Mega Man 3: Good Ideas in a Rushed Game - Pikasprey

Mega Man 3 is one of the most iconic sequels in the series, but how do I think it holds up?
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[@Xanza781]

You missed something minor about Hard Man's weapon. While it's flying, you can alter its trajectory up and down by inputting one of those directions on the D pad. Makes the final boss much easier.

[@etherraichu]

Yeah, was going to say that. I can see why he might've missed it though, its not especailly useful for most of the game. and no other weapon works like that really.

[@JonkoSplonko]

I was also going to say that, but he would have said something like "Despite having that little feature doesn't serves any useful purpose, you are just better off just using it in a straight line"

[@FFKonoko]

@@JonkoSplonko it's a nice idea. But are there places where it is useful?

[@JonkoSplonko]

@@FFKonoko Well, you can hit the Dr. Willy's machine with it, and also Gamma's mini head without needing to jump

[@overlordalfredo]

@@etherraichu I personally find this quite useful once you get the hang of it. Initially it made me always miss my jump shots because I always held up button when jumping. But once you learn to manipulate hard knuckle you can use it to hit stuff that you could not hit even with a max height jump or that is below ground level - as long as you stand far enough away from it. Not easy to use but definetly useful!

[@victikirby15]

Fun fact: the reason that the energy for Top Spin sometimes randomly drains a lot when you use it is because it will drain during every frame you’re overlapped with an enemy if you use it while in your invincibility frames

[@omegaotaku1342]

So how exactly do I avoid having this happen?

[@omegaotaku1342]

i just don't want to run out of weapon energy while fighting shadow man or gamma

[@papajams2601]

@@omegaotaku1342 try to limit how much time the hitbox of top spin overlaps with the bosses hurtbox by jumping towards them and then holding back as soon as the hit registers.

[@omegaotaku1342]

@@papajams2601 thank you

[@AtmaDragoon]

@@omegaotaku1342 To add to what Papa Jams said, I'd also be wary of attacking from below him -- I feel like most of the time my Top Spin deletes itself is when Shadow Man has the high ground. Given what victikirby15 said, that _seems_ reasonable to believe since he'd have all that time to fall through you if you get hit? But my contribution here is also entirely anecdotal so, y'know: to be taken with a grain of salt. ^-^;

[@VideoGameAnimationStudy]

Fun fact: The devs of the Legacy Collection spoke about that weird flicker in the stage select, and that they _could_ have removed it, but they decided to keep it in to keep the emulations / ports (whatever) faithful to the original release. Some see that as a missed opportunity to enhance the original, some see it as honest preservation.

[@randomguyontheinternet7940]

The first legacy collection literally uses an emulator and game ROMs. People found the game roms and the emulator used in the game files. Strangely replacing the games doesn't seem to work but rom hacks do, with some graphics changes.

[@robertlupa8273]

That's the same kind of faithfulness as Pokemon BDSP - preserving the bad stuff for the sake of "staying true to the original." (reminder that BDSP recreated a glich with one ability not wroking as intended - Sticky Hold to be exact)

[@GAMESYSTEMHUNTER]

because the games on that collection are just straight up roms. not a single enhancement or improvement were made on them. any glitch or etc present in the original carts, will be present here.

[@thatitalianlameguy2235]

@@robertlupa8273 but bdsp broke the game with diagonal walking, so the preservation is bullshit

[@MissAshley42]

I see it as honest preservation. Sure, give the option to "fix" it to those that want it, but I'd rather it not be removed altogether in ports. Oddly enough, though, Digital Eclipse indeed removed the line in the 3DS version. Granted, I only picked that version up recently during a 3DS eShop fire sale, but it still bums me out to know it's a less accurate version than the console and PC releases.

[@oatmeal0]

Wanna put Rush Marine to even MORE shame? It’s completely outclassed by Rush Jet, which drains at a slower rate and doesn’t render you immobile on land. Not surprised that it was removed from Mega Man 5 onwards.

[@Zelinkokitsune]

Don't forget that you can use Rush Jet UNDERWATER with no ill effect

[@randomguyontheinternet7940]

Only took someone like 30 years to make it useful lol

[@zanmolecules4105]

Also it’s energy only drains when you’re standing on it, if you jump, the energy will drain at a snails pace. It can be used to cheese the bubble man fight as well because he only attacks when you’re on the ground and rush jet does not meet that requirement

[@YamatoFukkatsu]

I can only imagine what he'll say about it for Mega Man 4. I honestly thought that updating the attack animation so that it shoots from the mouth was a nice touch, but it actually seems to have even less utility than in 3 (as if that was even possible). If you happen to get it before facing Dive Man...... it's not even necessary there, nor does it make the stage especially easier, but it's there as an option, I guess (but I forget, did it make getting the Wire item any easier?). Outside of that, I think the only other place you could use it is in some tiny pools of water in the first Wily stage (but even bothering with Rush Marine there is just a joke, more so since it can't even jump out of the water like in MM3). In contrast, that one room in Gemini Man's stage actually does make Rush Marine quite convenient if you wanna bypass all that hazardous platforming.

[@catcraze8673]

it's good in MMII.

[@WarioMCP]

In the official Megaman Complete Works there’s a published interview with Keiji Inafune about Top Man where he says: "I focused entirely on Top Man for an entire week, but lost all of the data in a big [computer] crash when someone tripped over the power cord. I was so devastated, but with everything so fresh in my mind I was able to get back to where I was in about three days. This incident is why I'll never forget Top Man... sometimes I wonder if my first attempt would have made a better Top Man (laughs)."

[@Sean_Bird]

One thing I'm surprised you didn't mention was the fact that the weakness chart for MM3 is split into two. Snake Man, Gemini Man, and Needle Man form one cycle, and the other bosses form the second. Due to this, you have to fight at least two Robot Masters without their weakness weapons. It's quite odd. Oh, and speaking of weaknesses, I believe every Robot Master in this game is weak to their own weapon, though they don't get one shot by them like Metal Man did.

