| Mega Man 3 | |
|---|---|
 North American box art by Greg Winters | |
| Developer | Capcom |
| Publishers | |
| Director | Masayoshi Kurokawa |
| Producer | Tokuro Fujiwara |
| Designers |
|
| Programmer | Tadashi Kuwana |
| Artists |
|
| Composers | |
| Series | Mega Man |
| Platforms | |
| Release | |
| Genre | Platform |
| Mode | Single-player |
| Arcade system | PlayChoice-10 |
Mega Man 3[a] (stylized asMega Man III) is a 1990platform game developed and published byCapcom for theNintendo Entertainment System. It is the third installment of theoriginalMega Man series and was originally released in Japan on September 28, 1990. The game was released in North America later in 1990 and in European regions byNintendo a year later. Taking place after the events ofMega Man 2, the plot follows thetitular hero as he helps his creator,Dr. Light, and a supposedly former enemy,Dr. Wily, collect parts for a peace-keeping robot by defeating severalRobot Masters that have gone haywire.
Mega Man 3 follows the same format set forth by its two predecessors. The player, as Mega Man, must complete a series of stages in any order. Defeating a stage's boss will earn the player its special weapon, which can be selected and used at will throughout the rest of the game.Mega Man 3 introduces new gameplay elements such as Mega Man's canine sidekickRush and the ability to slide along the ground. Unlike the first two installments of the series, artist and designerKeiji Inafune has considered the creation ofMega Man 3 to be very stressful due to time constraints and his own increased responsibilities during its development.
Following the success ofMega Man 2 released two years earlier,Mega Man 3 has sold 1.08 million copies and has been positively received in critical reviews. Its presentation and gameplay have been especially praised, although many sources found the game to be toodifficult. Like other titles in the series,Mega Man 3 has been re-released several times on other gaming platforms, onmobile phones, and as part of variousMega Man franchise compilations.[9] A sequel,Mega Man 4, was released in 1991.
Mega Man 3 takes place during an unspecified year during the 21st century (20XX). Some time afterMega Man 2, the mad scientistDr. Wily, having twice had plans for world domination dashed, claims to have reformed and begins work withDr. Light on a project to build a peace-keeping robot named "Gamma".[10]Robot Masters – Top Man, Shadow Man, Spark Man, Magnet Man, Hard Man,Snake Man, Gemini Man, and Needle Man – in charge of a set of "mining worlds", however, go berserk and make off with Gamma's eight power crystals.[11] Mega Man is called into action, this time with a canine companion named Rush, to retrieve the crystals from the sites.[12] Throughout his mission, the protagonist continuously encounters and spars with Break Man, a masked foe who has abilities comparable to Mega Man's own.[10] After Mega Man destroys the eight Robot Masters, he then revisits four of the mining sites to face off against eight "Doc Robots", who possess the abilities of the Robot Masters from Mega Man'sprevious mission. Once the crystals are retrieved, Wily reverts to his evil ways, steals Gamma, and retreats to his new fortress. To stop Wily's newest plan to conquer the world, Mega Man turns Gamma into scrap metal and defeats Wily in a final confrontation. As the fortress begins to crumble, Break Man appears in enough time to save Mega Man but is too late to save Wily, who is seen being crushed under the rubble. When Mega Man regains consciousness in Dr. Light's lab, his creator informs him that Break Man is actually his older brotherProto Man.[13][14]
Mega Man 3 is anaction game, and maintains gameplay elements established by the previous twoMega Man games released before it.[15] The player controls the protagonist Mega Man as he traverses eight selectable stages. The player's primary blaster weapon is used to fend off the game's numerous enemies. Severalpower-ups can be picked up in each stage, including life energy, special weapon ammunition, extra lives, and "E-Tanks", which are stored and can be selected to refill the player's life energy completely. At the end of every stage the player must defeat a Robot Masterboss: Magnet Man, Hard Man, Top Man, Shadow Man, Spark Man, Snake Man, Gemini Man, or Needle Man.[10][11] Each Robot Master features a unique weapon and stage related to the weapon's power. After defeating a boss, their signature weapon is added to Mega Man's arsenal.[12][15] The Robot Masters are weak to the weapons of certain other Robot Masters, allowing the player to ease the boss battles by clearing some stages before others.
Mega Man 3 is the firstMega Man game to feature the slide maneuver, which lets the player slip under enemy attacks and low-level barriers.[15] After completing certain stages, Mega Man can access new abilities in his robot dog companion Rush.[11][12] Rush's transformations include the "Rush Coil" for jumping higher, the "Rush Jet" for flying around the screen, and the "Rush Marine" for traveling underwater.[10][15][16] Throughout the various stages the player encounters Proto Man (as Break Man), a mini-boss who, once defeated, will open passageways for the player to advance.[10][15][17]Mega Man 3 also expands upon the two preceding games by having additional stages set between the initial eight Robot Masters and the linear stages of Dr. Wily's fortress.[10][11][16] Apassword system can be used to return to the game with most of the stages completed.[12] The "Doc Robots" are fought after defeating all 8 Robot Masters. The Doc Robots are faced in the Spark Man stage, Needle Man stage, Gemini Man stage, and Shadow Man stage.
