Mega Man X3

Mega Man X3, known as Rockman X3 (ロックマンX3) in Japan, is the third game in the Mega Man X series and the last Mega Man X game to appear on the Super Nintendo, released in 1995. The game was remixed and re-released for the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation in Japan and Europe in 1996 and for the PC in 1997 featuring FMV sequences and an orchestrated soundtrack. The game's remixed counterpart was also later released as part of the Mega Man X Collection. This is the first game where Zero is playable, which will become a staple in the series (although he only has one "life" and cannot fight stage bosses, with a few sub-bosses as exceptions).

It is considered a difficult game by some fans of the series for numerous reasons. Many standard enemies are designed to be approached strategically or with caution, with many having defenses, counterattacks, or other behaviors that prevent the player from just charging in with the buster blazing. For example the Drimole-W enemy in Tunnel Rhino's stage launches drills that block shots, and when it's destroyed, those drills automatically fire as a last ditch effort. There's also the Walk Blaster in Crush Crawfish's stage, which are programmed to dodge the player's shots by lying down to fire as soon as the attack button is pressed. The Crablaster enemies in Volt Catfish's stage break before being fully destroyed, and they emit an energy field that has to be shot through before the job can be finished. Additionally, many bosses have attacks that take off huge chunks of X's health bar, especially before the body armor is obtained.

Story
In the year 21XX, all the Mavericks have been neutralized thanks to the efforts of a Reploid scientist named, "Dr. Doppler". Using his Neuro Computer he has been able to suppress any abnormal behavior in the Reploids and prevent them from going berserk. Many of the most advanced Reploids have gathered near their new mentor and founded "Dopple Town", a perfect Utopian community. With Dr. Doppler guiding them, the world seemed ready to enter a new golden age...

A few months later, the Mavericks who were supposed to have been neutralized by the Neuro Computer suddenly appeared and began to riot... At the Maverick Hunter's headquarters, all the intelligence indicated that Dr. Doppler was the mastermind behind the invasion. Soon, the call went out to X and Zero to destroy the invading Mavericks and to bring Dr. Doppler to justice.

A few hours later, an emergency contact was made by the Maverick Hunter headquarters. They are under attack from Doppler's force. X and Zero return to base immediately to stop them.

After defeating the Mavericks in the headquarters, X and Zero fight against Mavericks around Doppler Town. Analyzing the defeated Mavericks, Dr. Cain pinpointed the location of Doppler's hidden laboratory. When X confronted and defeated Doppler, he found out that Doppler was not responsible for the revolt - Sigma was. Doppler had been infected and had built a new powerful body for Sigma, "Kaiser Sigma", but in the end he is defeated by X. However, he turns into a pure viral form, chasing X and cornering him in an attempt to possess his body.

There are two endings to the game. They both show that Dr. Doppler completed a true anti-virus. One ending shows that Zero picked Doppler's anti-virus and used it with his Z-Saber, dropping down and dealing a fatal blow to Sigma. In the other ending, which occurs if Zero is defeated and is undergoing repairs (that includes obtaining the Z-Saber for X), Dr. Doppler himself comes to the rescue, sacrificing himself to use the anti-virus on Sigma.

Gameplay
Mega Man X3 follows its predecessors in terms of gameplay. Players still control X whilst battling Mavericks and managing through obstacles and tough terrain. Once a boss is defeated, X will copy the weapon of the defeated boss. However, this game also debuts the first playable appearance of Zero, a previous NPC who appeared during cutscenes to assist the player. Zero is first playable in the intro level and can be called upon at any time for one life per stage. He possesses a stronger variant of the X-Buster, the Z-Buster, which is capable of four level charges. The fourth level charge fires two fully charged Z-Buster shots followed by a slash from the Z-Saber, the most powerful weapon in the game. He also always starts out with a fully upgraded HP gauge as well. However, Zero is unable to do combat with bosses (with one exception) and automatically leaves and switches places with X again upon nearing the boss door and thus, cannot gain new weapons.

