Mega Man 3
Encyclopedia
Mega Man 3, known as in Japan, is a video game developed and published by Capcom
for the Nintendo Entertainment System
. It is the third game of the original Mega Man series and was originally released in Japan on September 28, 1990. The game localized in North America later in 1990 and in European regions in 1992. Taking place after the events of Mega Man 2
, the plot follows the titular hero
as he helps his creator, Dr. Light, and a former villain, Dr. Wily
, collect parts for a peace-keeping robot by defeating several Robot Masters that have gone haywire.
A platform
-action game
, Mega Man 3 follows the same gameplay format set forth by its two predecessors. The player, as Mega Man, must complete a series of stages in any order. Defeating a stage's boss will earn the player its special weapon, which can be selected and used at will throughout the rest of the game. Mega Man 3 introduces many important elements such as Mega Man's canine sidekick Rush and the ability to slide along the ground. Unlike with the first two installments of the series, artist and designer Keiji Inafune
has considered the creation of Mega Man 3 to be very stressful due to time constraints and his own increased responsibilities during its development.
Following the success of Mega Man 2 released two years earlier, Mega Man 3 has sold over one million copies and has been positively received in critical reviews. Its gameplay has been especially praised, although many sources found the game to be too difficult
. Like other titles in the series, Mega Man 3 has been re-released a number of times on other gaming platforms, on mobile phone
s, and as part of various Mega Man franchise compilations.
(200X). The mad scientist Dr. Wily
, having twice had plans for world domination dashed, claims to have reformed and begins work with Dr. Light on a project to build a peace-keeping robot named "Gamma". However, the Robot Masters set in charge of the "mining worlds" go berserk and make off with Gamma's eight power crystals. Mega Man
is called into action, this time with a canine companion named Rush, to retrieve the crystals from the mining worlds. Throughout his mission, the protagonist continuously encounters and spars with a foe named "Break Man" who has abilities comparable to Mega Man's own. Once the crystals are retrieved, Wily reverts to his evil ways, steals Gamma, and retreats to his new fortress. In order to stop Wily's plan to conquer the world , Mega Man destroys Gamma. After their final confrontation, Wily's fortress begins to crumble. Break Man appears in enough time to save Mega Man, but is too late to save Wily, who is crushed under the rubble. When Mega Man regains consciousness in Dr. Light's lab, his creator informs him that he must have been rescued by Proto Man, Mega Man's brother.
Mega Man 3 retains the platforming
and action game
elements established by the two games that came before it. The player controls the protagonist Mega Man as he traverses eight stages to defeat the bosses: Magnet Man, Hard Man, Top Man, Shadow Man, Spark Man, Snake Man, Gemini Man, and Needle Man. Each Robot Master features a unique weapon and stage related to the weapon's power. After defeating a boss, their signature weapon is added to Mega Man's arsenal. The Robot Masters have weaknesses to the weapons of certain other Robot Masters; therefore, choosing the order in which the levels are played is a vital component of the gameplay. This is the first Mega Man game to feature the ability to slide, an important ability in most later installments. Also, after completing certain stages, Mega Man can access new abilities in his robot dog companion, Rush. These abilities include the "Rush Coil" that allows the player to jump higher, the "Rush Jet" that allows the player to fly across the screen, and the "Rush Marine" that allows the player to travel underwater.
After defeating the eight Robot Masters, the player must revisit four of the Robot Master stages. The stages' layouts are changed, and the player must defeat two Doc Robot bosses, which take on the abilities of the Robot Masters of Mega Man 2. Throughout the various stages, the player encounters Proto Man (as Break Man), a mini-boss who, once defeated, will open up passageways for Mega Man to advance. Mega Man has a final battle with Proto Man immediately after defeating the eight Doc Robot bosses. After this battle, Mega Man proceeds to Dr. Wily's fortress, which consists of several levels that are played linearly. A password
system is used to allow the player to return to the game at a later time.
