Mega Man X3
From Sega Retro
- For the unlicensed Sega Mega Drive version, see Rockman X3 (Mega Drive).
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Mega Man X3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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System(s): Sega Saturn | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Publisher: Capcom (Japan), Virgin Interactive Entertainment (Europe) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Developer: Capcom | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sound driver: SCSP/CD-DA (30 tracks) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Genre: Action[1][2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Number of players: 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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, a spin-off of the Mega Man franchise with more complex platforming and a darker storyline.
Contents
Story
In the year "21XX," humans coexist with intelligent robots called "Reploids" (replicant androids). Since they possess free will, some Reploids are prone to criminal activity and are said to go "Maverick." Dr. Cain, the inventor of the Reploids, establishes a military taskforce called the "Maverick Hunters" to prevent it. Even after two successful efforts by the Hunters X and Zero to stop a Maverick leader named Sigma from attempting to exterminate the human race, Maverick activity seems to continue.
The threat of the Mavericks is later neutralized thanks to the technology of the Reploid scientist Dr. Doppler, which prevents the Mavericks from going berserk. The reformed Reploids form a utopia near their new mentor called "Dopple Town." It seemed that all is well until the former Reploids suddenly revert and once again begin causing trouble, even going so far as to attack Hunter headquarters. Doppler is held accountable, and X and Zero are sent out to contain the new threat.
Gameplay
The game is an action platformer played primarily as Dr. Light's final creation, the android X. Each stage has a variety of obstacles and platforming challenges to overcome and enemy robots to fight. The stage ends in a fight with a Maverick; defeating a Maverick adds a new special weapon to X's arsenal. Since each Maverick has a weakness to a particular special weapon, the player can strategize the order in which to complete the stages to best exploit these weaknesses. Furthermore, stages contain hidden items that upgrade X's capabilities, many of which are hidden behind barriers that can only be destroyed by certain weapons.
X controls similarly to Mega Man, but he is more agile. He moves with or . He jumps with and jumps higher the longer the button is held. He gains additional jump height when underwater. He can scale walls by jumping off of them. He dashes forward with (or or . He climbs ladders with and .
X uses his weapon with . X's primary weapon is his arm-mounted X-Buster, which has unlimited ammunition but can only have three shots on screen at a time. The X-Buster can charge a more powerful shot by holding and releasing it when X starts to glow. X acquires an assortment of special weapons by defeating Mavericks. These special weapons cost energy to use; each has its own energy supply. The player can switch the special weapon with and or through the pause menu with START .
The player can further upgrade X's abilities by collecting armor parts found within capsules in some levels. Capsules containing special chips add new abilities, but X is only able to use one chip per game. However, one hidden capsule gives X the benefits of all four special chips.
The game also allows the player to play as X's ally Zero. Zero can be called to take X's place during nearly any stage, but he cannot collect or make use of any of X's armor parts or power-ups. He also cannot fight bosses; he is substituted with X instead when a boss encounter begins. If Zero is ever defeated in battle, he is unable to be called upon for the rest of the game. The player can swap Zero back for X, but Zero can only be selected once per stage. While the pause menu is open, the player changes the current character by pressing (or switch back by pressing ) and unpausing.
X's health is indicated by a gauge in the corner of the screen. He loses health when he takes damage from an enemy. Some obstacles, such as spikes or bottomless pits, destroy X regardless of how much health he has remaining. If he loses all of his health, he loses a life. The game ends if X loses all of his lives. The game uses a password system for continuing.
Weapons
Weapons besides the X-Buster can only be charged after obtaining the X-Buster upgrade.
