A playthrough of Capcom's 1996 run-and-gun action platformer for the Super Nintendo, Mega Man X3.

This playthrough shows my getting all of X's armor upgrades, ride armors, hearts, and sub tanks. I skipped the chip upgrades in the first eight stages so that I'd be able to collect the gold armor in the first Dr. Doppler stage. I fought Bit, Byte, and Vile over the course of the playthrough, and I also earned the game's best ending.

Mega Man X3 launched twelve months after the release of X2, and it was the final game in the mainline X series to be developed specifically for a Nintendo platform. It was also the first X game to appear on multiple consoles: a few months after its initial SNES release, an "enhanced" version sporting new FMV cutscenes and a remixed Redbook soundtrack appeared on the PlayStation and Saturn, though it was only released in Japan and Europe.

Once again a group of robots intended for peaceful purposes has turned rogue and now poses a threat to the world. Like the good robots that they are, X and Zero go after the source of all the trouble. This time, the enemy is Dr. Doppler, the leader of the maverick Reploids.

X3 plays exactly like you'd expect it to if you've played either of the first two games, but it does make an effort to avoid a mere rehash of the earlier titles. There are a ton of hidden upgrade items buried in each stage - many more than there had been in any Mega Man game to this point - and while none of them are required to complete the game, they certainly make the journey a bit easier going. There are also several optional boss and sub-boss fights scattered throughout the stages, and how you defeat them will determine what threats you'll face in the end-game areas.

One particularly welcome addition to this entry is the ability to play as Zero. Though you can't play out the entire adventure with him, the Z-Sabre makes his play style feel uncommonly innovative and fresh, and far more so than most of the so-called "innovations" that tend to drive Mega Man sequels.

The level design here is a strength, as always, and the controls uphold the series' reputation for excellent playability. Though the game makes use of the same Cx4 coprocessor that was used in X2, the graphics haven't improved much at all, and despite the soundtrack having been composed by Kinuyo Yamashita (of Castlevania fame), the quality of the music is pretty hit-or-miss. Unexpectedly so for a Mega Man game. For every truly great theme (like Zero's new tune), there's another that barely manages to hit mediocre (like Neon Tiger's stage theme), and the instrumentation is absolutely hideous. The guitars are shrill, harsh, and they mark a huge step down in quality from what we heard in MMX and (to a lesser extent) in MMX2.

...maybe Guns 'n Roses was not a wise choice of inspiration for SNES guitar anthems, after all.

The multitude of upgrades makes the game feel a bit unfocused at times and the sound is uncharacteristically poor for a Mega Man game, but in light of how many things Mega Man X3 does well, those wrinkles, though disappointing, don't much tarnish the experience. It's not as compelling as the first two games were, but it's still an excellent action game.

A collection of the FMV cutscenes from the PlayStation version of X3 can be found here:    • Mega Man X3 Remastered Cutscene Compi...  

If you'd like to see any of my other Mega Man playthroughs, you can find my playlist dedicated to the series here:    • Mega Man Playthroughs   There are 36 games in that list, so there's plenty to keep you occupied if you're into the games :)
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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