[@ShursGarden]

You are correct. Each boss takes 7 hits from their own weapon to kill them. This means that for Spark Man, you could just use his own weapon against him rather than use Shadow Blade. Magnet Man is a similar case, but it actually is Shadow Blade being effective against him just as much as Spark Shock is.

[@Zelinkokitsune]

Although there are often soft weaknesses that can link the weakness charts. Not as effective as the true weakness but more effective than the buster.

[@ShursGarden]

@@Zelinkokitsune Eh, not really. The most any of the non-weakness weapons do is 2 Damage. For some of those bosses that's about as much as the Mega Buster does.

[@yawningabyss681]

Yeah thats probably my least favorite part about 3, at some point in each playthrough you have to decide another boss you think you can do buster only, but unlike the start of a playthrough where you can do easy bosses like magnet man or top man, you have to do far harder bosses. idk it just feels frustrating considering these bosses arent the best designed in the first place.

[@RakoonCD]

They could've easily made it Spark>Magnet>Needle>Snake>Gemini>Hard>Top>Shadow>Spark

[@Deejaynerate]

I think you'd be very interested in the ROM hacks that try to fix Mega Man 3, specifically Improvement and Revamped. Mega Man 3 Improvement is mostly just fixes on both a technical and visual level, fixing numerous issues that plagued the game, such as slowdown and other bugs, while also adding a lot of new presentation flair, like an actual introduction cutscene and hearing the entire Wily Map and Protoman themes. Mega Man 3 Revamped, on the other hand, builds on top of Improvement by essentially reimagining Mega Man 3 into a more complete game, changing a lot of the level design in order to deliver a far more rewarding experience, especially with the plethora of added graphical detail, the neutered Doc stages and the elongated Wily stages. While not official, they're still very interesting fan interpretations of a "proper" Mega Man 3 to check out and play.

[@robertlupa8273]

"elongated Wily stages" More like a completely new fortress! And I mean it in a positive way.

[@MisterVercetti]

What I like most about Revamped is how it fixes the difficulty curve so that the Doc Robot section isn't a complete nightmare, followed by a total pushover of a Skull Fortress that hands out extra lives and E-Tanks like Halloween candy.

[@ChaossX77]

@@robertlupa8273 elongated Wily huh? I guess it was too easy to even comment on. But I'm a child and couldn't help it.

[@Vistico93]

I want to play that now! I'll have to go look for it One hack I liked was by Small Apple which made the game a lot harder, made the Doc Robot stages the four which weren't used in the original game, and gave use to those Magflies in a Dr. Wily stage where you had to use them to cross a spike pit

[@ericmsandoval]

Revamped is a MASTERPIECE

[@davidgusquiloor2665]

"rushed" i see what you did there. But seriously, it's amazing how in the history of Mega Man Capcom always decides to pressure a quick development and then goes back to not caring for the series.

[@theonewiththeeyeoftruth884]

Yeah, that's strange. Even for MM2, they definitely should not have forced a quick development on a team already forced to work on it in their spare time, even if the first game was not a big success. But to pressure them again after the success of MM2 is just shooting themselves in the foot.

[@gwgux]

@@theonewiththeeyeoftruth884 The corporate execs who likely have never coded anything in their lives and probably never even played the games the company was producing probably thought that since MM2 was such a hit after being a rushed job, why allocate more time for "more of the same"? On one hand if MM2 was only passable and not a big hit, they would've been fine with not taking a loss on it, but never continued the series. On the other hand they went and did so well with next to nothing invested in it that they proved that they didn't "need" more time and resources. Capcom never truly cared about the original series like they did with their other IPs at the time. It was just a "quick buck" for them.

[@ninjafrog6966]

As if them pressuring the developers to rush the games means they care. Capcom never cared about mega man. Mega man 3 was rushed, and they barely gave the developers any time to finish mega man 2, and it shows

[@UnknownDude95]

​@@ninjafrog6966 n they allowed the Megaman, X and ZX franchises to stagnate

[@zacharylandrum4789]

We finally get to continue the Mega Man Marathon! The perfect thing to come home to after work!

[@overlordalfredo]

31:18 you are not getting hit by the piece, you are standing where the yellow devil's body will start to build. So you are essentially making body contact with the tile the devil will rebuilt on. The buggy part is that this hit box becomes available too early. To be fair though I never considered someone going right in this phase as that is the least place where you want to go in a yellow devil fight - the opposite side is where it will rebuilt itself, so you naturally avoid going to the edges in this fight xD

[@Cr3zant]

Really? You go to the edge so you have more time to react to the pieces.

[@overlordalfredo]

@@Cr3zant there is way too little time to react, you just learn the pattern as it is always the same. I think it's even the same for all versions of the yellow devil in various games...

[@medic6994]

I like how with the rush weapons, you have 1. Mandatory 2. Blatant Cheating 3. Rush Marine

[@overlordalfredo]

34:00 just a few remarks what you seem to have missed or just did not know about: Dr. Right and Dr. Wiley have been "forgotten" to be translated since those are the Japanese names direkly translated. For MM3 they translated Light to Right because it sounds similar and Wiley was written like Wiley Coyote because translators never seen reference for the first 2 games. Break Man is supposed to be a mysterious robot that has now background story intentionally. It's supposed to be some Nemesis type of Charakter that appears to be unrelated to the main story. You will also notice his different helmet on the portrait as well as ingame (the Sniper Joe dot-eye on his visor)! 28:31 Only by the end it is revealed that Break Man was actually Proto Man who is also Mega Man's (lost) brother. 34:16 The idea was that you fight someone who you don't recognize and by the end realize it was your own brother all along. So MegaMan instantly runs off rethinking all his previous fights and looking to find his brother... In the final Game (especially in English) this becomes not at all clear and you just have zero idea what is going on.

[@StCerberusEngel]

Just FYI here, but "Wiley" Coyote is not his name. It's Wile E. Coyote.

