Topic: RFN RetroActive #27: Mega Man 3 - Official Discussion Thread

[Jonnyboy117]

Please use this forum thread to discuss Mega Man 3, which won the poll to become the latest RFN RetroActive game. It is available on both Wii and 3DS Virtual Console, as well as the Mega Man Anniversary Collection for GameCube/PS2, and of course the original version is on NES.


While comparisons to other Mega Man games, including MM2, are inevitable, I would encourage everyone to focus on this particular game and its own merits. We will try to do the same on the podcast.


Just to remind you all, we will be quoting your forum posts here to help drive the podcast discussion. However, the current plan is to record that segment on Thursday, May 2, so please post your comments by then if you'd like to be read on the show.

[Ignoramus]

Curious to what platform everyone will choose. I'm going 3DS here.

[Sundoulos]

I went with the 3DS as well simply because playing things on the handheld is far easier for me these days.   I'm a dad, but I'm a dad who is uncomfortable with commandeering the television to play games.   

No deep thoughts to start out here, but I have to say that I had forgotten how much I liked some of the music of some of the stages in this game, particularly that of the Magnet Man, Spark Man and Snake Man stages, as well as the title song.  As this was probably one of the first games I bought for myself as a kid, I played it to death.  Those stages really hit the nostalgia button.  They probably rank among my favorite stage music in the entire classic Mega Man series.

That being said, I originally bought this game and played it as a kid, while I had tons of fun with the game, I was disappointed in the music overall.  Aside from the tracks I mentioned (as well as a few others), I didn't find most of the music as memorable as I had in the first two games.  I could hum any number of the themes from the first two games, but I still had trouble remembering a lot of the music from 3.   

[Shaymin]

A6 Red as a starting password breaks everything, just an FYI.

[Rodrigue]

3DS seems like it would be the logical choice for most people, since it's a current generation platform and it's more convenient for busy people.

[Pixelated Pixies]

I'll probably burn through it this weekend.

[Sarail]

Original NES version for me. I keep the console hooked up in my bedroom. MM3, let's do this. Time to finish you for the 3794283472937th time.

[lolmonade]

Curious to what platform everyone will choose. I'm going 3DS here.

Gamecube 

[Pixelated Pixies]

Gamecube 

Uh oh.

[TJ Spyke]

Anyone want to gift me the game on Wii so I can join in? LOL

[Jonnyboy117]

I'm very curious, which stage do you beat first? It seems there are multiple, logical starting points. I've always found Top Man (stage and boss) to be the easiest, but Snake Man is also quite doable without any E Tanks or special weapons.

[Sundoulos]

When I played the game as a kid, I more often than not start with Top Man.  His pattern is fairly easy, and if you immediately use his weapon against the next appropriate boss, you get the Rush Jet earlier in the game. 
Edit:  Nevermind, I misremembered.  Shadow Man give you the Rush Marine rather than the Rush Jet.

Snake Man and Magnet Man first are also good entry points for the boss weakness loop because both can be defeated pretty easily with the regular buster.   You can usually brute force Snake Man.  Magnet Man has pretty simple pattern to his attacks; if you are patient enough to learn it.   Magnet Man's stage also provides your easiest encounter with Protoman since the ground is level and you have plenty of room to slide under him as he attacks.  The only downside is that Magnet Man's stage has the disappearing blocks, but the block pattern here is much easier to deal with than the ones in the MM1 Ice Man or MM2 Heat Man stages.

Something I really never noticed until this playthrough:  In Magnet Man's stage, some of the (what I presume to be) batteries have an R&W symbol on them instead of the traditional 'W'.   Then I recalled that in this game, that Wily had supposedly reformed and that Doctor Right/Light and Wily were supposed to have built these eight robot masters together, as well as the peace-keeping robot Gamma.  It just goes to show that I'm not very observant, I guess.

[Pixelated Pixies]

I just died three times in a row on Snake Man's stage. Not because it's difficult, but because those clouds that are supposed to carry you upward don't work, lol. They feel very 'glitchy'. I think it's because of the way they vibrate upwards and left to right, but three times now Mega Man has clipped through those floating platforms or inexplicably been thrown off into a chasm.
 
I should say, I'm playing the 50HZ PAL version on Wii. I am kind of tempted to buy the game again on 3DS just to have a 60 HZ version.

[Rodrigue]

One of the worst things about the Mega Man series is how you need to go through the stages in a particular order for it to be doable.

[Pixelated Pixies]

One of the worst things about the Mega Man series is how you need to go through the stages in a particular order for it to be doable.

You can do the levels in a certain sequence which might make it easier, true, but you can totally approach them any way you want. It's very much doable. I've played through Mega Man 9 (my favourite in the series) numerous times and have very much enjoyed approaching the levels in various different sequences. In fact, that's part of the appeal of the series.

