History VideOGame / MegaMan3

* HijackedByGanon: For the first time in the series, Dr. Wily turns out to have programmed to Robot Masters to go berserk so that he could steal Gamma while Mega Man was distracted.

All in all, ''Mega Man 3'' was another hit in the series, selling over a million copies and receiving excellent critical reception, although not quite on par with ''2''. The refined gameplay of ''2'' was expanded upon further, with the "Items" turned into the far more flexible Rush vehicles, a much higher limit on how many E-Tanks you could carry (9 instead of 4), and a new [[SlideAttack slide move]]. On top of that, ''3'' is the longest game in the entire [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] Mega Man series, with a whopping 18 stages total! Unfortunately, Keiji Inafune claimed that ''3'' was his [[CreatorBacklash least favorite Mega Man game]], due to the [[ExecutiveMeddling strained development of the game]] keeping it from reaching its full potential in his eyes, as well as losing the simplicity of the previous two games.

As with ''VideoGame/MegaMan1'' and ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'', ''3'' would later receive a [[UpdatedRerelease 16-bit upgrade]] as part of the [[NoExportForYou Europe and Japan-only]] ''Mega Man: The Wily Wars'' / ''Rockman Megaworld'' cartridge for the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis [[note]]Aside from being a Sega Channel exclusive for a brief time, and an eventual local release as a bundle with other Sega games in the Sega Genesis Ultimate Portable Player -- [[BadExportForYou but without the save feature and extra Wily Tower game]][[/note]]. It would also receive a Japan-only [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation PS1]] re-release as ''Rockman 3: Complete Works'', complete with remixed music and bonus content. The game would eventually get a major re-release as part of ''Anniversary Collection'' for [[UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 PS2]], UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube, and UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}}, and it is now available on UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole and as part of ''Mega Man Legacy Collection''.

* HitboxDissonance: Aside from ''VideoGame/MegaManII'' on the UsefulNotes/GameBoy, probably the worst offender in the series for this trope. It becomes doubly problematic when you consider that every Robot Master in this game seems to treat throwing themselves into Mega Man as their primary method of attack, while just firing their weapons whenever they want to add a little variety to the proceedings.

* GameMod: Of particular note is ''[[https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/4773/ Mega Man 3 Revamped]]'', which fixes nearly all of the issues plaguing the official release, such as rebalancing stages and boss fights, fixing most of the bugs, and actually adding an intro cutscene, making the game feel much less like an ObviousBeta and more like how it was likely intended to be all along.

* ObviousBeta: Keiji Inafune has called ''[=MM3=]'' his least favorite of the Classic games, saying it was released unfinished thanks to a rushed development cycle. It shows in many ways:
** Doc Robot has not been properly balanced. Three of his boss fights give him attacks that hack ''eight'' HP off Mega Man's total of 28, and his body is much larger than any of ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'', so he's really hard to dodge. This is especially noticeable in his version of the Wood Man fight, where the Leaf Shield has been scaled up to match his size. This makes it virtually impossible to avoid without absolute pixel-perfect timing, since the projectile is barely smaller than your jump height.
** The controls are sticky and respond strangely; if you try to do too much at once in the fight against Gemini Man, he'll fire a countershot even when you didn't fire anything.
** The Top Spin drains energy for every frame it's in contact with an enemy, and doesn't protect you from damage should you ram into an enemy with it.
** In Snake Man's stage, if you're standing on one of the platforms that flying spinning-tops emerge from when you're at their edge, you can instantly be catapulted to your death off the side of the platform.
** The Rush Jet only drains energy when you're actually standing on it.
** The game is plagued with SchizophrenicDifficulty. In particular, the Doc Robot stages are considered to be the hardest in the game, whereas the Wily Castle stages that immediately follow are actually among the ''easiest'' thanks to an overabundance of extra lives and E-Tanks.
** The game lacks any kind of introduction, even though the [[VideoGame/MegaMan2 previous game]] has one. Despite this, the title screen features a fairly long music track, suggesting it was supposed to be played over a cutscene.
** Several stages seem oddly off-theme for their Robot Master, including Top Man (who has two top-themed enemies but otherwise seems to have more of a nature/greenhouse theme), Needle Man (has a total of one needle-themed enemy in his stage), Snake Man (starts out going all-in on the snake theme but transitions into a cloud theme), and Shadow Man (a smelting facility whose only on-topic element is the Hologram enemies). This arises from the stages having been cobbled together from cut stages, including an early attempt to give the Doc Robots [[NostalgiaLevel levels based on their Robot Master]].
** The infamous Controller 2 cheats were debug tools that were supposed to be DummiedOut before release.

