Title: Mega Man X 3
Release Date: December 1995 (Japan), January 1996 (US)
Original Platform: Super Famicom/Super Nintendo
Other Platforms: Sony Playstation and Sega Saturn (circa 1996)
Mega Man X 3 was originally released in 1995 for the Super Famicom. By this time the console was not yet quite on its last legs - 300+ Super Famicom titles were shipped that year, which was roughly the same amount as in 1994. However, by 95 both the Playstation and the Saturn were out everywhere, and the Nintendo 64 was only a year away. The writing was on the wall that the 16-bit consoles were on the downswing, and big companies like Capcom were focusing their development resources on the new generation.
Still, there were millions of Super Famicom and Super Nintendo consoles out there, and the company had an almost unbroken streak of yearly Mega Man releases going all the way back to 19871. It would be a shame if the transition to new console hardware got in the way of Capcom’s penchant for milking their heavy hitting franchises for all they were worth. So Capcom did the most Capcom thing imaginable. In order to still crank out a new Mega Man X game, they outsourced development of X3 to an external studio, Minakuchi Engineering, and released quick and dirty Playstation and Saturn ports the following year. Fans got their Mega Man fix, and Capcom got a multiplatform release on (what I am assuming was) the cheap.
Who were Minakuchi Engineering? According to Wikipedia, the company didn't have a whole lot of games to its name. Most of their work was as a sort of B-Team for Capcom. For instance, they developed all of the Mega Man games on Game Boy.
After an introduction like that, you might think that I am going to tear into this game. Indeed, that’s exactly what I would have done if I wrote this review about two years ago, when I played the game for the very first time. However, my recent run through on the Mega Man X Legacy Collection was a much better experience. Interestingly, this tracks with the Mega Man fanbase’s extremely mixed views of this game. In fact, I think I have a pretty good grasp as to why reviews are so mixed.
Mega Man X2 and X3 are together a study in different ways to approach a sequel. At the risk of sounding too much like a bad imitation of a literary journal, X2 is what I would call an “experimental” sequel, while X3 is an “iterative” one. X2 is a game that tries very hard to experiment with its predecessor’s ideas. It’s still the same core game and core formula, but everything from the armor upgrades to the weapons to the boss battles feel … different.
X3, on the other hand, takes a bunch of concepts from X1 (and a few from X2) and tries to build upon them in hopes of making a bigger, badder, deeper game. Remember the Ride Armors from X1 and X2? X3 has a whole Ride Armor system, where you can unlock and use multiple types of mechs, and use them in almost every single level. All of its armor upgrades are improved versions of upgrades seen in the previous games2, and on top of that, there are additional enhancements via the Upgrade Chip system. X3 is also the first time in series history that you can play as Zero. And it gives you a way of unlocking Zero’s beam saber for X to wield.
And it has alternative bosses to fight after meeting certain conditions.
And it has two different endings.
And it brings back the idea of certain stages being affected by clearing other stages.
So yeah, Mega Man X3 has a lot going on. It definitely feels like it wants to be a “bigger” game than either of its predecessors.
Mega Man X2 showed us that when it comes to Experimental sequels, “different” is not always equal to “better”. With an Iterative sequel like X3, we have a different concern - namely that “bigger” is not always equal to “better”. A lot of X3’s ideas simply don’t pan out. For example, the Ride Armor system introduces a ton of new mechs, but you cannot really use them any more than you could in X1 or X2. Zero’s inclusion as a playable character is certainly a delight for most fans, but in my estimation he’s more trouble than he’s worth.
Then you have things like the alternate bosses and the Upgrade chips. Ostensibly these are meant to give the game replay value, but I cannot imagine diving right back into X3 just try them all out. They’re more of a “I’ll see these when I revisit the game in a couple of years” kind of feature.
A bit of context
I made a bunch of claims in the paragraph above without any details or context. I plan on going into much more detail in my X3 Deep Dive, but for now, here are some basic explanations about why these features fizzle out:
Ride Armor: The rules governing the Ride Armor System make it rather difficult to actually unlock and use them all. Also, you can still only use them for very brief stretches of a stage. You're done almost as soon as you started.
Zero: Zero can't fight certain bosses, he only has one life for the entire game, and using him prohibits you from finding X's upgrades. It's just not worth it.
Upgrade Chips: There are several. Each one offers a super useful enhancement, but you can only install one, so you have to choose. If you want to try the others, you'll have to play through again.
What we have, then, is a video game sequel that can best be described in the style of Homer Simpson and the antiques store owner from Treehouse of Horror III:
This game is rich in new content
That's good!
But beware - most of the new content sucks
That's bad
But, you can safely ignore most of it
That's good!
A sloppier, less tightly executed version of X1
That's bad
BUT, this game lays claim to one more secret feature
That's good!
The secret feature is that the game is hard as balls
Can I go home now?
So yeah, about that difficulty. Mega Man X3 is a tough game. The X Buster is considerably less powerful than it was in X2, and is perhaps even weaker than in X1. A fully charged Buster is not going to one-shot all that many enemies. X also takes a lot more damage here. Until you find some Heart Containers you can easily die in as little as three hits (depending on the enemy type and attack type).