considered Mega Man 3 as one of his least favorite entries in the series due to "[...] what went into the game and what was behind the release of the game." Production on Mega Man 3 began over a year after the release of Mega Man 2. Inafune's mentor and superior on the first two games quit his job at Capcom during that gap of time. Inafune found that his new supervisor "didn't really understand Mega Man the way his predecessor did"; Inafune had "a lot of preset notions about how things should be". The team was forced to put Mega Man 3 on the market before they thought it was ready and during the game's production, the developers lost the main planner, so Inafune had to take over that job for its completion. He noted the final two months of development as particularly difficult, having had to take responsibility for assessing and dividing up work among the team members on aspects of the game not meeting their deadlines. Inafune concluded, "I knew that if we had more time to polish it, we could do a lot of things better, make it a better game, but the company said that we needed to release it. The whole environment behind what went into the production of the game is what I least favored. Numbers one and two – I really wanted to make the games; I was so excited about them. Number three – it just turned very different."
Though Inafune considers the gameplay to have lost some of its simplicity, he felt Mega Man's slide ability was successfully added to enhance both the protagonist's offense and defense. Mega Man's sidekick dog Rush is the product of combining the three support tools from Mega Man 2, including their red-and-white color scheme and the hero's helmet. Rush was originally intended to have a drill
mode that would allow Mega Man to tunnel underground, in addition to the Marine and Coil modes. Proto Man was initially designed so that the player would be unable to tell if he was an ally or an enemy to Mega Man. Inafune explained that this was influenced by several different anime
series. "We gave him a scarf to add to his 'cool' factor," Inafune said. "And gave him a shield to make him seem tougher than Mega Man." The character was also initially to feature hair, but they instead opted for an open-faced helmet design for both the television commercials and instruction manual. Capcom's North American division decided to change the name Blues to Proto Man despite Inafune's protests. They did this not only to be consistent with Mega Man's English name, but because they felt the name Blues made no sense. Keiji Inafune attempted to defend it due to the name's musical connotation to the series. Beginning with Mega Man 2, the development team began accepting design ideas from fans for the creation of each game's Robot Masters. For Mega Man 3, the team received around 50,000 design submissions, only eight of which were used in the game. The soundtrack for Mega Man 3 was created by Capcom composer Yasuaki Fujita
, also known as "Bun Bun". Fujita co-composed the score for the follow-up Mega Man 4
with Minae Fujii in 1991.
and columnist for The Milwaukee Journal
, noted good graphics and challenging gameplay, giving it his full recommendation. The game was reviewed in 1991 in Dragon
#168 by Patricia Hartley and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 3 out of 5 stars.
Many critics have found Mega Man 3 to be very difficult. GamePro
contributor McKinley Noble stated that actions such as pulling teeth, lifting a car over your head or performing open-heart surgery" are all significantly easier than beating Mega Man 3. Dan Whitehead of Eurogamer
noted, "Leaps must be precise, enemies must be dispatched rapidly and accurately, and there's a constant state of delicious near-panic as you wait to see what vicious demands the next room will place on your platforming skills."
Since its 1990 release, Mega Man 3 has sold over one million copies worldwide, currently making it the 48th best-selling Capcom game. Mega Man 3 has been listed as the third-greatest 8-bit video game of all time by GamePro
. The readers of Nintendo Power
voted Mega Man 3 as the third-best game of 1990 in the magazine's "Nintendo Power Awards" for that year. The publication listed it as the 11th best NES video game in their 20th anniversary issue.
