Mega Man 3

Mega Man 3, known as Rockman 3: Dr. Wily no Saigo!? (ロックマン3 Dr.ワイリーの最期!?) in Japan, is the third installment in the Famicom/NES Mega Man series. It introduced the "slide" maneuver as well as Rush as Mega Man's robotic canine assistant.

Release dates
Famicom/NES:
 * Japan: September 28, 1990
 * North America: November, 1990
 * Europe: February 20, 1992

"Mega Man: The Wily Wars," Sega Mega Drive/Genesis:
 * Europe: October 20, 1994
 * Japan: October 21, 1994

"Rockman 3 (Rockman Complete Works)," PlayStation:
 * Japan: September 14, 1999

Mega Man: Anniversary Collection:
 * GameCube and PlayStation 2: June 22, 2004
 * XBox: March 15, 2005

Mobile phone:
 * Japan: 2004

Wii's Virtual Console:
 * Japan: November 4, 2008
 * North America: November 10, 2008

Overview
Dr. Wily claims he is a changed man, and wants to team up with Dr. Light once again. Dr. Wily and Dr. Light work together on a "peace-keeping" robot named Gamma. For some reason, the newest Robot Masters have gone crazy, and ran off. Dr. Light needs the 8 Energy Crystals that the Robot Masters are carrying. Mega Man is called to stop the Robots. Along his quest, he meets his brother Proto Man (under the alias Break Man in this game, until the ending). Rush also makes his debut.

When Mega Man returns, Dr. Wily has taken Gamma with him, and is planning to use it to rule the world! Mega Man must go and stop Wily once again.

The Japanese subtitle (The end of Dr. Wily!?) may be considered a minor "spoiler" to the ending, considering what happens to Wily (or what players assume happen) after the final fight.

Story
From the American manual:

''"Calling Mega Man! Calling Mega Man! Come in please!

"Mega Man, we need you! We're down to the wire on our peace-keeping project. We've got to get those last energy crystals or we can't finish it. Dr. Wily is here now, too...yes...he's finally found his sanity. He knows where the crystals are! They're in the mining worlds, but we can't get to 'em. The robots are running amok and they're destroying everything!

"You've got to get there, Mega Man, and get those crystals! You'll have to face some pretty mean metal. Expect the worst! Is Rush there with you? Give him a bolt to chew on and tell him it's from us. What's that...we must be getting static...sounds like you said 'Woof!'

"Mega Man, get to those mining worlds pronto! Grab the crystals and stop whoever's in charge! He's one lunatic guy!

"This is Dr. Light. Over and out!"''

Fortress bosses

 * 1) Kamegoro Maker
 * 2) Yellow Devil MK-II
 * 3) Holograph Mega Men
 * 4) Rematch against the eight Robot Masters.
 * 5) Wily Machine No. 3
 * 6) Gamma

Trivia

 * Dr. Wily is misspelled "Dr. Wiley" in this game.


 * This is Rush's and Proto Man's debut in the series.


 * This is the only Mega Man game besides the first one ever where all of its Robot Masters appeared in the Ruby-Spears cartoon.


 * This is the first game in the series where Mega Man can slide.


 * The mobile phone version of Mega Man 3 had some differences compared to the original:


 * Stage set-up was limited as background, color flicker and flash were removed to help with the performance.


 * Traps in certain stages were removed for ease of play. The Yoku Blocks in Magnet Man's stage were left in their order for players to move with less hassle (same with Spark Man with the revolving gears and falling junk blocks).


 * Proto Man does not appear in Gemini Man's stage to destroy the barrier blocking the way for Mega Man; he is also in his Break Man transformation in his mini-boss appearances in the original locations with the Robot Masters background music.


 * The enemy Hammer Joe is harder to defeat as its sprite action kept the eye blinking rapidly leaving the only weak spot at its legs.


 * The player has the freedom to fight both the Robot Masters & the Doc Robots again when defeated by replaying their stages, as well as being able to chose the levels in Wily's castle after their completetion.


 * During the second encounter of the Robot Masters in Wily's castle, strangely enough, all of them are vulnerable to their own weapons.


 * This is the first game in which Roll is actually named in-game.


 * This is the first game in which Mega Man performs a final move (by running to the center of the room and jumping) where he obtains the defeated robot's weapon before leaving the room.


 * Wily is apparently killed by falling debris at the end of the game. However, if the player pays attention during the ending sequence, his UFO is visible escaping far in the distance, hinting at his eventual return in Mega Man 4.


 * It is possible to get stuck in the second of run-through of Gemini Man's stage. After fighting the first Doc Robot the gate leads to an area that is too low to allow Mega Man to jump without Rush (either in the form of Rush Jet or Rush Coil). Thus if one beats the Doc Robot without any weapon energy in either of these Rush attachments one will be stuck and forced to reset the game.