[ejamer]

Always started with Magnet Man as a kid, so found it funny when Snake/Top were listed as the best starting levels. Can't really remember where I went after getting the cool (but not really that useful) Magnet Missile.


I want to disagree that Mega Man forces you into certain paths - or at least, not that all Mega Man games do. For both 2 and 3 there are multiple possible "easy" starting points, and once you are good enough you really can start with any level.  As a kid I always enjoyed the fact that you could experiment with different levels if getting stuck somewhere - made it a lot easier to keep playing then if you had to keep hammering away at one sticking point.

[Mop it up]

Top Man and Magnet Man are both designed to be a start point, as which each of them, it takes 14 shots from the regular arm cannon to defeat them as opposed to 28 for all other robots. We always went with Top Man first, he and his stage are a little easier with no weapons and items than Magnet Man. I like to have the Shadow Blade when dealing with those large spring things that shoot missiles over your head in Magnet Man's stage.

I'm a bit surprised people start with Snake Man, he's quite unpredictable and does a lot of damage from running into you. Even with the Shadow Blade I still have some trouble there. That isn't his big weakness, but I do find him easier to deal with than Gemini Man and Needle Man so I'd rather face him without his weakness than those two.

The problem with Mega Man 3 is that the boss order was screwed up, making it impossible to always have each robot's weakness. The two loops play out like this:

Top > Shadow > Spark > Magnet > Hard > Top...
Needle > Snake > Gemini > Needle...

Fortunately each boss has a couple of other partial weaknesses so there are some weapons that can be used to take them out in 14 or less hits, but still, it's rather odd that CapCom messed up the big weakness chart.

Another fun fact is that each robot is weak to its own weapon, taking them all out in 7 hits, which can be useful when you face them again in Wily's Castle. Then you don't have to deal with Shadow Man with that awful Top Spin...

[Rodrigue]

One of the worst things about the Mega Man series is how you need to go through the stages in a particular order for it to be doable.

You can do the levels in a certain sequence which might make it easier, true, but you can totally approach them any way you want. It's very much doable. I've played through Mega Man 9 (my favourite in the series) numerous times and have very much enjoyed approaching the levels in various different sequences. In fact, that's part of the appeal of the series.

Mega Man 9 seemed easier than the others when I played it. I'm not sure if I got lucky and played the easy stage first but I did the flying saucer guy first and I don't think it took me more than two or three tries to beat it. Meanwhile I struggle to reach the halfway point of Top Man's stage here without dying once.

Some stages are easier but have annoying bosses so you end up having to start over until you figure out their patterns perfectly... or just beat the stages the "proper" way.

[NWR_Neal]

Beat Top and Shadow.

Man, the slow down in this game can be awful sometimes, especially during the cats in Top Man's stage.

[S-U-P-E-R]

ooooOOOOOOO GOD DAMN!
                  /


Shoutout if you used a heavy book or something to weigh down 'right' on controller 2 when you were a kid.

[Halbred]

My path forward has always been Top Man > Shadow Man > Spark Man > Magnet Man > Hard Man > Snake Man (beat him with the Mega Buster) > Gemini Man > Needle Man.

The downside to this is that you get Rush Jet after beating Needle Man, so you have to tolerate Magnet Man's stupid disappearing block puzzles (which aren't that bad, actually), and Snake Man--who is weak to Needle Cannon--has to be beat by the Mega Buster.

[S-U-P-E-R]

Just finished it, here's the route I took:
Top Man > Magnet Man > Hard Man > Shadow Man > Spark Man > Gemini Man > Needle Man > Snake Man
 
It's a little longer and a little rougher than Mega Man 2, but not by too much. You have to be a real knower for boss weaknesses since you have to deal with all the MM2 bosses as well. The slowdown that happens in some levels is bleaaauugh. All of the music is awesome except for the boss music. The bugs in this game are interesting. So altogether, I rate this game pineapple on a scale of fruit.
 

And now I can't get this song out of my head.
 

[Pixelated Pixies]

Man, the slow down in this game can be awful sometimes, especially during the cats in Top Man's stage.

Yeah. That was a bummer. Now imagine that slow down combined with 50HZ. It's not pretty.
 
On that note, I broke down and bought the 60HZ 3DS version. Do I feel dirty about buying it again? Yes. Was it worth paying £4.50 to be able to play it at 60HZ? Unfortunately, yes. Damn you Nintendo!

[azeke]

One of the worst things about the Mega Man series is how you need to go through the stages in a particular order for it to be doable.

I am playing Mega Man 2 on and off, and each time, choosing next level i go just go whatever. I got to Wily's 1st level that way.

I am playing on hard.

[tyrian3]

I am playing it on the NES and I usually go Top Man-Shadow Man-Gemini Man as a starting trio. Don't know why but I've always beaten those 3 in the beginning in that order
I love the sliding, and I love the music in top man's stage
boy this is going to be FUN!