Welcome to another edition of Playing With Power. The review article that looks at all things Nintendo Entertainment System. And welcome dear reader to week three of Mega May, where we celebrate the legacy of the legendary Blue Bomber by reviewing the NES Mega Man games. And this week is what many consider to either be the highest point of Mega Man, or the beginning of the slippery slope. Which one is it really? Let’s find out with this week’s review of Mega Man 3.
YEAR OF RELEASE: 1990
PUBLISHER: Capcom
GENRE: Action Platformer
Mega Man 2 proved to be a major success for Capcom, with over 1.5 million copies of the game selling worldwide. The Blue Bomber, once considered a doomed character, was now the forefront of Capcom, and it was only logical to continue the franchise with another sequel.
The development of Mega Man 3 was a bit shaky, with the original lead developer of the series had quit Capcom prior to the game’s work, and they would also eventually lose their main planner as well, making the final months of work on the game especially hectic. Keiji Inafune has been cited by saying that this was one his least favorite Mega Mans to develop due to what went into the development of the game, and what would be the eventual outcome, feeling that the game was unpolished, and they would have fixed many of the game’s major issues had the time constraints not been an issue.
Despite that however, Mega Man 3 would see release in 1990, to which it would also be a million seller, and earn solid critical praise for its new additions, and it’s gameplay still not suffering from staleness despite this being the third outing for the character. Mega Mania still proved strong at the time, as more toys, games, and other miscellanea were being shilled at the time. Mega Man 3 is often considered the last good hurrah of the 8-bit titles, but is that a worthy acclaim? Let’s go a bit further.
COVER STORY
This cover is definitely a step up in quality from the last two boxes. Mega Man not only is starting to look like his official form, he’s finally firing with his arm cannon instead of some random laser gun. I will say that Mega Man does have a bit of a creepy looking face on the cover, but that aside, there’s really no complaints. It’s very action packed, very eye catching, and has that sexy purple border that Capcom games love. But how does the European box handle?
And again, Europe gets the beter box art. It uses the official art style, features every major character in the game, and just looks really nice, despite the lack of that oh-so-sweet purple border. My only issues is that creepy as hell picture of Dr. Wily, and the color scheme on Mega Man seems wrong (unless he’s using another weapon), but you can’t deny that this is an epic box.
STORY
In the year 200x, Dr. Light is once again working on a device to help the world. This time it’s a giant peace keeping robot known as Gamma. Dr. Wily, who despite his world domination attempts prior, has claimed to have changed his ways, and as gullible as he is, Dr. Light believes his former partner. However, while working on Gamme, eight robots have gone berserk, and once again the world is in peril. Not only that, but a mysterious masked robot named Break Man, is also on the loose. Once again Mega Man leaps into action, accompanied by his robot dog Rush, as they once again have to save the world. But has Wily truly reformed? And is there a dark secret about Break Man?
MEGA MEMORIES FROM CM WATERS
As a favor to a good friend of mine, I have invited CM Waters to share his thoughts on these classic titles. You can check some of Chris’ work over on his Watersfall Industries blog. So without further ado, here’s Chris’ thoughts on Mega Man 3.
After the success of Mega Man 2, it was hard to believe that Capcom would manage to improve beyond that. After all, what more could they possibly do with Mega Man 3?
The answer: a LOT!
Many people consider Mega Man 3 to be the pinnacle of the entire Mega Man series (well, the classic series…let’s not get into the whole X series and such here): great boss battles, a story (though mostly through the manual) that started to expand the universe, memorable side characters that would be continued to be used all the way to the latest (and possibly last the way Capcom is going) game: Mega Man 10. This game solidified Mega Man for good, and it’s easy to see why it and Mega Man 2 are easily considered the best of the series.
It’s even tricky for me to talk so much about this game, because it definitely is one of the biggest of the series at this point in time: not only do you have the 8 Masters, then you have to go through four of the levels again, a middle fight, THEN the castle at the end: it was a sprawling game to be sure. Kind of sad future games didn’t follow the same, but they had their own way of doing things as we’ll see next.