. The NES version was included as part of Nintendo's PlayChoice-10
arcade
systems that same year. In 1995, Mega Man 3 was re-released alongside its two predecessors on the Sega
Mega Drive game Mega Man: The Wily Wars
, which featured updated graphics and sound. Mega Man 3 was released on the Sony
PlayStation in the Rockman Complete Works
line in 1999, which featured remixed music and added features. The NES edition of the game was also part of a North American compilation of ten titles in the series called Mega Man Anniversary Collection
, which was released for the PlayStation 2
and GameCube
in 2004, and the Xbox
in 2005. Also in 2005, Mega Man 3 was released alongside other Capcom games as part of a "Plug It In & Play TV Games" peripheral by Jakks Pacific
. Mega Man 3 was released by Capcom on mobile phone
s in Japan in 2005 and in North America in 2008. The NES version made its way to the Nintendo Wii
's Virtual Console
service worldwide in 2008. Finally, the Complete Works version was released on the Japanese PlayStation Network in 2010, making it available for download on the PlayStation 3
and PlayStation Portable
. This version was also made available in the import section of the North American PlayStation Network in 2011.
Many of the features introduced in Mega Man 3 have been carried on by the series: the characters Proto Man and Rush; the ability to slide; and stages between the initial eight Robot Masters and Dr. Wily's fortress. However, with the release of Mega Man 9
in 2008, some elements and others set by the fourth through eighth installments were forgone in favor of the basic gameplay in Mega Man and Mega Man 2. The producers of Mega Man 9 have referred to the ninth game as "the new Mega Man 3" because they wanted to surpass what they accomplished in Mega Man 2."
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
for the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
. It is the third game of the original Mega Man series and was originally released in Japan on September 28, 1990. The game localized in North America later in 1990 and in European regions in 1992. Taking place after the events of Mega Man 2
Mega Man 2
Mega Man 2, known in Japan as , is a platform game developed and published by Capcom for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the second installment in the original Mega Man series. The game was released in Japan in 1988, and in North America and PAL regions the following years. Mega Man 2...
, the plot follows the titular hero
Mega Man (character)
Mega Man, known as in Japan, is a cybernetic video game character, and the main protagonist of what has been referred to as the original Mega Man series developed by Capcom since 1987. The pixel art for the character was created by the designer of the original game in the series, credited under...
as he helps his creator, Dr. Light, and a former villain, Dr. Wily
Doctor Wily
, full name Albert W. Wily, is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the original Mega Man series of video games. Designed by Keiji Inafune, he appeared in the first Mega Man video game and later in promotions and other media related to the series...
, collect parts for a peace-keeping robot by defeating several Robot Masters that have gone haywire.
A platform
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
-action game
Action game
Action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games, which are widely considered the most important action games, though some...
, Mega Man 3 follows the same gameplay format set forth by its two predecessors. The player, as Mega Man, must complete a series of stages in any order. Defeating a stage's boss will earn the player its special weapon, which can be selected and used at will throughout the rest of the game. Mega Man 3 introduces many important elements such as Mega Man's canine sidekick Rush and the ability to slide along the ground. Unlike with the first two installments of the series, artist and designer Keiji Inafune
Keiji Inafune
is a video game producer and illustrator. He was the former head of Research & Development and Online Business and Global Head of Production at Capcom, best known as the illustrator and co-designer of the character Mega Man, as well as the producer of the Onimusha and Dead Rising video game series...
has considered the creation of Mega Man 3 to be very stressful due to time constraints and his own increased responsibilities during its development.
Following the success of Mega Man 2 released two years earlier, Mega Man 3 has sold over one million copies and has been positively received in critical reviews. Its gameplay has been especially praised, although many sources found the game to be too difficult
Difficulty level
In general usage, difficulty level refers to the relative difficulty of completing a task or objective.In computer and video games, the term specifically delineates the ease or difficulty with which an average user may complete a game or a part of a game. Arcade games as well as many early console...
. Like other titles in the series, Mega Man 3 has been re-released a number of times on other gaming platforms, on mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
s, and as part of various Mega Man franchise compilations.
Plot
Mega Man 3 takes place during an unspecified year during the 21st century21st century
The 21st century is the current century of the Anno Domini era or the Common Era in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. The century began on January 1, 2001 and will end on December 31, 2100. The years from 2001 to 2010 are historical; the years from 2011 to 2100 are subject to futurology and...