** Rush Jet is a platform that can be controlled in all directions and is so useful that it can be used to bypass numerous platforming challenges. To make it less "broken" and to ensure that it wouldn't render the other Rush items obsolete, later games would change the Rush Jet to only be able to move in the direction the player is facing upon summoning it and only allowing the player to control its movement vertically.

* BlindIdiotTranslation: Doc Robot's name in Japanese is ドクロボット (''"dokurobotto"''), which is meant to be a combination of ''dokuro'' (skull) and ''robotto'' (robot), meaning "Skull Robot" or "Skullbot" (fitting with Dr. Wily's skull motif). The translation missed this, resulting in a NonIndicativeName.

[[caption-width-right:350: ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL30lU26egw "I am Mega Man.]]'' ''[[Music/BrentalFloss I'm blue and cyan..."]]''[[note]]'''Back; L-to-R:''' [[GratuitousNinja Shadow Man]], [[ShockAndAwe Spark Man]], [[SelfDuplication Gemini Man]], [[MagnetismManipulation Magnet Man]], [[SpikeShooter Needle Man]], [[SpectacularSpinning Top Man]], [[SnakesAreSinister Snake Man]], and [[MightyGlacier Hard Man]]\\

[[caption-width-right:350: ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL30lU26egw "I am Mega Man.]]'' ''[[Music/BrentalFloss I'm blue and cyan..."]]''[[note]]'''Back; L-to-R:''' [[GratuitousNinja Shadow Man]], [[ShockAndAwe Spark Man]], [[SelfDuplication Gemini Man]], [[MagnetismManipulation Magnet Man]], [[SpikeShooter Needle Man]], [[SpectacularSpinning Top Man]], [[SinisterSnakes Snake Man]], and [[MightyGlacier Hard Man]]\\

[[caption-width-right:350: ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL30lU26egw "I am Mega Man.]]'' ''[[Music/BrentalFloss I'm blue and cyan..."]]'']]

Eventually, it turns out Dr. Wily was behind the whole scheme, tricking Mega Man into a wild goose chase so he could steal Gamma once it was finished and use it for his own evil ends. After a climatic battle, Gamma is destroyed and Wily surrenders again...only for both him and Mega Man to be crushed under the rubble of his collapsing castle. Fortunately, Mega Man is rescued by Break Man, who drops him off at Dr. Light's lab and hastily departs. Dr. Light reveals to Mega Man that Break Man's real identity is Proto Man, who ([[InternalReveal in info only shown to the audience]][[note]]on the other hand, Dr. Light could have just told him at some point[[/note]]) is Mega Man's long lost, aloof older brother. [[labelnote:Also...]]A certain blue UFO flies away, its inhabitant alive and well, and plotting his next scheme...[[/labelnote]]

* InternalReveal: The robot list revealing Proto Man's status as Mega Man's brother would appear to be something known only to the audience (and Dr. Light), since various games and Japanese [[AllThereInTheManual materials]] have Mega Man unaware of their connection. Not that this stopped the [[WesternAnimation/MegaManRubySpears Ruby-Spears cartoon]], the English translation of ''VideoGame/MegaMan7'', and the [[ComicBook/MegaManArchieComics Archie comic]] from having them both be aware that they're brothers[[note]]It's implied that Light eventually told Mega Man of their connection, hence the mournful ending while Mega Man contemplates the implications of having a brother, but it never actually happens on-screen[[/note]].

