to maintain Gamma go berserk, and take off with the power crystals. Mega Man is called once again to save the day, retrieving each crystal from one of eight mining planets deep in space.

At the same time, Mega Man's brother and Dr.Light's first creation, Proto Man, has returned after an entire year in hiding, hoping to train Mega Man on a number of stages, preparing him for the fight ahead. His final appearance as a foe in the game comes before the Wily levels, when he shows up as "Break Man."

Mega Man takes on each of the eight robot masters, then returns four of their realms later to defeat reincarnations of the robot masters from Mega Man 2. Once he has done this, he travels to Dr.Light's lab where Dr.Light informs him that Dr.Wily has stolen Gamma! Mega Man takes off to face Gamma and defeats Gamma and Dr.Wily. Just before the roof collapses and crushes him, he is taken to safety by Protoman.

Gameplay

Mega Man 3 retains the gameplay formula the Mega Man games are so well known for. The player can choose to take on the eight robot masters in any order they choose. Each robot master is weak to another's special weapon, and it is up to the player to experiment and discover what will best work against his foes. Mega Man begins with only his mega buster weapon, but as he progresses, he will earn new weapons from each robot master that he defeats. Mega Man 3 is also known for the addition of the slide move, which became a staple of later iterations. The game also introduces a new Rush power, the Rush sub, which allows Mega Man to travel through water. Unlike the previous game, you begin with the Rush Coil.

Each stage in the game employs a variety of new obstacles which Mega Man must conquer. These include low walls that must be slid under, tricky jumps, and the infamous disappearing block sections.

Mega Man 3 is host to an interesting glitch in which Mega Man can leap the height of the entire screen if you plugged in a second NES controller and held down RIGHT on its d-pad. The actual jumping ability was probably a hidden cheat; the actual glitch comes in handy when you die by falling into a bottomless pit. With proper timing, you could then attempt to jump out of the pit using the cheat, sending Mega Man back into the playing field with a completely empty life bar. The result is an invincible Mega Man; while he still reels back from contact, he is able to take an infinite amount of punishment in this condition. Two caveats: (a) Mega Man can no longer fire off his Mega buster, and must make use of his nemeses' weaponry--and if he is out of "ammo" in this condition, he's practically useless on the offensive end; (b) Mega Man is still vulnerable to spikes. Also, grabbing a life powerup while in this state will fill up some of Mega Man's energy bar, making him once again vulnerable to attacks (and possibly very near death, if a small life powerup was picked up).

Robot Masters

Below are the Robot Masters unique to Mega Man 3. Like all classic Mega Man games, Mega Man gains each robot master's weapon when they are defeated. In an oddity for the series, the vulnerability relationships in Mega Man 3 aren't entirely circular: That is, there is not one solitary sequence for defeating the robot masters from beginning to end with the luxury of having the appropriate weapon on you (past the first fight). In other words, at some point even after your first boss fight, you will have to walk into a robot master encounter with a sub-optimal weapon. Note that in Dr. Wily's castle you encounter 8 additional Robot Masters from Mega Man 2 but they do not have full stages and you cannot use their weapons.
 

Top Man

Weak Against : Hard Knuckle

Main attacks: Top Man will throw out multiple tops that hover in the air before zoning in on Mega Man in a straight line. He will then spin (pirouette, really) and propel himself across the screen at Mega Man.

Weapon : Top Spin - Used by jumping and using the weapon in mid air. Mega Man will spin like a top and damage any enemy he hits. Color Scheme: Grey and Pink

Hard Man

Weak Against : Magnet Missiles

Main attacks: Hard Man will throw out consecutive Hard Knuckles that angle towards Mega Man. He will also leap high into the air; upon crashing down, he will cause an enormous quake that will stun Mega Man if he's on the ground when it occurs.

Weapon : Hard Knuckle - Shoots a fist-shaped missile that moves slowly, but does big damage. Can destroy certain walls. Color Scheme: Navy Blue and Grey

Spark Man

Weak Against : Shadow Blade

Main attacks: Spark Man will leap around and try to collide with you. He also generates a large spark and tosses it in your general direction. His lair is not flat, making it difficult to avoid him.

Weapon : Spark Shock - Fires a large ball of electricity. Easy to use because of the large size of the projectiles. Color Scheme: Salmon and White

Gemini Man

Weak Against : Search Snake

Main attacks: Gemini Man will split in two, and the pair will work in a quasi-juggling pattern: one running along the ground from left to right, trying to collide with Mega Man, and one leaping in the air from right to left. When the airborne clone hits the ground, the two exchange roles. The Gemini Man clones will also eventually merge and the one will fire his reflective Gemini Laser.

Weapon : Gemini Laser - Fires a blue laser that can bounce off walls. Can continue after hitting an opponent and hit more than once. Color Scheme:  Light Blue and White

Needle Man

Weak Against : Gemini Laser

Main attacks: Needle Man leaps high in the air and fires off consecutive needles at different points during his descent. He will also thrust his needle-ridden "hair" your way.