(200X). The mad scientist Dr. Wily
Doctor Wily
, full name Albert W. Wily, is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the original Mega Man series of video games. Designed by Keiji Inafune, he appeared in the first Mega Man video game and later in promotions and other media related to the series...
, having twice had plans for world domination dashed, claims to have reformed and begins work with Dr. Light on a project to build a peace-keeping robot named "Gamma". However, the Robot Masters set in charge of the "mining worlds" go berserk and make off with Gamma's eight power crystals. Mega Man
Mega Man (character)
Mega Man, known as in Japan, is a cybernetic video game character, and the main protagonist of what has been referred to as the original Mega Man series developed by Capcom since 1987. The pixel art for the character was created by the designer of the original game in the series, credited under...
is called into action, this time with a canine companion named Rush, to retrieve the crystals from the mining worlds. Throughout his mission, the protagonist continuously encounters and spars with a foe named "Break Man" who has abilities comparable to Mega Man's own. Once the crystals are retrieved, Wily reverts to his evil ways, steals Gamma, and retreats to his new fortress. In order to stop Wily's plan to conquer the world , Mega Man destroys Gamma. After their final confrontation, Wily's fortress begins to crumble. Break Man appears in enough time to save Mega Man, but is too late to save Wily, who is crushed under the rubble. When Mega Man regains consciousness in Dr. Light's lab, his creator informs him that he must have been rescued by Proto Man, Mega Man's brother.
Gameplay
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
and action game
Action game
Action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games, which are widely considered the most important action games, though some...
elements established by the two games that came before it. The player controls the protagonist Mega Man as he traverses eight stages to defeat the bosses: Magnet Man, Hard Man, Top Man, Shadow Man, Spark Man, Snake Man, Gemini Man, and Needle Man. Each Robot Master features a unique weapon and stage related to the weapon's power. After defeating a boss, their signature weapon is added to Mega Man's arsenal. The Robot Masters have weaknesses to the weapons of certain other Robot Masters; therefore, choosing the order in which the levels are played is a vital component of the gameplay. This is the first Mega Man game to feature the ability to slide, an important ability in most later installments. Also, after completing certain stages, Mega Man can access new abilities in his robot dog companion, Rush. These abilities include the "Rush Coil" that allows the player to jump higher, the "Rush Jet" that allows the player to fly across the screen, and the "Rush Marine" that allows the player to travel underwater.
After defeating the eight Robot Masters, the player must revisit four of the Robot Master stages. The stages' layouts are changed, and the player must defeat two Doc Robot bosses, which take on the abilities of the Robot Masters of Mega Man 2. Throughout the various stages, the player encounters Proto Man (as Break Man), a mini-boss who, once defeated, will open up passageways for Mega Man to advance. Mega Man has a final battle with Proto Man immediately after defeating the eight Doc Robot bosses. After this battle, Mega Man proceeds to Dr. Wily's fortress, which consists of several levels that are played linearly. A password
Password (video games)
In many video games of the 8-bit and, to a lesser extent, 16-bit eras , after a level was beaten and/or when all continues were used, the game would display a password, that when entered in the game would allow the player to return to this part in the game...
system is used to allow the player to return to the game at a later time.
Development
Artist Keiji InafuneKeiji Inafune
is a video game producer and illustrator. He was the former head of Research & Development and Online Business and Global Head of Production at Capcom, best known as the illustrator and co-designer of the character Mega Man, as well as the producer of the Onimusha and Dead Rising video game series...
