Trivia / Mega Man X3

• B-Team Sequel: Because the game was produced while Capcom were porting their development systems from 16-bit to 32-bit, they only handled the character designs and story for this game, and then palmed the rest of development off to Minakuchi Engineering. Oddly enough, while this was Minakuchi's last Mega Man outing, it wasn't the last Mega Man entry on the SNES; Capcom would later develop Mega Man & Bass in-house.
• Executive Meddling: The North American release of the PlayStation 1 version was canceled due to SCEA (Sony Computer Entertainment America) rejecting the game because they didn't want ports of older games on their new console (they also rejected the PS1 ports of Earthworm Jim 2 and Mickey Mania for the same reason). It is theorized, but not confirmed, that this had a knock-back effect on the American release of the Sega Saturn version.
• Fan Translation: One was done for the SNES version as a ROM hack by SolidOne and it was later expanded upon by Jack Nagre.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: Mega Man X2 employed a special SNES chip akin to the Mode 7 chip, called the CX4 chip, to heighten the graphics and sound. This carried over into X3 and caused both games to be more expensive than most SNES games at the time, and in X3's case it had a limited physical run due to it being released towards the end of the SNES’s lifecycle. The combination of these elements have caused these games to become rare in quantity, so while it is possible to enjoy legal emulations of X2 and X3 with the X Legacy Collection, you better expect to pay an arm and a leg for these two SNES cartridges in their original forms.
  • The PSX and Saturn versions of X3 were never actually released in North America, meaning the only way you can legally play them on NTSC hardware is through the 2006 Mega Man X Collection.
• No Export for You: The PSX and Saturn versions were Japan and Europe exclusive and the US got the PC version. The European Saturn version was used in the X Collection instead of the US SNES version.
• What Could Have Been:
  • A 3DO port of the game was announced, but evidently never released.
  • Two prototype versions of X3 have been leaked, featuring a host of differences. Interesting ones include:
    • Completely different sprites for the majority of the game's bosses,
    • The white parts of X's body - such as his gloves or Max Armor - would change color depending on which enhancement Chip he had equipped (green for Head, yellow for Body, red for Arm, blue for Foot). Having all of them via the Hyper Gold Armor would color them black instead.
    • The Item Radar was more accurate, showing different colors and symbols for each upgrade on the map rather than the universal red squares used in the final version.
    • The Tombort dragonfly enemies from Neon Tiger's stage could have their wings clipped by Spinning Blade.
  • Since Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X was intended as a Video Game Remake of the X series up to X6, there were plans to eventually remake X3. Some new story possibilities might have included fleshing out Dr. Doppler and the Nightmare Police, painting the residents of Dopple Town in a more sympathetic light, and continuing Vile's character arc established in the first Maverick Hunter X.