Weapon : Needle Cannon - Fire a barrage of needles. Can rapid fire by holding down the fire button. Color Scheme: Brown and White

Magnet Man

Weak Against : Spark Shock

Main attacks: Magnet Man leaps high in the air and fires off consecutive magnet missiles, which take a right angle downwards depending on where you're standing at the time. He will also attempt to pull you into his magnetic field to cause massive damage.

Weapon : Magnet Missiles - Shoots a magnet that can move up or down to "track" enemies to a certain degree. Color Scheme: Red and Grey

Shadow Man

Weak Against : Top Spin

Main attacks: Shadow Man uses a combination of short hops, high jumps and slides to collide with you. He will also throw out his Shadow Blades at seemingly random intervals.

Weapon : Shadow Blade - Shoots a ninja star that goes straight but boomerangs back. Limited range, but can be fired up or down as well as forwards. Color Scheme - Purple and Lilac

Snake Man

Weak Against : Needle Cannon

Main attacks: Snake Man will fire off several Search Snakes that probe the ground and walls, making it difficult for Mega Man to maneuver around Snake Man's angular lair. At the same time, Snake Man will use the make-up of his lair to jump around and attempt to collide with Mega Man.

Weapon : Search Snake - Shoots a snake-like projectile that travels along the floor. Can even move up or down walls. Color Scheme - Green and White

Items

In addition to the Robot Master's weapons, Mega Man can summon the robotic dog " Rush". Rush can perform a variety of tasks to aid Mega Man, effectively taking the place of the items from previous Mega Man games.

• Rush Coil: Rush becomes a spring board that will launch Mega Man into the air. Available from the start.
• Rush Marine: Rush becomes a submarine that Mega Man can enter and use to traverse bodies of water. Obtained after defeating Shadow Man.
• Rush Jet: Rush becomes a jet board that Mega Man can ride to traverse large pits. Obtained after defeating Needle Man.

 

Series Notes

• Rush makes his first appearance of the series in Mega Man 3, though Mega Man has had the aid of similar transportation tools in Mega Man 2.
• Mega Man 3 marks the first time that the series has deviated from the theme music that plays when you confirm your selection of a boss robot. The recognizable theme from the original Mega Man and Mega Man 2 would return in Mega Man 4, but would change again for Mega Man 5 and Mega Man 6.
• Mega Man would previously storm Dr. Wily's castle immediately after the demise of the final robot master in Mega Man and Mega Man 2. However, Mega Man 3 started the trend of delaying this inevitable assault by one stanza. Here, Mega Man hasto fight through the eight reincarnations of the Mega Man 2 robots as well as face off with "Break Man" before heading to Wily himself. (In subsequent NES games, Dr. Cossack, Protoman and Mr. X would masquerade as the "lead villains" before Dr. Wily was unsurprisingly revealed as the true mastermind behind all of the events that were taking place.)
• Mega Man 3 marks the franchise debut of the aforementioned Protoman as Mega Man's brother.

Visual / Aural Odds and Ends

• Mega Man 3 changed the sound effect, in relation to its predecessors, that plays when Mega Man lands on the ground from a jump or a fall.
• Mega Man 3 changed the sound effect, in relation to its predecessors, that plays when Mega Man is hit.
• Mega Man 3 changed the sound effect and appearance, in relation to its predecessors, of Mega Man's explosion--as well as those of other robot masters--upon death. The "bubbles" that burst outward travel faster, and sport a cleaner, larger look. In addition, defeated robot masters explode with the same white bursts as Mega Man does; in previous games, those bursts are tinged with the color scheme of the robot master.
• Mega Man 3 increased the speed at which Mega Man climbed ladders from its predecessors.
• Mega Man 3 used a very slightly less abrasive sound effect for recharging life meters from its predecessors.
• Mega Man 3 changed the way Mega Man's mega-buster shots collided with boss characters. In previous entries, the sound effects were employed such that Mega Man's shots wouldn't register as a "hit" while the boss character's hit burst appeared on the screen. (About the "hit burst": every time you hit a robot master with a shot, a white flash would emanate from its body, indicating a successful hit.) In Mega Man 3, the sound effects made it sound as if every shot you fired came in contact with a robot master, instead of having some shots "pass through." However, as in previous games, only shots that resulted in the hit burst would deplete the boss characters' energy meter.

Critical Reception

When the Game Boy version was released in 1993 Electronic Gaming Monthly awarded Mega Man 3 a Gold Editor's Choice emblem and scores of 8,8,9 and 7.  They stated, "...a near perfect copy of the NES version.  The game plays the same, looks the same (without color of course) and almost sounds the same.  This is easily one of the best GB action titles to come out in a long time.  great bosses and not a lot of screen blurring".