Development onMega Man 3 began atCapcom over a year after the release ofMega Man 2.Akira Kitamura, the lead supervisor for the first two games quit his job at the company during that gap of time.[2] ArtistKeiji Inafune, credited as "Inafking", consideredMega Man 3 as one of his least favorite entries in the series due to "[...] what went into the game and what was behind the release of the game."[16][18] He had "preset notions" about successful development because of the team's good experience withMega Man 2 and found that his new superior "didn't really understandMega Man the way his predecessor did".[2] During the game's production, the developers lost the main planner, so Inafune had to take over that job for its completion.[18] Inafune recalled the final two months of development as particularly turbulent, when he had to take responsibility for assessing and dividing up tasks among the team members who were not meeting deadlines.[2][19] The team was forced to putMega Man 3 on the market before they thought it was ready, releasing it in September instead of the series' usual arrivals in December. Inafune concluded, "I knew that if we had more time to polish it, we could do a lot of things better, make it a better game, but the company said that we needed to release it. The whole environment behind what went into the production of the game is what I least favored. Numbers one and two – I really wanted to make the games; I was so excited about them. Number three – it just turned very different."[18]
Mega Man 3 brought new characters and gameplay mechanics to the franchise. Though Inafune considers the gameplay to have lost some of its simplicity, he felt Mega Man's slide ability was successfully implemented to enhance the player's control while battling enemies.[2] Mega Man's sidekick dog Rush was designed by combining the functionality of three support tools fromMega Man 2, which would ease the player's navigation of stages.[2] In addition to the Marine and Coil modes, Rush was originally intended to have a "drill" mode that would allow Mega Man to tunnel underground.[20][21] Another new character, Proto Man, was introduced in a way that the player would be unable to tell if he was an ally or an enemy to Mega Man.[2] His design was influenced byanime, and he was given both a scarf and shield to make him appear "tougher" than Mega Man.[2] The design team wanted Proto Man to sport uncovered hair, but they instead opted for an open-faced helmet illustration for both the television commercials and instruction manual.[20] Proto Man's original Japanese name, Blues, was changed by Capcom's North American division despite Inafune's protests. Capcom did this not only to be consistent with Rockman's English name, but because they thought that the name Blues made no sense. Inafune attempted to defend it due to the name'smusical connotation to character names in the series.[22] Though Rush and Proto Man were created solely by the developer, Capcom sought ideas from fans for the creation of the game's Robot Masters as they had done withMega Man 2.[21] The team received around 50,000 design submissions forMega Man 3, only eight of which were used in the game.[2][23]Harumi Fujita, credited as "Mrs. Tarumi", was the initial composer of the game, but she only completed a few songs before giving birth and having to drop off the project.[24] She composed the songs ‘Needle Man’, ‘Gemini Man’, and ‘Staff Roll’.[25] Capcom composerYasuaki Fujita, also known as "Bun Bun" was then assigned to complete the soundtrack and created the majority of the score.[7][8]
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| AllGame | 4.5/5[26] |
| Dragon | 3/5[27] |
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | 9/10, 9/10, 9/10, 9/10[28] |
| Eurogamer | 9 out of 10[29] |
| Famitsu | 5/10, 6/10, 7/10, 5/10[30] |
| IGN | 9.5 out of 10[15] |
| Famicom Hisshohon [ja] | 3.5/5[31] |
Mega Man 3 has enjoyed a positive reception from print and online sources. Lucas M. Thomas ofIGN, Christian Nutt and Justin Speer ofGameSpot, Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser ("The Lessers") ofDragon, Dan Whitehead ofEurogamer, Edward J. Semrad ofThe Milwaukee Journal andElectronic Gaming Monthly (EGM), and the staff ofNintendo Power all mutually found the game to have impressive graphics, enjoyable music, and challenging gameplay.[15][28][29][32][33][34] Nutt and Speer summarizedMega Man 3 as a "top-notch game" and Capcom's "pinnacle of NES effort".[32]IGN's Colin Moriarty argued the game as a major improvement over the originalMega Man and that it even surpasses the critically acclaimedMega Man 2 in quality. Moriarty justified this claim with the third installment's attempt at better storytelling, its longer length than any other classicMega Man game, and its inclusion of all eightMega Man 2 Robot Masters in addition to its own.[35] Brett Alan Weiss ofAllGame described it as doing what "a great sequel is supposed to do by recapturing the fun, spirit and excitement of its predecessors while adding new levels, characters and challenges."[26] A reviewer inFamicom Hisshohon [ja] found the game a bit bland. Stating it lacked the spectacular weapons ofMega Man 2 and still had the many issues with that were present in the previous game.[31]