[@BeefJerkey]

Also, I'm quite certain that Dr. Right is his original name from the Japanese version.

[@xyannail4678]

I mean, Break Man looks exactly like the other guy, has a cape like him, wears a helmet like a him, and you even have the song 'Proto Man's Whistle'. You would make the obvious connection even if the game never hinted at it, I never played them when I was young and I knew it was Proto Man from some kind of insight or trivia that I knew before hand. It's not like plot twist level of reveal.

[@overlordalfredo]

@@xyannail4678 they look similar, not identical even the 8bit pixel versions are different, but yes the "disguise" is more level of Clark Kent/Superman. XD But you have to be aware that Protoman was not mentioned any time before that. So BreakMan was first, and it was in this very game revealed who he really is and how he looks. The disguise was only made to fool MegaMan in regards to ingame plot. Not to fool the players...

[@mouthwide0pen]

@@BeefJerkey Well, yeah, the japanese language lacks the letter L. Even if its meant to be Light or not, its still gonna be written as Right.

[@redpup6931]

The main thing the needle cannon has is that you can hold the b button down to auto fire it. It still sucks, but that is it's purpose. Anyways, 4 is my favorite so I can't wait for that.

[@khaosklub]

4 is probably the overall best of the NES games, even though 3 is my favorite. the problem with 4 though is that it's just solid, and nothing really stands out about it. the music is good, stages are good, the bosses are good. everything is just good, but nothing is particularly great. it kinda drags on long with the two fortresses, and the charge shot kinda makes weapons seem less special. mega man 2 and 3 had better music. 2 had metal blades, and 3 had protoman and rush. 4 also introduces extra utility items, making none really stand out and having more than you know what to do with.

[@VideoGameAnimationStudy]

@@khaosklub 4, I find, is definitely the most balanced.

[@RotaAbyssian]

@@khaosklub 5 is like that for me, but one thing 4 has against it is "Oh YEAH, that the one with TOAD MAN! LOL!" Honestly, I love Cossack, and I wish he showed up as a guy that does things more in the series. Hell, Kalinka only shows up in satellite material SOMETIMES. I heard a rumor somewhere that a scrapped idea for Duo was that he was either going to be a creation of Cossack, or repaired by him instead of Light, which is why he looks the way he does post-crash.

[@khaosklub]

@@RotaAbyssian I don't know where you get the idea that 5 is like that. besides having the best engine, it's got pretty bland bosses, some of the worst weapons in the series, an OP charge shot, wave man's stage, and the worst rush coil yet. 5 while functionally fine, is pretty poorly designed. I suppose more people would like it due to it being the easiest of the NES games, with extra lives thrown at you at every turn, and the OP charge shot that makes the terrible weapon set not really matter.

[@TimelyAbyss]

I agree that 4 is good but I always felt that adding the charge buster kinda moved away from the rock-paper-scissors gameplay of the first three. The charge buster works well against almost every boss thus reducing the importance of the boss weapons.

[@reginaldsafety6090]

Shocking how they rushed a game that was guaranteed to be a cash cow for them. Its clear that with a little more polish this would have been an incredible title that blew people away. In the end it was just a solid NES game.

[@davidgusquiloor2665]

Capcom probably thought of Mega Man as something that would only be relevant for a short while. Strike while the iron is hot and then forget about it, this would not be the last rushed game either.

[@Drekal684]

Yeah, they sure did learn their lesson from this game... No further rushing of cash cow followups to a popular game in the MM franchise, no sir, no how. *looks ahead nervously towards MM Battle Network 4*

[@davidm4566]

I would be very interested to see what they would have considered a finished, polished game. This is already a great game.

[@evillecaston]

"The more I get into this franchise, it starts to seem that opinions can get pretty divided on it" Wait until you discover Final Fantasy. And its fanbase...

[@StCerberusEngel]

8, 10, 10-2, and the three 13 games especially. I've seen some nasty fights over those.

[@ROMBomb001]

@@StCerberusEngel "Ff Mystic Quest iz best or GTFO!!!1" I joke, of course. It is wild how passionate people can become over these games, but I suppose that is a testament to how deeply they can affect individuals as an amazing form of art/storytelling.

[@StCerberusEngel]

@@ROMBomb001 True. Passion often overwhelms reason. Also, I liked Mystic Quest to a certain degree. Way too easy and mindless, but it's a chill time with some charm. The enemy damage progression was a huge presentation highlight.

[@Typical.Anomaly]

@@ROMBomb001 Man... I got that game on the first xmas it was available ('92 or '93 iirc) I beat it on the night of Dec. 27. Total ripoff.

[@iantaakalla8180]

How is X divisive? I get that VIII, X-2, and XIII and its subfranchise (XV counts as a supposed spinoff of what XIII should have been) is divisive, but how is X divisive?

[@Phryj]

It says a lot about how good the core gameplay mechanics of Mega Man are that 2 rushed, flawed, and more or less unfinished games are still considered masterpieces.

[@theonewiththeeyeoftruth884]

Yep, the _best_ ones too.

[@lotion5238]

The 2nd and 3rd Ratchet and Clank games were both made in literally under a year consecutively and the 3rd one despite being as rushed as it was is still a fan favorite anyway.

[@kinnikuboneman]

True masterpieces have flaws

[@kinnikuboneman]

​@@lotion5238 RC3 was basically just an expansion for 2

[@thomasffrench3639]

@@theonewiththeeyeoftruth884 You say that, but, what other games are better? MM5 is considered the worst and MM6 is considered mediocre. Also MM4 has the Mega buster which is very controversial.

[@Jordan3DS]

Honestly, Mega Man 3 is my favorite of the classic series. The level design is a big step up over 2, and it has the best music of the games as well.

[@user-fy1nq3nf1q]

Unsure if I like it more than 9's but 3's ost is a banger

[@Jordan3DS]

@@user-fy1nq3nf1q Yeah, 9 has a fantastic OST as well! I'm actually surprised he didn't say anything about the music in the video, considering it's one of the highlights of the game.