The Armor collecting from the first and second games return, but has further emphasis. In addition to the armor, the player may collect Enhancement Chips which further upgrades the armor parts, giving X a wider range of abilities. However, if the player collects all of the armor parts but none of the enhancement chips, it is possible to unlock a gold palette swap for the armor which provides all of the enhancement powers automatically. Finally, if certain conditions are met, X can obtain the Z-Saber from Zero, but at that point, he can no longer be summoned to help anymore for the rest of the game.

Bosses
Opening Stage bosses: Eight Mavericks: Intermission bosses:
 * Mac
 * Maoh the Giant
 * Bit
 * Byte
 * Vile MK-2

Final stage bosses:
 * Godkarmachine O Inary
 * Press Disposer
 * Volt Kurageil
 * Dr. Doppler
 * Sigma

Armor


This is the first and only game in the series with Enhancement Chips. The player may receive the normal Upgrade Chips from standard-colored Light Capsules, but from pink Dr. Light capsules, X may receive further enhancements. X may only receive one chip at a time, but he can find all four at once in a special way, similar to the Hadouken and Shoryuken from previous games.

Head Parts, in Tunnel Rhino's stage: Look for a peculiar boulder in the underground section of the level. Charge up a Triad Thunder to destroy the boulder. The first one X come to will contain a Heart Tank, and the second will contain the Capsule.
 * On the Stage Select screen, text will reveal what items are yet to be found in what stages. Enhancement Chips will be marked as ??????. When X enter a stage, a general map of the stage will be shown by X's helmet.

Head Chip , in Blast Hornet's stage: Look for a very large pit near the Ride Armor platform. Dash-jump with the Ride Armor to reach the Helmet Enhancement.
 * Whenever X stands still for a while, his energy and Sub-Tanks will begin to be refilled. This is useful in the corridor before Boss battles.

Body Parts, in Volt Catfish's stage: In a spike-lined tunnel, X will arrive in a high room with a strange device at the bottom. Charge a Gravity Well to reverse gravity and allow the device to carry X to the Armor Upgrade. However, if the player does not seek the Hyper Chip, X, if he has the Foot Upgrade, and has the Foot Chip, he can double upward dash to reach the Body Upgrade.
 * Halves the damage X takes and puts up a barrier that reduces the damage X takes from the next hit even further. It lasts for 5 seconds or until the next hit X takes.

Body Chip , in Crush Crawfish's stage: While in the outside area, grab a Ride Armor from the platform. Drop down the deep vertical passage and look for what appears to be a bottomless pit next to the broken girders. Drop down and crush the wall, opening the passage to the Body Enhancement.
 * Further decreases the damage X takes, and the barrier both lasts the full 5 second duration, reducing damage EVEN further during that time, no matter how many times X is hit.

Arm Parts, in Neon Tiger's stage: Look for a wall with cracks in it, and drill through it with the Tornado Fang. (If your X-Buster shots bounce off of a wall, it's breakable.) Continue into the room to find the Arm Upgrade.
 * If X charges both arm cannons and fires them both in quick succession, the shots will combine and become much more powerful. X can also charge his weapons.

Arm Chip , in Gravity Beetle's stage: Again, look for a breakable wall by searching them for cracks and firing at them with the X-Buster. Use the Ride Armor to break it, and continue to find the Arm Enhancement.
 * Adds the Hyper Cannon to X's arsenal; when selected, X will fire charged shots by using the Hyper Cannon's weapon energy. If X has multiple levels of charged shots (Left X-Buster, Right X-Buster, Z-Saber), they will fire in the order they are fired normally. The Hyper Cannon (or Hyper Charge) will not activate until its energy meter is completely full. Its energy is restored as X takes hits, NOT damage; it refills 1 bar every 2 hits.

Foot Parts, in Blizzard Buffalo's stage: When snow begins to fall, get as high as possible. Leap off of the third platform and grab onto a ledge. Continue into the tunnel to come upon the Leg Upgrade.
 * Allows X to air-dash once in the air if he has not entered the air through a dash-jump. New to Mega Man X3's air-dash is the ability to air-dash up, albeit not very far.