On top of all this, the game has a strange philosophy regarding health capsules. Enemies don’t drop them very often3 Instead, the game has a fondness for placing one or two large capsules in several locations along the course of the level. It reminds me of how arcade racing games extend your time limit at checkpoints. It’s like X3 is saying “okay, you got this far. Here’s some health to ‘extend’ your time. Now let’s see if you can make it to the next ‘checkpoint’”.
The result of this design is twofold. First, it gives you a rough way of judging your performance. “I’m X far away from the next ‘checkpoint’. If I have Y health when I get there, I’ll be able to top off my health bar. But if I have Z health right now, I might only be able to fill my health bar halfway at best. I better be more careful”. I actually like this concept quite a lot. It adds a bit of a different flavor to the traditional flow and feel of a Mega Man stage. I wouldn’t want every MM game to be like this, but it works in small doses.
On a more general level, though, I am not only okay with, but endorse the extra difficulty. It largely impacts the early phases of the game; once you find enough weapons and upgrades, it eventually evens out. But even if that were not the case, I would still be in favor of making X3 a tougher game. If you are three games into a series that is known for challenging 2d action platforming, and you are turned off by the developers turning up the heat, might I politely ask what it is you are doing playing a game like this in the first place?4
We’ve talked a lot about the ways in which X3 tries to build on and improve upon its predecessors, but there are some areas in which it doesn’t do enough. One of those is stage design. Some of the level themes in X3 are a little too similar to ones found in MMX1. For example, Gravity Beetle’s stage takes place at an airport (similar to X1’s Storm Eagle), and Volt Catfish takes up residence in a large tower (akin to X1’s Boomer Kuwanger).
There is also the fact that the overall quality of the stages is extremely uneven. One moment you are treated to some beautiful background art and interesting platforming, and the next you are facing plain backgrounds and straight hallways. It is like the developers had enough pieces to build half of a good level, and strung them together with string and popsicle sticks to create a full one.
This is the main reason why so many fans consider X3 to be such a boring and uninspired game. Personally, I disagree - even the “boring” parts still have challenges to overcome - but that is missing the point. The conundrum we face with judging a game like Mega Man X 3 is that any given person’s opinion will be based largely on what it is they expect from a sequel, moreso than on any “objective” measure of quality.
Do you want a sequel that tries to do something new and different? Or do you expect a sequel to be a demonstrably bigger, better, deeper game? In either case, X3 is going to be a letdown.
On the other hand, if you want a sequel that nails the same core game design but gives veteran players something more to chew on, X3 is going to fit the bill. Even if the game “objectively” fails to execute a lot of its ideas, that won’t matter to folks in this camp, since you can safely ignore so much of the new stuff.
Personally, I fall into this latter camp. A game that boils down to “a sloppier, but tougher version of X1” is still my idea of a pretty good time. In fact, I found X3 to be a more interesting and worthwhile experience than X2. I can actually see myself replaying this one in a year or two!
BUT! That might not be the case for you! And hopefully you should be able to figure out what camp you lie in, in which case enjoy! Or don’t!
Other Thoughts
- X3’s soundtrack was composed by Kinuyo Yamashita, who is famous for also composing the music for the original Castlevania. Overall, the soundtrack has a very thrashy, aggressive, almost heavy metal sound that doesn’t quite venture into “butt rock” territory. It is impossible to hear the music in Volt Catfish or Toxic Seahorse’s stages and not think that sh*t is about to go down. Then of course there is Blizzard Buffalo’s music, which is the soundtrack’s wild card. Featuring no guitars, the piece somehow manages to feel cold. Somber and haunting, I believe it is one of the very best musical works to come out of the entire Mega Man franchise5.
- Why is it that my opinion on X3 changed so drastically between my first playthrough a few years ago, and this most recent one? My guess is it has to do with the presence (or lack thereof) of save states. I had them when playing it the first time, on the SNES Classic, but not when playing it this time on the Legacy Collection. With save states, I never really had to deal with the game’s increase in difficulty. Heck, I didn’t really have to pay much attention at all. I could just mindlessly barrel my way through without thinking. By taking them away, I had to actually bring my best skills to the game. That made me focus, and focus is what allowed me to really notice and analyze what the game brought to the table.
- 1989 was the only year between 87 and 95 in which there was no new Mega Man game. [return]
- I point this out because it was decidedly not the case with X2. That game very intentionally made all of its armor upgrades different than the ones in X1. [return]
- There is a way to force the game to spit out more health capsules, but you will have to read my Weapons Deep Dive to learn more. [return]
- I am generally in favor of accessible games with difficulty sliders, but Mega Man games are old, and they had the whole “super challenging” schtick for a long time. With that in mind, no one should be shocked or offended at the idea of a Mega Man game leaning further into being difficult. [return]
- I am well aware of just how bold a claim this is to make, but I stand buy it. If you are still unconvinced, listen to this version performed on piano by the track’s composer. [return]