[@foojo9]

Same 3 is my favourite too!

[@Jordan3DS]

@@foojo9 What an absolute coincidence with your PFP, I just watched the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie for the first time a couple of hours ago

[@fictionalmediabully9830]

@@Jordan3DS I've watched the Sonic 2 film at the beginning of the Easter Holidays, and had a great time.

[@sehtuk3953]

Gotta say, I'm really glad you decided to split all of games into separate reviews. This level of depth for all of these games is awesome.

[@Antifrost]

I remember the rematch against Wood Man in this game was particularly frustrating because the Doc Robots are slightly larger than the robot masters in the previous game. This makes the Leaf Shield incredibly difficult to jump over since it's now a larger attack than it was meant to be.

[@kered13]

Yeah, I did a buster-only playthrough recently and Wood Man is absolutely cruel. The window for jumping over his leaf blades is extremely tight and it can't be done on reaction when he is close to you, and when he eventually corners you and you have to cross over to the other side of the screen it is even harder to avoid getting hit. I had to make a save state before the boss and try dozens of times to beat him. I definitely do not recommend it. Quick Man is also similarly bad.

[@ALloydRH]

@@kered13 Flash Man is also pretty bad, the shape of the arena makes it impossible to jump over him if he has the high ground. No idea why they thought making the Doc Robots as big as they are and just slapping Megaman 2 patterns on them was a good idea.

[@kered13]

@@ALloydRH Yeah, I have seen a video showing it is possible to avoid him when he jumps down, but I could never do it. To beat Flash Man buster only you have to hold the top platform and jump over him when he walks across, which is still harder than it sounds because of his massive hitbox.

[@zixvirzjghamn737]

RUSH JET (flash man is still ppretty hahrd though)

[@nehehehgraylois]

Most of those rematches are absolutely hell because you're fighting a bunch of brick shithouses for sure. Bosses who were piss easy in 2 like Heat Man and Crash Man are way harder to just get around and bosses that were already tough in the first place like Quick Man are E Tank guzzlers

[@RTDelete]

I genuinely forgot Rush Marine even existed

[@johnforkner]

Mega Man 4 doesn’t get much love from the community, but when I play it, I can’t help but feel like it was an effort on the part of the designers to a return to what made Mega Man 2 work so well. It has the polish that Mega Man 3 is lacks. Intro cutscene, a return of the robot master jingle, mostly interesting bosses and weapons…it’s a complete package. It’s just that by the fourth entry, the newness of the franchise had worn off, which may be why it’s often forgotten.

[@fictionalmediabully9830]

4 was the last in the series to innovate on the classic Mega Man formula, so I'm surprised it's not as often brought up in high regard as its less polished predecessors. Though judging from the comments, it seems like the 4 lovers are much more vocal than half a decade ago.

[@SeekerLancer]

It's gotten more love in recent years, especially with younger people discovering the series and forming unbiased opinions. 2 and 3 had a lot of nostalgia to carry them despite 4 being more polished, balanced and subjectively better. The Nico Evaluates channel has done a lot to improve 4's reputation too.

[@jaretco6423]

From what I heard, MM4 seems to overely on the heavy traps than the previous 2. Too many spikes, some cheap enemy placements, loads of bottomless pits and too many mini bosses. I do think it's more polished and better design than MM2 & MM3. But still has some absurd moments.

[@flightsimx]

4 is one of my favorites if not my favorite from the classic series. Great Levels, Best Weapons, Cool Bosses and The Soundtrack has its own style and unique sound. it has some of the most memorable and catchy songs in the series. People grouped (not so much anymore) 4,5 and 6 together as being mediocre entires in the series and praised 2 and 3 as the the pinnacle, and it couldn’t be farther from the truth lol. 4 and 6 are amazing games (5 is the only one that’s genuinely mediocre) and while people say 2 is the best, it’s flawed but it’s so short and easy to run through that it’s fun, 3 i can’t defend as its one of my least favorites imo bc the game is a slog to get through sometimes I’ll just play it and quit at the doc robots bc fuck the doc robots.

[@jaretco6423]

@@flightsimx That's probably what I was going to say as well. Alot of people given alot of praises to 2 & 3 as the best and calls on 4-6 being mediocre. Though I did hear many other people also praise on 4 alot. But not nearly as much as 2 or 3.

[@WolfDB]

A fun little sign of how messed up Mega Man 3's code is: You know how, in Mega Man 2, Metal Man dies in two hits to his own weapon? Well guess what: that same thing happens here, only its for every robot master with their own weapons, and it's not in as many hits. You can use the robot master weapons to defeat the same robot masters you got their respective weapons from

[@davidthecommenter]

it takes 7 shots i believe, the exploit is only available during the boss rush.

[@shygaifu3592]

@@davidthecommenter During the boss rush...so...the only time you would use a robot master's weapon against them?

[@davidthecommenter]

@@shygaifu3592 no dip

[@moosesues8887]

@@davidthecommenter uh

[@RamManNo1]

I don’t think that’s true at all is it?

[@pit2643]

Yeah, I'm already getting more and more interested in seeing these non-Pokemon videos, with how you're dissecting them in more varied ways than what I'm used to. Good work, Pikasprey! 👍

[@SuperGoker64]

Fun fact about Doc Robot: his name in Japanese is "Dokurobotto", a portmanteau of "dokuro", meaning skull, and "robotto". For whatever reason, the translation team didn't catch onto the former part, hence why he's not called something along the lines of Skullbot. This translation error led to his Captain N incarnation to be a more literal doc(tor) robot.

[@ultrairrelevantnobody1862]

I'd still say it's a considerable improvement over the first two games. I may not like the Doc Robot portion, but the rest of the package at worst is on par with the average levels of before, and the highs are twice as good. That, and the slide adds so much to the platforming gameplay to the point you really feel its absence when revisiting its predecessors. Overall, Mega Man 4 is most likely what you're looking for if you want a properly realised NES Mega Man game. The weapons are consistently useful, the level design is more genuine and less reliant on unfair jank, and the quality is consistent from start to finish.

