Mega Man X3 (SNES) review "Yes, yes, we get it: Sigma is the new Wily."

Here we are: three installments into a spin-off series and already finding ourselves back where we started. The original Mega Man line retreaded the same content to the point that it soured before the NES's run concluded. Folks derided the fifth and sixth chapters because they were too similar to the previous four. Personally, I never found the sameness to be a problem. My issues stemmed from Capcom merely going through the motions after the phenomenal Mega Man 4 rather than drumming up ways to make their old mechanics work wonders.

And that's where I found myself with Mega Man X3. It's not a terrible game, to be sure, but it isn't as exciting as its predecessors. It's still got all the action and platforming we've seen in previous installments, albeit with mechanics and rules that prove more unfair this time around. Yes, once again X finds himself caught in a struggle against a villain who just so happens to keep eight Mavericks in his inner circle. Of course, each Maverick possesses a weapon that's extra-useful against one of its brethren. Because reasons.

And yes, the same name rules apply as before: [Attribute] [Life Form], but this rogues gallery features more aquatic creatures and insects than prior outings. Now you battle the likes of Crush Crawfish, Toxic Seahorse, Volt Catfish, Blast Hornet, and Gravity Beetle, as well as a few others.

Is this really the only scheme anyone in this universe can hatch? Building a bunch of robots who can kill each other? Hell, spikes instantly kill Mega Man and X, so why not just line all the levels and robots you build with spikes?

Anyway, this affair allows you to switch from X to his long-haired friend Zero at will. However, Zero comes with drawbacks: he can't fight almost all bosses, doesn't learn new abilities, and can only be summoned once per level. Honestly, I've gone through the entire campaign without using Zero, so I'm not sure what the point was of attaching him to the game as a somewhat playable character. It feels like a huge cop out to only have him in a limited capacity, too, especially since the next entry in this series shows that you can craft a competent campaign while offering Zero as a full-blown player character.

Previous titles focused on two fantastic features: exploration and varied levels. The former at least remains intact with X3, although with even more goodies to locate. Each stage sports its share of hidden troves that hold power-ups to permanently increase your hit points, or sub-tanks you can fill with restorative items to replenish your health later on. Of course, some of these treasures can't be acquired until you've earned certain weapons, particularly one that drills through hard surfaces...

As before, you also locate body upgrades that grant various abilities and perks to X, such as a midair dash or increased defensive capabilities. Plus, this sequel offers chip upgrades that bolster those skills, allowing you to restore your health while holding still or dash twice while airborne. Oh, and that's not all. Platforms found throughout the campaign summon riding armor that you've discovered, all of which remain hidden in various places. So yeah, you've got a lot of treats to track down here.

Unfortunately, X3 threw too much of its weight behind its exploration elements and not enough behind other factors. For one thing, variety suffers a blow because most of the game feels the same from top to bottom. Though the experience remains serviceable, you don't encounter many scenes that stand out. Instead, you bump into a lot of wall climbing with foes positioned in inconvenient places and situations where you practically can't avoid taking damage.

Your defensive prowess only makes things more frustrating because you start off with low energy and weak armor. Seriously, after about three hits with your base stats, you're pretty much cooked. You're thus forced to scour for hearts and sub-tanks before you can even fell the first boss, unless you're good enough to take one out without sustaining a single shot. I get that Capcom tried to compensate for the fact that you become overpowered in this one, but making the early outs so rough that they lack any level of enjoyment isn't the answer.

Truly, the campaign doesn't warm up until you've nabbed a few items, especially taking the three sub-tanks that are on offer early on, as they don't require any special abilities to secure.

This one also tries to replicate X2's three special bosses that occasionally appear in levels, this time pitting you against Bit, Byte, and a revived Vile. However, this feature comes across as more tacked on than anything. Where the X Hunters felt like a focal point of X2's identity and storyline, this trio only appears as a sub-plot, and they unceremoniously vanish after suffering defeat. More than anything, the presences comes across as padding. Honestly, refined level designs and improved variety should've been a higher priority than adding a few super-bosses. Then again, that's X3's personality. It prioritizes quantity over quality.

You can feel it in its ho-hum levels and predictable plot, knowing full well that the antagonist you battle this time is only going to turn out to be a puppet. You hear it in the soundtrack, which represents a huge step back from prior engagements. The first two titles' scores slapped hard, with some exciting tracks and excellent music. This one, though, hits you with background music that sounds like it came from a generic SNES action title and not a major franchise.

In some ways, Mega Man X3 is the Mega Man 6 of its time. It was the final of its series to hit the 16-bit systems when their time was drawing to a close. Perhaps that notion influenced Capcom to just get another title out because PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and Saturn would offer much better grounds for grand X iterations. This one came off like Capcom was trying to get it out of the way rather than build upon the greatness its predecessor established, and that's a damn shame.

Community review by JoeTheDestroyer (January 03, 2024) Rumor has it that Joe is not actually a man, but a machine that likes video games, horror movies, and long walks on the beach. His/Its first contribution to HonestGamers was a review of Breath of Fire III.