* ActuallyADoombot: The pilot of Wily Machine 3 is a fake Wily, the real one operating Gamma.
* AllThereInTheManual: The only way to learn about the story, since the game's rushed production didn't afford it the luxury of having an ''intro cutscene''.

** The Doc Robot stages can be pretty bad about this. Despite facing two bosses in each stage, dying to the first one won't put you at the BossCorridor, but rather all the way back to the beginning of the stage, with the checkpoint not registering until after leaving the room. In Spark Man's stage, even ''that's'' not good enough -- one must fall down a spike-filled shaft before you're given a checkpoint. Die falling through it, and it's back to the start you go (and you have to fight the first Doc Robot again!). The ''Wily Wars'' remake was at least kind enough to move the checkpoint to right after you battle the Doc Robot.

* DoppelgangerAttack: Gemini Man's specialty, along with [[EnergyWeapon Frickin' Laser Beams]]. The Holograph Mega Mans [''sic''] in Wily Castle are also a variant.

%%* EternalEngine: Spark Man's stage.
%%* FinalBoss: Gamma.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: The tops of the Giant Metalls in the Doc Robot remastered Doc Robot version of Needle Man's stage are visible in the original version of the stage as background elements.

* GiantMook: The Giant Metalls in the remastered Needle Man Stage. Additionally, the Giant Springers are bigger counterparts of the ones from Mega Man 2, and they appear mostly in the Doc Robot stages too.

* HijackedByGanon: Dr. Wily does the first instance of many in the series. A bit of a Downplayed example, though, as the game never mentions its own story, so [[AllThereInTheManual without the manual]], you have little to no indication that there's even a RedHerring in the first place. Subverted with the Japanese version of the game, where the subtitle outright spoils that Wily is the villain yet again.

* HomingProjectile: The Magnet Missiles are a variation, since they simply fly up or down depending on where an enemy happens to be as they fly ahead.

* LethalJokeWeapon: The Top Spin is often ridiculed as the worst weapon in the series when it's actually quite potent in the right hands. It's a OneHitKill on any non-boss enemy except Hammer Joes. It is also the weakness of Shadow Man and no less than ''three'' bosses in the Wily stages, including the FinalBoss, which it downs in ''one hit.''[[note]]Top Spin is dangerous to use because the "field" it generates around Mega Man to inflict damage is extremely small, barely larger than his hitbox (and see HitboxDissonance for why that's a problem already). However, Top Spin has two incredible advantages. First, it does not cause MercyInvincibility on enemies, so as long as you're Top Spinning, you're doing damage. Second, ''as long as you're Top Spinning and in contact with enemies, you're doing damage''. This advantage is so incredibly overpowered that the final boss doesn't actually go down in one hit, but in fact takes ''14 hits'' in less than half a second, killing it essentially instantly. According to Keiji Inafune, it was actually supposed to work somewhat less suicidally (the best and really only way to use Top Spin is to launch yourself into enemies while still having to deal with CollisionDamage), but the rushed production schedule forced the implementation that is in the game[[/note]].

* LongSongShortScene: A few tunes, like the Wily Castle intermission theme and Proto Man's theme in the cast roll, never played in their entirety. And thanks to the lack of an opening cutscene, you're unlikely to pay attention to the title screen theme of this game when first playing it.

%%* MultiMookMelee: The Kamegoro Maker invokes this.

* ReflectingLaser: The Gemini Laser bounces off of walls. However, to avoid it being useless or having plenty of incredibly obvious "use it here" sections, it breaks the normal "angle of reflection equals angle of incidence" rule of physics, and the first bounce will always be a 45 degree upward angle. Subsequent bounces will follow the rule.