X-Buster | |
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Parasitic Bomb | |
X acquires this weapon after defeating Blast Hornet. It is the weakness of Blizzard Buffalo and Vile MK-II when piloting his ride armor. | |
Frost Shield | |
X acquires this weapon after defeating Blizzard Buffalo. It is the weakness of Toxic Seahorse, Bit, Volt Kurageil, and Sigma in his first form. | |
Acid Burst | |
X acquires this weapon after defeating Toxic Seahorse. It is the weakness of Tunnel Rhino and Dr. Doppler. | |
Tornado Fang | |
X acquires this weapon after defeating Tunnel Rhino. It is the weakness of Volt Catfish, Byte, Press Disposer, and Vile MK-II when piloting his ride armor. | |
Triad Thunder | |
X acquires this weapon after defeating Volt Catfish. It is the weakness of Crush Crawfish, Bit, and Volt Kurageil. | |
Spinning Blade | |
X acquires this weapon after defeating Crush Crawfish. It is the weakness of Neon Tiger, Vile MK-II, and Sigma in his first form. | |
Ray Splasher | |
X acquires this weapon after defeating Neon Tiger. It is the weakness of Gravity Beetle, Byte, Vile MK-II, Godkarmachine O Inary, and Press Disposer. | |
Gravity Well | |
X acquires this weapon after defeating Gravity Beetle. It is the weakness of Blast Hornet. |
Items
Small Weapon Capsule | |
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Restores a small amount of energy for the currently selected weapon. | |
Large Weapon Capsule | |
Restores a large amount of energy for the currently selected weapon. | |
Small Energy Pellet | |
Restores a small amount of health to X. | |
Large Energy Pellet | |
Restores a large amount of health to X. | |
1-Up | |
Gives the player an extra life. | |
Heart Tank | |
Permanently extends X's maximum health capacity. | |
Sub Tank | |
Stores excess health. After a Sub Tank is collected, it stays in X's inventory and fills whenever X collects an Energy Pellet while at full health. The player can select a Sub Tank by pausing the game with START and use it to replenish X's health during a stage. |
Upgrades
Robot Rides
Stages
Opening
Opening | |
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Boss: Maoh the Giant | |
Mavericks
After completing the opening stage, the eight Maverick stages can be played in any order.
X can revisit any stage after it is completed, which is often necessary to collect hidden items using newly obtained weapons and abilities. When revisiting a stage, the player can exit it at any time by pausing the game with START and selecting "Exit."
Weapons Factory | |
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Boss: Blast Hornet | |
Blast Hornet's weakness is the | Gravity Well weapon. X receives the Parasitic Bomb weapon after defeating him. The Energy Chip and the Chimera robot ride are hidden in this stage.|
Frozen Town | |
Boss: Blizzard Buffalo | |
Blizzard Buffalo's weakness is the | Parasitic Bomb weapon. X receives the Frost Shield weapon after defeating him. The Leg upgrade is hidden in this stage. There is also a warp capsule leading to Vile's stage.|
Giant Dam | |
Boss: Toxic Seahorse | |
Toxic Seahorse's weakness is the | Frost Shield weapon. X receives the Acid Burst weapon after defeating him. The Leg Chip and the Kangaroo robot ride are hidden in this stage.|
Quarry | |
Boss: Tunnel Rhino | |
Tunnel Rhino's weakness is the | Acid Burst weapon. X receives the Tornado Fang weapon after defeating him. The Helmet upgrade is hidden in this stage.|
Power Control Center | |
Boss: Volt Catfish | |
Volt Catfish's weakness is the | Tornado Fang weapon. X receives the Triad Thunder weapon after defeating him. The Body upgrade is hidden in this stage. There is also a warp capsule leading to Vile's stage.|
Shipyard | |
Boss: Crush Crawfish | |
Crush Crawfish's weakness is the | Triad Thunder weapon. X receives the Spinning Blade weapon after defeating him. The Body Chip and the Hawk robot ride are hidden in this stage. There is also a warp capsule leading to Vile's stage.|
Safari Park | |
Boss: Neon Tiger | |
Neon Tiger's weakness is the | Spinning Blade weapon. X receives the Ray Splasher weapon after defeating him. The X-Buster upgrade is hidden in this stage.|
Airborne Aircraft Carrier | |
Boss: Gravity Beetle | |
Gravity Beetle's weakness is the | Ray Splasher weapon. X receives the Gravity Well weapon after defeating him. The Head Chip and the Frog robot ride are hidden in this stage.|
Vile | |
Boss: Vile MK-II | |
This stage is accessed by hidden warp capsules found in the Shipyard, Power Control Center, and Frozen Town stages after two Mavericks have been defeated. The capsules disappear after Vile's stage is completed or after all eight Mavericks are defeated. Vile MK-II's weaknesses are the | Ray Splasher and Spinning Blade weapons or the Parasitic Bomb and Tornado Fang weapons when he piloting his ride armor. If the player does not find this hidden stage or if Vile MK-II is not defeated using one of his weaknesses, he escapes and appears as the boss in Doppler Stage B (using different ride armor). X returns to the previous stage after defeating Vile and reaching the warp capsule at the end.