[@megamob5834]

This ☝️

[@SeekerLancer]

The only really unfair bit in 4 is those jerks that jump out of the pits unexpectedly in Dust Man's stage that you don't know are there the first time. Other than that it's really well designed. 4 is my favorite game in the classic series.

[@TheStephenation]

@@SeekerLancer Flash Stopper freezes the existing ones and stops new ones from spawning for its duration.

[@Luigi1000]

A few things not mentioned in the video but I always bring up when talking about MM3: The split weakness chains being super weird, bosses being weak to their own weapon as a 2ndary weakness, the yellow devil mk2 having no i-frames on it's eye leading you to kill it quickly by being up close and personal, the fact that the room outside of gamma feels less like a prep room before final boss but more as a dev test room, the fact they left in WORKING dev controls which are accessible via the inputs on the 2nd controller, and personally what I consider to be the worst one that you can soft lock in Gemini man's fight when you kill him in just the wrong way in both his stage and rematch. It happened to me once on a physical console and it sucked.

[@CiromBreeze]

I was actually kinda surprised when you mentioned that people thought MM3 was the best one - I always thought it as one of the weaker entries in the series! Definitely the worst of the ones which *aren't* outright bad. Underwhelming boss weapons, underwhelming level design and DOC Robots just make it an overall boring experience. Soundtrack has to be among my favourites, though. Every Robot Master theme is a bop, and I *often* find myself whistling Protoman's theme. However, now we go from one of the worst to one of the best! Can't wait for MM4.

[@Schush]

You can also flip that mantra around... I know to some, MM4 was the dog of the series.

[@squidtabo]

Dr Light’s name is technically correct, it’s just his Japanese name,トーマス・ライト (Tomasu Raito) Japanese does have this quirk where “L” and “R” are somewhat fused together, which is why this probably occurred. This can be seen in Mega Man 9, where in the English Version the insignia before each boss door has “Dr. L” while in the Japanese version it uses “Dr. R” instead. (Sorry if I got any of this info wrong)

[@nehehehgraylois]

Ok but it's equally funny they fucked up and forgot to localize it

[@thomasffrench3639]

It’s not necessarily that they are fused together, it’s more like the R sound can also be used for the L sound.

[@Chase-hv2lt]

Im a massive pokemon fan and your videos about Pokemon hit the perfect spot for me. But I also love your other videos, mega man a Castlevania. I love that you still make them and put as much effort into them even though you don't get the same amount of views and thank you for that. I can't wait to see what else is made for the future of your channel!

[@megametexe5129]

I personally really like the idea of rush marine but you’re right they needed better stages to use it in

[@davidgusquiloor2665]

Rush forms always are neat ideas, but mostly underdeveloped. Rush bike comes to mind. Rush marine would be more useful in a fully aquatic level, or in a level with optional shorcuts filled with water.

[@davidthecommenter]

according to the archie comics, needle man's stage takes place on an old ship, and top man's stage takes place in a greenhouse. you can aim hard knuckle slightly up and down when you shoot it. top spin uses energy on every frame, so it drains very fast if your enemy doesn't die on one hit and you keep holding the B button.

[@GrayToaster]

Can't wait for you to review 4 which is my personal favorite

[@ndr2q]

It’s always interesting to me to see a perspective of someone younger, who didn’t grow up with NES games like I did, on how they hold up. Because it’s so hard for me to be objective about the games of my childhood, and also the standards that gamers expect now are so very different. Back in the 80s and 90s, just the feeling of being able to move a character on our TV felt like “magic”, and I remember MM3 specifically being one of the biggest and most ambitious NES games ever, at the time of its release. When you strip away all the context from it, and all the hype it had, and just look at the mechanics and graphics objectively, I can understand to an extent all your criticisms. I think people of my generation tend to overlook a lot of flaws like sprite flicker, bad translations, or rushed development, just because those were consistent with the standards of the hardware and the time. MM3 is a product of its age. And it shows it’s age. Even if it was mind blowing, for those of us who experienced this series while it was new.

[@DJ_CARCINOGEN]

It's interesting what you said about how the stages were made before the robot masters and how Gemini man's stage looks like metroid. If you look at prerelease pictures of the stage, you can see giant planets in the background. Guessing his stage originally leaned farther into its alien themes

[@user-fy1nq3nf1q]

Finally! I was wondering if you outright dropped the MegaMan series. I loved your first two MegaMan videos, you have a solid, cohesive perspective on the series thus far. Please keep these coming P.s, MegaMan 4 is easily the best in the nes hexology, hands down.

[@megamob5834]

Unpopular opinion but I totally agree

[@Bramhallthefifth]

4 5 and 6 are all pretty much the same game but 5 barely edges out for me, probably because of the music if im being real all 3 are better than 1-3

[@user-fy1nq3nf1q]

@@Bramhallthefifth 4's weapons and endgame is way better than 5 and 6. 5 and 6 have really boring end game stages. All weapons besides the skull barrier in 4 are consistently dependable in most situations

[@megamob5834]

@@user-fy1nq3nf1q 4 easily has the best and most balanced weapon set. And by far the best endgame of all 6. The problem with 5 is the charged buster is so op that it renders all other weapons situational at best. I also find 5 to be kind of bland and uninspired. My least favorite of the original 6. 6 is a bit too easy and doesn’t have the best weapons either, but it’s still pretty fun imo and it’s also one of the best looking games on the NES

[@zacsolo1594]

I absolutely despise 4 in almost every aspect. The charge shot being kept after you take damage is completely unnatural, the weapons aren't "balanced and best", you still have your useless projectile and shield weapon, along with an explosive that consumes too much energy and the rest are gimmick weapons that aren't interesting. It's levels are also dumb with Bright Man and Ring Man being the best examples.