* SkyFace: In the ending, Proto Man's face can be seen in the sky.

* SpinAttack: The Top Spin makes Mega Man (and Top Man) spin while using it.
* SpinToDeflectStuff: Top Man does this when using the Top Spin. You, unfortunately, can't.

* UtilityWeapon: The Hard Knuckle is the only weapon that can destroy hard walls in the Wily Castle.

* InternalReveal: The robot list revealing Proto Man's status as Mega Man's brother would appear to be something known only to the audience (and Dr. Light), since various games and Japanese [[AllThereInTheManual materials]] have Mega Man unaware of their connection. Not that this stopped the [[WesternAnimation/MegaMan Ruby-Spears cartoon]], the English translation of ''VideoGame/MegaMan7'', and the [[ComicBook/MegaManArchieComics Archie comic]] from having them both be aware that they're brothers[[note]]It's implied that Light eventually told Mega Man of their connection, hence the mournful ending while Mega Man contemplates the implications of having a brother, but it never actually happens on-screen[[/note]].

* EternalEngine: Spark Man's stage.
* FinalBoss: Gamma.

* HumongousMecha: Gamma, whose torso takes up an entire screen.

* MercyInvincibility: As in all ''Mega Man'' games, but also the only way to use Top Spin on stronger enemies.
* MultiMookMelee: The Kamegoro Maker invokes this.

** Finally, the infamous Controller 2 cheats were debug tools that were supposed to be DummiedOut before release.

** A DummiedOut background for Gemini Man's level includes a planet that looks very much like Saturn. It's reasonable to deduce the mining stations are on moons of the outer planets in our solar system.
* SpikeShooter: The Needle Cannon, which can be rapidly fired.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: The [[FuumaShuriken Shadow Blade]] is basically a {{nerf}}ed version of the [[VideoGame/MegaMan2 Metal Blade]].

* VillainsWantMercy: Both the robotic Wily impostor and the real one in the ending.

* WhamShot: During the ending:
--> No. 000 Proto Man
--> New robot prototype, [[LukeIAmYourFather brother of Mega Man]].

%%* EternalEngine: Spark Man's stage.
%%* FinalBoss: Gamma.

* SequelDifficultySpike: Averted for the most part -- the levels are about as challenging as those of the previous game in its "difficult" mode, and still generally easier than those of the first game -- but played straight in two other regards:
** This time around, it's practically a requirement to take on the Robot Masters in some sort of order, otherwise you'll find yourself having to slowly chip away at each and every one of their health points with the Mega Buster, while they whale on you with their own weapons...or if they want to ''really'' beat up on you, they'll just throw themselves at you non-stop and let their HitboxDissonance and insane amounts of collision damage finish you off even quicker. Making matters worse, whereas most of the Robot Masters in the last game had two major weaknesses, here it's usually one major weakness, maybe a minor weakness (i.e. two times Mega Buster damage) if you're lucky, with everything else being either completely useless or no better than using the Mega Buster. Mitigated somewhat in the refights however, thanks to all the Robot Masters being weak to their own weapons.
** The Doc Robot stages are considerably harder than most of the stages in ''2'', mostly thanks to their fondness for spikes and BottomlessPits, and the CheckpointStarvation that results from only being able to start from either the very beginning of the stage, or after the first Doc Robot fight of the level.

* TwistEnding: While [[ItWasHisSled a very, very well-known one nowadays,]] the end reveals that Proto Man is DLN-000, making him Mega Man's brother.

[[caption-width-right:350: ''The Return of the Blue Bomber.'']]

After the runaway success of ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'', Creator/{{Capcom}} realized they had [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic a hit franchise]] on their hands, and it was only natural for them to soon follow up with ''Mega Man 3'' (''Rockman 3: The End of Dr. Wily!?'' in Japan) in 1990.