Intermission Bosses
Bit and Byte appear as additional minibosses during the Maverick stages.
Bit | |
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Bit randomly appears as a miniboss in the third, fourth, or fifth Maverick stages until he is defeated. His weaknesses are the | Frost Shield and Triad Thunder weapons. If he is not defeated using one of his weaknesses, X must face him again, alongside Byte, in the first Doppler stage in their combined form, Godkarmachine O Inary.|
Byte | |
Byte randomly appears as a miniboss in the sixth, seventh, or eighth Maverick stages until he is defeated. His weaknesses are the | Tornado Fang and Ray Splasher weapons. If he is not defeated using one of his weaknesses, X must face him again, alongside Bit, in the first Doppler stage in their combined form, Godkarmachine O Inary.
Doppler
The Doppler stages are played in order after the eight Mavericks are defeated.
Doppler Stage A | |
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Bosses: Press Disposer or Godkarmachine O Inary | |
The boss is Press Disposer if both Bit and Byte were defeated with their weaknesses in the previous stages or Godkarmachine O Inary otherwise. The weaknesses of Press Disposer are the | Tornado Fang and Ray Splasher; the weakness of Godkarmachine O Inary is the Ray Splasher.|
Doppler Stage B | |
Bosses: Volt Kurageil or Vile MK-II | |
The boss is Volt Kurageil if Vile MK-II was defeated using his weakness in his hidden stage or Vile MK-II otherwise. The weaknesses of Volt Kurageil are the | Frost Shield and Triad Thunder; the weaknesses of Vile MK-II are the Ray Splasher and Spinning Blade or the Parasitic Bomb and Tornado Fang when he piloting his ride armor.|
Doppler Stage C | |
Bosses: Mavericks and Dr. Doppler | |
X fights all of the Mavericks again, followed by a fight with Dr. Doppler, whose weakness is the | Acid Burst.|
Doppler Stage D | |
Bosses: Sigma | |
The boss is Sigma, whose weaknesses are the | Spinning Blade and Frost Shield in his first form and the charged X-Buster in his second form.
Versions
Changes from the original Super NES version include a redone, arranged soundtrack, and placement of full-motion video anime cutscenes. One major flaw in the port, though, is long and frequent load times, which has made many prefer the SNES original.
While both the Super NES and PlayStation versions run at a 256x224 screen resolution, the Sega Saturn does not support this resolution, and so opts for 320x240 with borders added. This means the PlayStation and Super NES versions are stretched horizontally to fill a 4:3 display while the Saturn version is not. Since the artwork was designed with this stretching in mind, this can give the Saturn game a more "squashed" look.
The Saturn version has higher quality full-motion video than the PlayStation, with more frames of animation and a larger palette of colours.
History
This game was originally made and released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System/Super Famicom as the third in a trilogy of Mega Man X games, and then ported to the Sega Saturn and PlayStation.
This 32-bit version was released in Japan and Europe, but did not initially see a console release in North America and it was exclusive to Windows PCs; this version was later included in Mega Man X Collection for the Nintendo GameCube and PlayStation 2, which saw only an American release. Reportedly, Sony initially rejected the game during its PlayStation approval process, likely for being a 2D game[4], which may have had a knock-on effect for a Saturn release.
Versions
Localised names
Language | Localised Name | English Translation |
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English | Mega Man X3 | Mega Man X3 |
Japanese | ロックマン X3 | Rockman X3 |
Comparisons
- Main article: Mega Man X3/Comparisons.