[@GabrielFMayer1]

Thank you for all the effort in making this long video. I truly appreciated it and it seemed as if it were much shorter. It’s certainly something I will watch again and again

[@pistonfists]

Pikasprey, I loved this video so much! Awesome to see you doing longer form stuff. Your videos are so nice to put on while I'm working on something else, I love the cadence of your voice and you always have interesting opinions even if I don't necessarily agree at certain points. Thanks for the video!

[@redgerran]

I personally enjoyed 3 more than 2. This game had so many fun features that you just don't see in any other Megaman games.

[@noname-jt6kl]

So stupidly hard levels are better then.

[@RaginDragn24]

@@amadeus.7436 im going through the games for the first time too but i think the opposite.

[@theonewiththeeyeoftruth884]

@@noname-jt6kl What was hard about them?

[@ComptonFalcon]

When you got hit at at 31:18 by the Yellow Devil MKII, it looked like maybe it was because you were standing where the first chunk of him was supposed to end up? Maybe the hitbox for that spot popped up way too early?

[@nehehehgraylois]

definitely still jank

[@FarelForever]

Given how often I saw people say "I'll cover all of the Megaman games", and then they just stop at 3... I do hope this'll continue sooner or later :)

[@FrogAssemblyLine]

Man, I know these vids don't get as many as your pokemon ones, but I do really enjoy them

[@johnquach8821]

Very interesting Mega Man video! I really like these classic Mega Man retrospectives.

[@chiefmonrovia6691]

I think my favorite thing about your videos is that you make sure they're good, not just that they're done and out. Like I'm never gonna expect a video every week, 2 weeks, hell I don't even expect one a month, but I do know that they're gonna be great, super deep videos, that I can rewatch a bunch

[@coenpelsrijcken8530]

33:52 The way you said protoman in that sentence sounded so facetious, like "Oh woooow who would've f*cking guessed?" lol

[@whomdunit2457]

Happy to see this retrospective continuing!

[@allthelonely4287]

Just a note for people who wanted to get the Mega Man Anniversary Collection after watching this, the GameCube version’s controls for jumping and attacking are backwards from what you would expect and there’s no option to change them.

[@Morgil27]

Rather than the Hard Knuckle for Gamna's first form, I just stood directly under his head and rapid-fired the Shadow Blade straight up.

[@vaudeville1939]

The spark shock was supposed to work in the same way Spark Man uses it (or the Pharaoh Shot in MM4) but since MM3 was rushed they programmed it to work how it does today.

[@joshtheryuk]

I just finished rewatching the Megaman 1 and 2 reviews. This upload couldn't have happened at a better time. Your reviews are amazing.

[@crpalstuck2966]

So glad to see this back, I was worried you were done with it after mega man 2.

[@RamieTV]

I know everyone was telling you that 3 is the best, but from my own I experience I find it to be one of my least favorites (aside from the music, which is amazing.) MM4 is definitely better than MM3. It's is pretty underrated in my opinion, I look forward to seeing your thoughts on it.

[@RaginDragn24]

So far as im correctly playing through these games for the first time. This one is my least favorite too. It feels like the game punishes you hard for not knowing what to do compared to the first 2 games

[@fictionalmediabully9830]

@@RaginDragn24 Um, the first two games, more specifically the first, were very punishing games also. When replaying these games I found 3 to offer a more genuine challenge despite the relatively high difficulty, well besides the Doc Robot nonsense.

[@RaginDragn24]

@@fictionalmediabully9830 the only really punishing thing about 1 other then random enemy placement is yellow devil and 2 was a little less punishing then 1. 3 was just all enemy placement with a bunch of bad robot master weapons

[@fictionalmediabully9830]

@@RaginDragn24 Outside of Spark Shock, the worst weapons were generally more useful than the worst in 2. None of them were any good or fun to use besides the Metal Blade and maybe the Quick Boomerang. As for enemies, 2 felt more sloppy and cheap. Flash Man had those toe nail look-a-like shooters that were impossible to get passed without taking damage, unless you have a weapon that was competent against them. Then you have that one joe in Wily Castle 4 which makes buster only runs of that level impossible, and is just poor design. Never had anything like that in 3, well besides the rock throwers in Wily 5 I think it was.

[@thegoblin4948]

Been waiting for this one! I love your reviews man

[@Nic5Cyprus]

Great work on the video. While Megaman 3 introduced Protoman who's probably my favorite Megaman character, I feel like this game might be the weakest of all classic Megaman games. Even the first game, while it's rough at least it was original and it's shortcomings are excused by being an early NES game.

[@user-fy1nq3nf1q]

You don't see 5 or 2 worse than 3?

[@Nic5Cyprus]

@@user-fy1nq3nf1q 5 is probably my favorite of the nes games and 2 is also great

[@ultrairrelevantnobody1862]

5 is great as long as you don't use the charge buster, lol.

[@blazingwaters7469]

my main problem with 5 is that, despite trying its best to do different things, it oddly feels one of the more rudimentary games in the Classic lineup. I can't really recall much of the *actual* layout of the levels, just "oh this one had a jet ski, this one's on a train, this one's a cave...". It's also just, mind-numbingly easy, half because, as Ultra alluded to, the Charge Shots just make enemy and even boss encounters a cinch, which isn't what I look forward in a Mega Man game, and half because there's rarely a moment where I really got... stuck. It also seems to GIVE you a lot of energy and e-tanks, I'm pretty sure it was the only game out of the entire Classic series where I got a max amount of e-tanks, without spending most of that time grinding them out. WITH ALL THAT SAID, I can still respect it and see how it managed to obtain a bit of a cult following. The music's pretty damn good, the graphics are some of the best of the NES library, and like I said, it tries to do different setpieces and ideas across each level, and the fact I was able to remember most of them at least says they succeeded in some regard. Not exactly what I want, but I can understand those that put it near the top of their lists.

[@dylanlange1401]

Aw man, definitely been waiting for this one. Glad to see you back on the Mega Man kick!

