Mega Man X3 is an interesting beast. After the success of X2, the series needed the help of a smaller studio (I believe it was the guys working on the Mega Man games on Game Boy?) while making another sequel. I think this team did an admirable job and really had a lot of potentially great ideas, but... not all of them came out quite right.
X3 takes the series' previous aspects and turns them up to 11. Not only are there Sub Tanks, Life Ups, Special Weapons, and Armor, but there are also special Enhance Chips and custom Ride Armors to be found. It was a very ambitious move - in fact, it was so ambitious that I think it bit them in the butt a little. There's a lot of back-tracking through old stages to find all the upgrades, and as for the Enhance Chips, you actually can only hold one of them at a time. This makes for a confusing and somewhat frustrating experience, almost overwhelming the player with secrets and choices that ultimately don't even affect the game experience that much. I'm not sure what it is, but it just doesn't feel as good as it did in X1 and X2.
Not only that, but the mid-stage bosses such as the X-Hunters are back - now you either randomly get attacked by the Nightmare Police, or find yourself trapped in a pit with a teleporter leading to Vile's lair. This takes away some of the optional-ness of the mid-boss fights, forcing you to fight them whether you like it or not. They are no longer secrets, but obstacles - if you can't beat them, you can't finish the level and just have to leave. It's kind of cool that you can kill them with their weaknesses though, so they don't show up later in the game, that's a neat touch.
Additionally, they tried to finally make Zero playable. Sorta. X can call on Zero to switch out for a portion of the stage, which is a fun idea. However, it's a bit half-baked, almost like it was a last-minute addition. Zero can't fight any bosses, and if he dies, then he can never be used again? That's a bit harsh. I do like the idea of passing his Z-Saber to X if he gets damaged by Mosquitus, that's a fun idea too.
The story has some really neat ideas. Doppler has finally made a vaccine for the Sigma Virus, but it goes wrong and he himself gets possessed? I like that. The Nightmare Police are also a fun idea, albeit undercooked, and it was nice to see our old nemesis Vile back again too. I will admit that the overabundance of antagonists is a bit much though, and they should've held off a little bit to give the others room to breathe. We hardly know who the Nightmare Police are by the end of the game.
In my opinion, this should've been the end of Sigma. He should've died here and not returned for X4, but I can talk about that in the X4 review.
All in all, it's a good but flawed game. Definitely the worst of the SNES X games, but not nearly the worst of the PSX X games. It's just okay.
VideoGame So Much Potential, Lame Outcome
Mega Man X3 is an interesting beast. After the success of X2, the series needed the help of a smaller studio (I believe it was the guys working on the Mega Man games on Game Boy?) while making another sequel. I think this team did an admirable job and really had a lot of potentially great ideas, but... not all of them came out quite right.
X3 takes the series' previous aspects and turns them up to 11. Not only are there Sub Tanks, Life Ups, Special Weapons, and Armor, but there are also special Enhance Chips and custom Ride Armors to be found. It was a very ambitious move - in fact, it was so ambitious that I think it bit them in the butt a little. There's a lot of back-tracking through old stages to find all the upgrades, and as for the Enhance Chips, you actually can only hold one of them at a time. This makes for a confusing and somewhat frustrating experience, almost overwhelming the player with secrets and choices that ultimately don't even affect the game experience that much. I'm not sure what it is, but it just doesn't feel as good as it did in X1 and X2.
Not only that, but the mid-stage bosses such as the X-Hunters are back - now you either randomly get attacked by the Nightmare Police, or find yourself trapped in a pit with a teleporter leading to Vile's lair. This takes away some of the optional-ness of the mid-boss fights, forcing you to fight them whether you like it or not. They are no longer secrets, but obstacles - if you can't beat them, you can't finish the level and just have to leave. It's kind of cool that you can kill them with their weaknesses though, so they don't show up later in the game, that's a neat touch.
Additionally, they tried to finally make Zero playable. Sorta. X can call on Zero to switch out for a portion of the stage, which is a fun idea. However, it's a bit half-baked, almost like it was a last-minute addition. Zero can't fight any bosses, and if he dies, then he can never be used again? That's a bit harsh. I do like the idea of passing his Z-Saber to X if he gets damaged by Mosquitus, that's a fun idea too.
The story has some really neat ideas. Doppler has finally made a vaccine for the Sigma Virus, but it goes wrong and he himself gets possessed? I like that. The Nightmare Police are also a fun idea, albeit undercooked, and it was nice to see our old nemesis Vile back again too. I will admit that the overabundance of antagonists is a bit much though, and they should've held off a little bit to give the others room to breathe. We hardly know who the Nightmare Police are by the end of the game.
In my opinion, this should've been the end of Sigma. He should've died here and not returned for X4, but I can talk about that in the X4 review.
All in all, it's a good but flawed game. Definitely the worst of the SNES X games, but not nearly the worst of the PSX X games. It's just okay.