Some critics foundMega Man 3 to beexcessively difficult.[29][30][36][37]GamePro contributor McKinley Noble comically stated that actions such as "pulling teeth, lifting a car over your head or performing open-heart surgery" are all significantly easier than beatingMega Man 3.[37] Whitehead noted, "Leaps must be precise, enemies must be dispatched rapidly and accurately, and there's a constant state of delicious near-panic as you wait to see what vicious demands the next room will place on your platforming skills."[29] The Lessers additionally saw considerableflicker when too many sprites appear onscreen at once. The writers mentioned that it detracted from the normally crisp graphics the few times it was noticed.[27]
Since its 1990 release,Mega Man 3 has sold over one million copies worldwide.[38]EGM listedMega Man 3 as "The Best Sequel to an Existing Game" in its 1991 Video Game Buyer's Guide.[39] The readers ofNintendo Power voted it the third-best game of 1990 in the magazine's "Nintendo Power Awards" for that year.[40] The publication listedMega Man 3 as the 11th best NES video game in their 20th anniversary issue in 2008.[34]IGN included it at number 16 on its "Top 100 NES Games of All Time".[41] Finally,GamePro rankedMega Man 3 as the third-greatest 8-bit video game of all time.[37]
Mega Man 3 has seen releases on many consoles and other devices since its 1990 debut on the NES. In the United States, it was made into a stripped-down, handheldLCD game byTiger Electronics.[42] It is the onlyMega Man game in Nintendo'sPlayChoice-10arcade library.[43][44]Mega Man 3 wasremade in 1994 for theSega Genesis gameMega Man: The Wily Wars, featuring updated graphics and sound.[16]Mega Man 3 was released on theSonyPlayStation in theRockman Complete Works line in Japan in 1999. This version has arranged music, artwork galleries, and a "navi" mode for beginner players.[3]: 134–135 [32] The NES edition of the game was also part of a North American compilation of ten titles in the series calledMega Man Anniversary Collection, which was released for thePlayStation 2 andGameCube in 2004, and theXbox in 2005.[45][46] Also in 2005,Mega Man 3 was bundled alongside other Capcom games as part of aPlug It In & Play TV Games peripheral byJakks Pacific.[47]Mega Man 3 was released by Capcom onmobile phones in Japan in 2005 and in North America in 2008.[5][4] The NES version made its way to the NintendoWii'sVirtual Console service worldwide in 2008.[48][49][50] TheComplete Works version was released on thePlayStation Network (downloadable onPlayStation 3 andPlayStation Portable) in Japan in 2010 and in North America in 2011.[51][52]Mega Man 3 was made available for download on theNintendo 3DS Virtual Console in Japan on September 26, 2012.[53]Mega Man 3 and its prequelMega Man 2 are included on the Super Retro-Cade collection, a dedicated console released in 2018 that comes with 90 arcade, NES and Super NES video games.[54][55]
Many of the features introduced inMega Man 3 have been carried on by the series. These include the characters Proto Man and Rush, the player's ability to slide, and extra stages set between the initial eight Robot Masters and Dr. Wily's fortress.[56] With the release ofMega Man 9 in 2008, however, some of these elements and others implemented in the third through eighth installments were forgone in favor of the more basic aspects ofMega Man andMega Man 2.[14][57] The producers ofMega Man 9 have referred to the ninth game as "the newMega Man 3" because they wanted to surpass what they accomplished inMega Man 2.[58][59]
The game was adapted into theArchie ComicsMega Man series over an extended period, with Gamma being introduced and having its power source stolen in the "Redemption" arc while the full adaptation takes place in "Legends of the Blue Bomber" and "The Ultimate Betrayal". One of the biggest differences was thatSuper Adventure Rockman was adapted into the continuity prior to this game; as such, theMega Man 3 Robot Masters debut in that adaptation. This also results in Shadow Man's ruins of origin being made the Lanfront Ruins ofSuper Adventure Rockman and connecting his history to that of Ra Moon; a flashback featured in the "Legends of the Blue Bomber" arc reveals that his history is also connected with the mysterious robot who fights Duo in the beginning ofMega Man 8. Additionally, there is but a single "DOC Robot" featured in the game, equipped with the weapons and personality data of theMega Man 2 Robot Masters.
{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)Dr. Light: Mega Man, you've regained consciousness. I found you lying here when I arrived. I wonder who brought you here... This whistle... It must have been Proto Man!