Foot Chip , in Toxic Seahorse's stage: In the underwater area after the Ride Armor platform, use the Frog Ride Armor to destroy the two fans high up. Get out of the armor and climb up the wall. Jump while on the surface of the water to surface-jump. Repeat this technique to cross the water, and you will reach the Leg Enhancement.
 * Allows X to air-dash twice in the air from a normal jump, or air-dash once from a dash-jump.
 * Note: In the SNES version, while it is impossible to obtain more than one upgrade chip in game, it IS possible to trick the game into giving you more than one via passwords. The Password Generator on the Mega Man Home page has options for enabling each chip and up to 3 can be "forced" into the password. (Trying to put in all 4 acts as the secret chip and will not work). Also, apparently the password has the potential to enable the helmet upgrade chip WITHOUT the armor enhancement, but this is not true of any other part.
 * Note: In the SNES version, while it is impossible to obtain more than one upgrade chip in game, it IS possible to trick the game into giving you more than one via passwords. The Password Generator on the Mega Man Home page has options for enabling each chip and up to 3 can be "forced" into the password. (Trying to put in all 4 acts as the secret chip and will not work). Also, apparently the password has the potential to enable the helmet upgrade chip WITHOUT the armor enhancement, but this is not true of any other part.

Secrets

 * Hyper Chip.
 * X's use of the Z-Saber.
 * In part three of Doppler's Lab, in the chamber with all the teleporters leading to the Maverick rematches, there is some sort of pod in the middle of the room, which can be shot for item pickups (Life Energy and Weapon Energy). If X slashes the pod with the Z-Saber, it will blow up but an 1UP will appear on top of it. This can be done each time the pod is restored after each rematch.

Trivia

 * As shown in the trailer above, Mega Man X3 was planned to be released for the 3DO, though the port was never completed.
 * Neon Tiger's stage music bears a strong resemblance to Guns N' Roses' My Michelle.
 * Crush Crawfish's stage music early segment sounds very similar to the NES Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles title screen demo music.
 * This is the only game in the Mega Man X series without a fire-elemental Maverick, though oddly, Dr. Doppler, Vile and Sigma use fire attacks.
 * This is also the only game in the Mega Man X series that doesn't feature any Mets, as X2 has the Garakuta Robot.
 * In the CD versions, during Volt Catfish's intro, a robot very similar to Auto can be seen.
 * This is the first game that allows the player to control Zero, although in a very limited capacity.
 * At the end of Mega Man X3, the text says: "To save mankind, he (X) must destroy Zero". This came to pass in Mega Man X5, with a duel between the two of them in Sigma's lair, though it was not actually X who destroyed Zero, but rather Sigma. It should be noted, however, that the Japanese version of the line above never mentions anything about destroying Zero, just that he has to fight him.
 * The Sega Saturn version of the game versions vertical borders along the sides of the screen in order to maintain the aspect ratio. These borders change depending on the area of play in the game.
 * In the U.S. release of Mega Man X Collection, the European version for the Sony PlayStation was used instead of the U.S. SNES version.
 * In the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation versions, the traditional Robot Master stage intro music is used near the end of the Mavericks' introduction FMVs. That tune is also used in the first Mega Man X game (as well as its remake Maverick Hunter X).
 * In the Sony PlayStation version, as well as the Saturn version, the ending credits theme has an uncanny resemblance to the ending theme heard in Resident Evil, another game made by Capcom which was made in the same year for the same consoles as with Mega Man X3. One of the composers for Resident Evil, Makoto Tomozawa, also helped compose for this game.
 * This game makes the first instance of X using the Z-Saber when conditions are met; the second and last instance is Mega Man X6, where X has the Z-Saber by default.
 * This is the first and only game in the series not to feature Fire-based Maverick bosses.
 * Although Mega Man X3 has Mavericks based on marine animals, all are fought on dry land.
 * This game was the first to allow alternate boss battles, examples such as Press Disposal, Godkarmachine O' Inary, and Vile MK II.
 * Due to a computer chip shortage and nearing the end of its life, the U.S. SNES version of Mega Man X3 is considered one of the rarer versions of the game.
 * A pirated, watered down version of this game also exists on the Sega Genesis, but is considered equally hard to find.
 * Because of time constraints caused by Capcom's transitioning from developing on 16-bit consoles to the new 32-bit consoles, much of the game's development was outsourced to Minakuchi Engineering, who previously developed Mega Man: The Wily Wars and the Game Boy Mega Man games. This would be the last Mega Man title the company worked on.