[@poisonsnivy6439]

Pretty interesting insight on Mega Man 3 being a rushed mess as i personally find it decent, and it's great to see someone else talk about the PS1 versions. That being said Mega Man 4 for me feels like the best in the series so I am looking forward to that review

[@real_kaeya]

MM3’s always been my favourite entry in spite of its flaws. Great music, great Robot Masters with fun fights, amazing stages. MM3 has always been in MM2’s shadow and I’m always happy to see praise of it

[@noname-jt6kl]

HOW???? I just got the series, and after liking 1 and loving 2, I HATED my time with 3. It's stupidly hard, punishing, and unfairly designed. Not bad, but way worse than 2, and I even like 1 more.

[@samproctor6826]

Awesome vid dude! Love seeing these every once in a while.

[@DSLego3]

And number three came out. Awesome review Pikasprey. Looking forward to number four, until then, stay safe, stay cool and have a great day.

[@Side_N0te]

I'm pretty sure the reason why top spin can eat through so much energy is because it's an always active hitbox, so if the enemy doesn't die from it it gets hit a lot of times, which uses the energy. Side note: there is a bug that allows you to transfer the properties of weapons to a different weapon, which is mostly useless except against the Holo-Rock fight, letting you finish the fight before they even have the chance to attack.

[@worldrummer]

My first visit to your channel. What a fantastic video essay. 👌🏼

[@San-lh8us]

really nice, i'm enjoying these a lot, keep up the good work

[@TheStyler2710]

I love these retro game reviews with the Pikaspry voice. I'm looking forward to the next videos

[@SerpiaXerma]

YESSSS i'm SO glad you're continuing this series

[@JuanR322]

Ayyyyy, PikaSprey's finally reviewing my favorite classic MM game. That said mechanically MM4 is the best nes MM game

[@DemonClaus]

Really enjoying your megaman series!

[@BlueBomberGamerOficial]

37:10 Rockman 1-3 from the complete works also has arrange soundtrack, to unlock you must hold Select button when playing only on Navi mode, it doesnt work in the original mode And if you want a great improvement in Megaman 3,check out the rom hack Megaman 3 Revamped, it adds cutscenes in the game,restores stuff from the japanese stuff and beta,revamps the level desing from a few levels, adds extra details,its almost seing what this game could be if give proper development time

[@megamob5834]

The weapon set is weak, the doc robot stages are a slog, the wily stages feel totally unfinished and the addition of proto man is completely pointless. That said, there is something still incredibly charming about MM3. Could be the well designed RM stages, or the newly implemented slide, or the amazing soundtrack, but for all its flaws I still quite like MM3 (4 is still worlds better tho).

[@fictionalmediabully9830]

I would probably say 3 is my personal favourite, basically I give it a higher score than 4 in regards to emotional value, but in terms of the design, aesthetics, how they correlate with each other, and maybe even the narrative and immersion, 4 is the untouchable king. :)

[@ShursGarden]

@@fictionalmediabully9830 6 is right there.

[@user-fy1nq3nf1q]

@@ShursGarden 6's second half is way too boring. X4 just hands you two free e tanks for no reason, or x1 giving you basically 4 free one ups for a not that hard of a jump

[@ShursGarden]

@@user-fy1nq3nf1q we're talking about Classic

[@user-fy1nq3nf1q]

@@ShursGarden that's the funny thing, it's the Mr X stages I'm talking about. Damn Capcom and their stupid villain name.

[@velvetbutterfly]

Pikasprey uploading is just what I need after a scary day. Thank you for great content as always

[@jayman4566]

Glad to see a video pop up from you. Even though I am subscribed and have the Bell icons on..this is the first video that has popped up in close to a year.

[@FoxMan_FF]

Now _this_ is a far different take on Megaman 3 than what I'm used to seeing! I actually completely forgot the game was rushed, so taking that knowledge into perspective, it's understandable that you'd have those opinions! Also AFAIK the Needle Cannon is one of several weapons the community has colloquially referred to as "buster replacement weapons". Make of that what you will.

[@ezragrun]

4:57 To be fair, my friends and I never noticed this on the tube-based CRT TVs we gamed on. Also, most kids used the RF cable switch with their NES instead of the yellow and red composite ports-which muddied the picture even more. Thanks for these videos! I’ve enjoyed your Mega Man content and have learned a few secrets about the games I never knew before.

[@rossjohnstone4689]

I was looking forward to this one as this and 5 are the only ones I've beaten. This one had a great manga too that I recommend checking out. Shadow man is so cool in it.

[@mrgiock]

awsome video! please continue the mega man series, i love them and they are one of your best

[@SoulConstruct]

I found Spark Shock is effective against the monkey robots in Hard Man's stage. Paralyze them in mid-air, walk under them, and continue onwards!

[@armythecat]

No wonder the dog is named Rush, given the situation of the development

[@casualjacob776]

Great video! Glad to see an upload from you

[@isuckatgaming1873]

I remember a theory that top man's stage is filled with weed, because top backwards is pot.

[@Alizamk1]

it's been 10 months and that makes me cry

[@mhylian40]

Great video! MM3 is my fave from NES games, it's good to see a review from someone who is first experiencing it, and even with a lot of insights I've never heard about Please, keep your reviews of mm, I've subscribed!

[@occamsbeatinstick.3076]

Funny thing about Topman's stage, it was put in at the last minute due to a technical problem! As the story goes, someone literally tripped over one of the lead programmer's cords in the office and blew an entire level away. So Topman's botanical garden had to be scrambled together last minute. I still think it's pretty great regardless, but that kind of thing makes the background of game dev interesting.

[@nehehehgraylois]

Where does this story come from because that's fucking golden

[@Names_Trin]

Hell yeah been we all been waiting for this glad to see it out finally great work Asprey/Forbidden Name

[@the3dluxe53]

Can’t wait for the MM4 review. It’s my absolute favorite in the series! The charge shot is a nice addition and at least for me all of the weapons feel pretty useful.

