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Definitely the anomaly... This game can be considered that for a lot of gamers. Many of us old-school vets love this game for the sheer challenge and diversity. Some gamers, however, might be a little more apprehensive in what they have to say. This game, for them, is a bland and uninnovative game. Well, I'm in the former group. Mega Man III continues flying high in the grand tradition with some of the better bosses out there and some very tricky levels. Everything has been given the necessary upgrades for the sequel, and the challenge is just as high.
The story is just like the other two, so I really do not need to mention it. The bosses this time around are more inventive than they were in Mega Man II, and it definitely shows this time. The worst of the bosses is Top Man, who shows absolutely no originality and no challenge, which is a sad pity. You can beat him with your regular cannon. The best of the new bosses is Gemini Man, who splits in two and that gives you twice the problem. The room is also flat, which gives him the total advantage. You also fight a red robot that makes appearances in certain levels. He is easy, but he is rather persistent. Mega Man's dog, Rush, makes his debut in the game. His ability to get you to jump higher once or use him as a hovercraft is a truly inspired deal. It adds some much needed innovation to a series that was starting to run low on it by this installment, and it was only the third one.
The foreground for graphics is very solid, with a lot of life, movement, and activity. The backgrounds are not given this respect and a lot of them have nothing, which is a slight disappointment, but it does make things easier to see since a lot of the enemies can be poorly lit in various areas.
The controls are a little easier to work with this time. The new manuevers for Rush take a little time, but it is still easy to learn in any regard.
The music isn't nearly as atmospheric as last time, but certain levels like Snake and Gemini Man's base of operations really bring out the game to a new standard. Unfortunately, places like Shadow Man, Magnet and Spark Man do not do this for the game.
The overall gameplay is defnitely a mixed bag. At 21 levels, it is the longest, by far. This is good, but it does start to feel overlong by level 17. At least when you do get to the really good stuff the challenge level goes through the roof, and that would be expected from a game like this. I think they could have cut out at least three of those levels and the game would have been just as good.
Overall, this game is a wonder and it really brings out some of the best traits in Mega Man. The challenge, the intrigue, and all of those robots. Yep, this is definitely one of the best of the series. -- Chris Vavra, PGNx Media
---- Jan 1, 2003
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