Mega Man 3 definitely is a must play, as well as its predecessor. You play Mega Man 2 and 3, you know how great Capcom at the very least USED to be.
Now let’s see if Ray has the same thoughts on it that I did.
GAMEPLAY
Mega Man 3 is a one player action platformer. Similar to the last Mega Man game, you control our hero as he has to defeat all the robot masters, collect their powers, and once again face off with Dr. Wily at the end. You control Mega Man once again by using the D-Pad to move, A to jump, and B to shoot. This time, the game has added a new feature in sliding. Holding down, and pressing A will execute a slide that can be used to get through small areas, or to dodge hazards.
Another new addition is Rush, Mega Man’s robot dog. Replacing the items in Mega Man 2, Rush can transform into three different forms to help Mega Man in his quest. You start with the Rush Coil, which shoots a spring out of Rush’s back that can get Mega Man to higher areas. The Rush Jet can be used to fly from one area to another, while moving in any direction. And the Rush Marine acts as a sub that can traverse Mega Man through tricky water areas faster. Like the items in the last game, these all require energy to use, and the Rush Marine and Jet both must be collected by defeating certain robot masters.
Speaking of the Robot Masters, there are once again eight of them to contend with. The rogues gallery for this instalment are:
MAGNET MAN: Very similar looking to Metal Man in the last game, Magnet Man is a red robot with a magnet on his head. His main attacks are throwing three magnets in the air that will drop on you. He also bounces from corner to corner, and uses an electical force field for a short period of time. Beating him will get his Magnet Missile, which will act as a minor homing attack on enemies, but it can be hit or miss.
SNAKE MAN: In a factory filled with giant snake robots, and other major hazards awaits Snake Man, a robot with a giant green snake helmet. He’ll move from right to left, dropping robot snakes. His defeat will earn you the Search Snake, giving you the ability to throw three snakes at a time that both can climb up walls and attack low enemies.
TOP MAN: And the winner for the lamest robot of the game is easily Top Man. After a level filled with spikes, top shooting robots, and giant cats throwing yarn balls and robot fleas, is Top Man, a clown-like robot who throws three easy to dodge tops, and spins from one side of the boss area to the other. Beating him gets the Top Spin, AKA one of the worst Mega Man weapons of all time. All it is is Mega Man jumping in the air and doing a weak looking spin. Despite being useful against the robot master weak to it, and surprisingly being the weapon needed to beat the game, its use on any other robot is almost pointless.
NEEDLE MAN: This bulky robot lives in an area filled with robot porcupines and other spiky obstacles. His main attack is throwing spiked needles from the air, as well as using his spiked head to deal major damage. You get his Needle Cannon, which is as you’d expect, a plethora of needle shots.
HARD MAN: I have to believe this wasn’t the original name. There’s just no way. Considering that Hard Man looks like an iron boiler, you’d think maybe they were going for Iron Man. But since that would lead to a legal sticky wicket with Marvel, they went for one of the sillier names in the Mega Man franchise. Hard Man is similar to Guts man, in that he is the heaviest robot in the game, and his jumps can cause debilitating quakes. He’ll try to drop on you, and if he misses, he’ll shoot his arms at you. The Hard Knuckle is your prize, which you can use to shoot in certain directions, and break certain walls. Though one major issues is that it is a slow weapon, and can take a lot of energy to use.
SHADOW MAN: My favorite robot master design of the game. Shadow Man is a blue ninja with a shuriken on his head. Lurking in the lava depths, Shadow Man’s main weapon is his two giant shuriken, as well as a fast and devastating slide. He can be tricky, but he also suffers the unfortunate fate of being weak to the top spin. The Shadow Blade is your weapon, which similar to the metal blade can be shot in several directions, but has a smaller range, and is nowhere as strong overall.