Production credits
This article needs a list of production credits, either from the game itself, a manual, or other reliable source. |
Uncredited
Like its original SNES release, Mega Man X3 lacks a staff roll, instead ending after its cast roll. The following information pertaining to this version's music is derived from the liner notes of the 2003 soundtrack release of Mega Man X1~6 and related interviews.
- BGM Arrangement & Original Music Composition & Arrangement: Toshihiko Horiyama, Shusaku Uchiyama
- BGM Arrangement: Yoshino Aoki[5]
- Original Music Composition & Arrangement (for overseas releases): Makoto Tomozawa[6]
Magazine articles
- Main article: Mega Man X3/Magazine articles.
Promotional material
Artwork
Physical scans
Sega Retro Average | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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64 | |
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Based on 16 reviews |
Technical information
ROM dump status
System | Hash | Size | Build Date | Source | Comments | |||||||||
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✔ |
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601,058,304 | CD-ROM (EU) | T-7029H-50 V1.000 | ||||||||||
✔ |
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606,496,128 | 1996-03-25 | CD-ROM (JP) | T-1210G V1.001 |
Extra content
This game has extra content which can be viewed when accessing the disc on a PC.
Folder / File | Type | Size | description |
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RX3_ABS.TXT | TXT (Abstract) | 648 | About this game. |
RX3_BIB.TXT | TXT (Bibliographiced) | 325 | Theme song credits |
RX3_CPY.TXT | TXT (Copyright) | 72 | Copyright |
References
- ↑ File:MegaManX3 Saturn JP Box Back.jpg
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://sega.jp/fb/segahard/ss/soft_licensee2.html (Wayback Machine: 2020-03-20 23:05)
- ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "1996-08 (1996-05-10,24)" (JP; 1996-04-26), page 2
- ↑ Ultra Game Players, "October 1996" (US; 1996-09-03), page 18
- ↑ http://www.squareenixmusic.com/features/interviews/yoshinoaoki.shtml (Wayback Machine: 2010-04-25 05:24)
- ↑ http://www.dashrepublic.org/ (Wayback Machine: 2012-04-21 17:59)
- ↑ Consoles +, "Juin 1996" (FR; 1996-0x-xx), page 100
- ↑ Famitsu, "1996-05-03" (JP; 1996-04-19), page 1
- ↑ Fun Generation, "07/96" (DE; 1996-06-12), page 74
- ↑ GameFan, "Volume 4, Issue 7: July 1996" (US; 1996-xx-xx), page 13
- ↑ Intelligent Gamer, "July 1996" (US; 1996-0x-xx), page 84
- ↑ MAN!AC, "05/97" (DE; 1997-04-09), page 77
- ↑ Mega Fun, "06/96" (DE; 1996-05-15), page 73
- ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "July 1996" (UK; 1996-06-03), page 76
- ↑ neXt Level, "Juli 1996" (DE; 1996-06-12), page 66
- ↑ Playmag, "Juin 1996" (FR; 1996-0x-xx), page 110
- ↑ Saturn Fan, "1996 No. 14" (JP; 1996-06-21), page 80
- ↑ Sega Magazin, "Oktober 1997" (DE; 1997-09-10), page 79
- ↑ Sega Power, "August 1996" (UK; 1996-06-06), page 53
- ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "April 1997" (UK; 1997-03-15), page 74
- ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "Readers rating final data" (JP; 2000-03), page 15
- ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "1996-07 (1996-04-26)" (JP; 1996-04-12), page 237
Mega Man X3 | |
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Main page | Comparisons | Maps | Hidden content | Development | Magazine articles | Reception | Technical information |
Mega Man games for Sega systems | |
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Mega Man: The Wily Wars (1994) | |
Mega Man (1995) | |
Mega Man X3 (1996) | Mega Man 8 (1997) | Mega Man X4 (1997) | Super Adventure Rockman (1998) | |
Unlicensed Mega Man games for Sega systems | |
Rockman X3 (1995) | |
Mega Man related media | |
Rockman 8: Metal Heroes Hisshou Kouryaku Hou (1997) |
- 1 player games
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- Credits needed
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- Old technical information
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- Mega Man X3
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