REVIEW: Mega Man 3 1990 NES
	By: Capcom Type: Platform shooter Players: 1 Difficulty: Hard

MegaMan. He isn't really, is he? I mean, he looks about an inch tall on your TV screen and gets the crap kicked out of him by everything from robotic bees to industrial carpet cleaners. MegaMan is 'mega' in the same way that Sega's MegaCD was. That is to say, not very (ouch, sorry Sega fans). Anyway, this little game is MegaMan third outing on the NES, continuing the successful series.

The rules of the game are simple enough, so it's easy to pick up. Start off as a 'vanilla MegaMan', armed only with a small gun that shoots what appear to be radioactive indigestion tablets, and battle themed bad guys like Gemini Man and Snake Man. When you've defeated them in their own realms, you can steal their powers and use them whenever you like. You get to choose the order in which you plough through the levels, buy its easier if you can work out some sort of ideal order, because some of the weapons are more effective than others against certain bosses.

 
 
This is all very well and good, but don't you notice a slight resemblance with, say, MegaMans 1 and 2? Yes, it's exactly the same. In a desperate attempt to innovate, Capcom have given MegaMan a pink robotic dog, Rocky, who can be summoned a certain number of times per level. Don't get too excited about having a fiercesome beast walking around with you, though, as Rocky usually acts merely as a canine trampoline and could be critically viewed as a gimmicky feature for Capcom to put on the back of the box to increase sales. Oh, yes, there's a mini-boss on each level who appears with a (admittedly cool) whistle noise as well. These two features aside, though, it all seems a bit too familiar.

Due to the fact that MM3 is virtually identical to MMs 2 and 1, it comes complete with all the former games' problems. There's the lack of replay value, for instance. Because of the almost complete lack of secret, there's very little here that would make you want to play the game more than once. Then there's those annoying gameplay elements that just make you want to ram your head through the TV screen and roast your NES on a spit. Picture the scene: you get hit by an enemy, you stagger uncontrollably backwards into the path of a different enemy, your invincibility runs out, you get hit again, you stagger backwards, etc. Hngh.

You will have fun with this game, though. The bosses are varied enough to maintain your interest and it is a challenge for the uninitiated or average player. Having said that, the seasoned MegaMan hand will get through the game in about a week, two at the most. Still, you'll enjoy the initial bit of working out the best order to beat the bosses in and negotiating your way through the tricky levels.

 
Presentation-wise, things are up to the usual Capcom standards. The graphics, whilst on a small-scale, are detailed and well-animated. They do suffer terribly from the flicker problem that plagues the NES when there's more than four sprites on the screen, though. Sounds are good too, especially the title theme.
 

MegaMan 3 is a difficult game to sum up. On its own, it would have been pretty damn good. Unfortunately, given that Capcom hardly seem to have done anything but tweak the past formula (Street Fighter 2, anyone?), it's difficult to whole-heartedly recommend. A few more changes, and it would have been great. Take note, Capcom. - Gareth Hall 77%

[Key to the reviewing system]