GEMINI MAN: This is one of the cooler, and more annoying robot masters. Gemini Man will split into two at the beginning of the battle and go back and forth shooting at you. you have to destroy the both of them to finish the level. You get the Gemini Laser, which is a powerful laser blast that can bounce off walls. However, it takes a while to dissipate, meaning you can be a sitting duck.
SPARK MAN: Finally is Spark Man, a far more robotic looking robot master than the others. He moves from right to left like the others, and shoots giant sparks of electricity at you, as well as a circle of tinier sparks. His defeat will grant you the Spark Shock, which shoots small spark attacks that can freeze up certain robots.
While facing off with the robots, you will often face off with Break Man, a red robot that looks and acts similar to Mega Man. He’ll shoot, and jump, but can be easy to defeat considering the playing field you’re on. Most of the time, it will appear he’s against you, but sometimes it appears like he’s on your side, and help you advance further. Later you discover the truth, that Break Man is actually Proto Man. The original prototype robot of Dr. Light and Dr. Wily, and Mega Man’s brother.
After defeating the robot masters, you think it’s time to face off with Wily, but instead you have to return to four of the levels again (Needle, Spark, Gemini, and Shadow). The levels are more dangerous, and far more difficult than they once were, and within are giant robots, each installed with the powers of the robot masters of Mega Man 2. This time, they are far stronger, and more dangerous than ever. Two lurk in each level, and have to be destroyed to advance. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to earn their abilities in this game, which is a shame. That would have been pretty cool.
After all of that, you will learn that Wily has stolen Gamma, and you have to head to his castle to stop him. Once again is a stage filled with tricky enemies to face off with. Robot turtles, a rematch with the yellow devil, and a battle with three shadow clones of yourself are just some of the hazards that stand in your way as you travel through the castle. You’ll face off with the robot masters one more time, and then battle Wily again.
A few other minor fixes to the game include the ability to hold more than four E tanks, mystery cans that will hold either energy, health, 1-ups, or even E-tanks. The controls feel just as tight as always, and there is little to no hit detection issues. The game once again uses passwords, this time with blue and red orbs on two grids.
This Mega Man is often considered one of the most difficult in the series, and it’s believable. The robot masters are far harder, and the rematches with the MM2 bosses can be extremely daunting. I also find one big issue is that the weapons are for the most part useless. Other than the hard knuckle, you may never need to use any outside of boss fights. They’re interesting, and some of the more creative weapons, but are definitely lacking.
GRAPHICS
Once again Mega Man 3 delivers in the graphics department. More great looking levels, and some amazing sprites. The series continued to push the boundaries of what the graphical capability of the NES was, and this joins the rest of the series in absolute quality.
MUSIC
Let’s be honest. It’s impossible for any game to come close to matching the quality of the Mega Man 2 soundtrack. And while this one doesn’t exactly do that, it is still a solid soundtrack with plenty of amazing level tunes. My personal favorite songs in the game are the epic title screen, and Proto Man’s iconic whistle. No Mega Man soundtrack ever disappoints, and there are tons of ear worms for anyone in this instalment.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
Time for my own personal history with this game. This was the first Mega Man I had ever owned. I don’t know how it came into my possession, but it was one of a few NES games I had when I was around 13-14. I played this game for days, and weeks, trying to beat it. And eventually, I managed to finally defeat it. For that reason mainly, it has endured as one of my favorite games of all time, because I do hold that memory of beating this hard game close to my heart.
With that said, Mega Man 3 is a solid sequel. Great gameplay, graphics, and sound. It is the most pivotal in the series for expanding on the story and universe of Mega Man, as well as adding new and important characters in the series. The game is definitely one of the more difficult in the series, and may not be as perfectly tuned as it’s predecessor, or as popular either. But I still say that this one is a must play for anybody.
RANKING: #1
Next Week, Mega May 2012 concludes with a review of Mega Man 4. Do I consider it as good as the others? Or was this the beginning of the Blue Bomber’s 8-bit downfall? Check it out next week.