[@foojo9]

Personally, Mega Man 3 is just my favourite Mega Man game in the series. While I love Mega Man 2, I prefer 3 simply because of the gameplay, the bosses and the length of the game. (Yes I love how long Mega Man 3 is)

[@Atmapalazzo]

Agreed. Also the doc robot stages are just more fun than the nonstop castle stages that 4-6 has

[@foojo9]

@@Atmapalazzo Agreed the 4-6 castle stages get boring

[@noname-jt6kl]

I hated the difficulty. It's much harder than the first 2, and not that fun, just annoying.

[@theonewiththeeyeoftruth884]

I know. Why all the hate from others about the Doc Robot stages? I thought they were great, a smart way to reuse assets for more stages. The return of those stage styles and their music themes is welcome. The previous games were too short. Once you have all the weapons, there just were not enough stages before to enjoy them. And yes, these Doc Robot stages were better than having 2 bland fortresses.

[@zZaxOo]

i like that pikasprey plays this game multiple times before making a review, great commitment

[@JAGtheTrekkieGEMINI1701]

Tbh I consider this "RUSHED" Game to be the *Best* MM on the NES. Very good Soundtrack, introduction of Slide mechanic and Rush, Dark Robo Bosses featuring MM2 Robos and the sheer amount of different tactics this Game allows you to use in various Situations makes it the BEST 👍

[@keaton5101]

As a Mega Man fan, I'd like to say that these analyses are very fair and very accurate. It's clear you put a lot of time, research, and thought into this. And that is greatly appreciated! Some trivia for you: Doc Robot is a mistranslation of "Dokuroboto"- a portmanteau of "Dokuro" and "Roboto", more or less translating to "Skullbot". There's also another bug in Mega Man 3 that wasn't mentioned here: if you don't have Rush Jet or Marine yet, but you do have the weapon to the LEFT of it in the menu, you can move the cursor right and equip them, then just pick up any amount of weapon energy and... boom, you have Rush Jet/Marine now.

[@JoeyCannoli]

21:04 *Ring Boomerang and Knight Crusher have entered the chat.*

[@JezElectro13]

Imagine if someone contacted Keiji Inafune and asked for summery on how he would imagine Full Mega Man 3 and made a rom hack out of it.

[@SeanTK000]

Please keep going man, I love these videos on megaman

[@solan7978]

Thanks for doing these videos! They're nice to watch, especially since the MegaMan series was my favorite game series growing up. That said, I have to disagree with you completely on the Doc Robot stages. I thought it was fantastic that they were bringing back the robot masters from MegaMan 2, a great twist, and I enjoyed having to discover their new weaknesses. Furthermore, the stages themselves had some pretty good stuff, such as the Helicopter Hardhats and the Giant Hardhat.

[@alicecera7512]

11:13 You don't even need to go down to the bottom of the screen to collect that item. The top and bottom screen share the same space so when you're jumping on Rush Jet to save energy and pass that weapon energy you'll collect it regardless making Rush Jet even more OP.

[@ElecManX]

Around the 4:57 mark, I realized that the flicker wasn't something I had ever seen before despite having played Mega Man 3 extensively, so I immediately decided that I needed to double check. The version I played was the one included in Mega Man Anniversary Collection for the Gamecube, so I booted it up and sure enough, the sprite flicker is fixed. They also added Mega Man back to the title screen, which is a nice touch that I never knew anything about, since I have never played the game on the original hardware. It's been mentioned in these comments before, but the Legacy Collection releases (including the X Legacy Collection) are honestly substandard, and it's hard to imagine how Capcom screwed up porting NES games to modern hardware. If you intend to continue, I suggest finding a copy of Mega Man Anniversary Collection for the PS2 or Gamecube as well as X Collection for the PS2.

[@RotaAbyssian]

As a fan of the Mega Man franchise, I really appreciate these videos covering the Legacy of the Blue Bomber. I've had my fandom pulse through my veins for a LOOOONG time, so this fresh perspective makes it feel new again in a way. It makes me wonder just how far this will go; the GB games, X, Battle Network? The sky's the limit! I will say that the X series is where I got my personal start though.

[@benbriggsmusic]

This video is such a pleasant surprise today thank you

[@Kaiserkrister]

Hello Pikasprey! Amazing video, looking forward to see mm4! I wanna mention some small things,if you have shadow blade you can press right and get rush jet early, just pickup ammo for it, jumping while riding rush jet also saves ammo as he only uses ammo while ur standing on him.. hehe There was also supposed to be a saturn moon in gemini man stage but it was also cut, you can skip the cutscene with proto man too, if you want help researching mm4, let me know!

[@crism8868]

I appreciate someone having a critical look at MM3. As you said by the standards at the time it came out it was top tier, but clearly it has fatal design flaws. As a kid I usually just played the normal 8 robot masters then used a password to skip the shadow robot stages. The difficulty progression here just makes no sense, and it's clear the Dr. Willy stages are unfinished as there's really not much happening in them. Even with all those flaws I loved it as a kid and I assume a lot of fans are in this same position, where they can't look at it critically and without nostalgia tinted glasses. Will look forward to seeing what you think about IV. For me that one has the better Castle levels in the whole series. Really high quality levels that are challenging, make clever use of the abilities you get during the regular robot masters stages, and are well balanced with generally interesting bosses.

[@polishedrelish]

We've been getting frequent uploads, thanks Asprey!

[@sketch319]

ty pikasprey for youre much appreciated content

[@shawnburke3427]

Nice job on this one. I think having some critical viewpoints gets some good conversations going

[@OneOneTwo112]

Hey, great video! If you want to learn more about this game's development I strongly urge you to pick up the Mega Man Official Complete Works book as they go even more in-depth about what happened here (such as the entire game being made in 6-9 months). It's very refreshing to see a newer player make their way through the series, and I'm glad you seem to be enjoying it on the whole :).