considered Mega Man 3 as one of his least favorite entries in the series due to "[...] what went into the game and what was behind the release of the game." Production on Mega Man 3 began over a year after the release of Mega Man 2. Inafune's mentor and superior on the first two games quit his job at Capcom during that gap of time. Inafune found that his new supervisor "didn't really understand Mega Man the way his predecessor did"; Inafune had "a lot of preset notions about how things should be". The team was forced to put Mega Man 3 on the market before they thought it was ready and during the game's production, the developers lost the main planner, so Inafune had to take over that job for its completion. He noted the final two months of development as particularly difficult, having had to take responsibility for assessing and dividing up work among the team members on aspects of the game not meeting their deadlines. Inafune concluded, "I knew that if we had more time to polish it, we could do a lot of things better, make it a better game, but the company said that we needed to release it. The whole environment behind what went into the production of the game is what I least favored. Numbers one and two – I really wanted to make the games; I was so excited about them. Number three – it just turned very different."
Though Inafune considers the gameplay to have lost some of its simplicity, he felt Mega Man's slide ability was successfully added to enhance both the protagonist's offense and defense. Mega Man's sidekick dog Rush is the product of combining the three support tools from Mega Man 2, including their red-and-white color scheme and the hero's helmet. Rush was originally intended to have a drill
Drill
A drill or drill motor is a tool fitted with a cutting tool attachment or driving tool attachment, usually a drill bit or driver bit, used for drilling holes in various materials or fastening various materials together with the use of fasteners. The attachment is gripped by a chuck at one end of...
mode that would allow Mega Man to tunnel underground, in addition to the Marine and Coil modes. Proto Man was initially designed so that the player would be unable to tell if he was an ally or an enemy to Mega Man. Inafune explained that this was influenced by several different anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
series. "We gave him a scarf to add to his 'cool' factor," Inafune said. "And gave him a shield to make him seem tougher than Mega Man." The character was also initially to feature hair, but they instead opted for an open-faced helmet design for both the television commercials and instruction manual. Capcom's North American division decided to change the name Blues to Proto Man despite Inafune's protests. They did this not only to be consistent with Mega Man's English name, but because they felt the name Blues made no sense. Keiji Inafune attempted to defend it due to the name's musical connotation to the series. Beginning with Mega Man 2, the development team began accepting design ideas from fans for the creation of each game's Robot Masters. For Mega Man 3, the team received around 50,000 design submissions, only eight of which were used in the game. The soundtrack for Mega Man 3 was created by Capcom composer Yasuaki Fujita
Bun Bun
Bun Bun is a video game composer and sound designer best known for his work with Capcom. His real name is .During the NES era, he worked on the music for Mega Man 3 , Tenchi wo Kurau II, The Little Mermaid, and Darkwing Duck for Capcom...
, also known as "Bun Bun". Fujita co-composed the score for the follow-up Mega Man 4
Mega Man 4
Mega Man 4, known in Japan as , is a platform game developed by Capcom for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the fourth game in the original Mega Man series and was originally released in Japan on December 6, 1991...
with Minae Fujii in 1991.
Reception
Mega Man 3 has enjoyed a positive critical reception from many sources, which tout it as a major improvement over the original Mega Man and that it surpasses or equates in quality to the successful Mega Man 2. Edward J. Semrad, an editor for Electronic Gaming MonthlyElectronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...
and columnist for The Milwaukee Journal
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. It is the primary newspaper in Milwaukee, the largest newspaper in Wisconsin and is distributed widely throughout the state...
, noted good graphics and challenging gameplay, giving it his full recommendation. The game was reviewed in 1991 in Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#168 by Patricia Hartley and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 3 out of 5 stars.
Many critics have found Mega Man 3 to be very difficult. GamePro
GamePro
GamePro Media was a United States gaming media company publishing online and print content on the video game industry, video game hardware, and video game software developed for a video game console , a computer, and/or a mobile device . GamePro Media properties include GamePro magazine and...
contributor McKinley Noble stated that actions such as pulling teeth, lifting a car over your head or performing open-heart surgery" are all significantly easier than beating Mega Man 3. Dan Whitehead of Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
noted, "Leaps must be precise, enemies must be dispatched rapidly and accurately, and there's a constant state of delicious near-panic as you wait to see what vicious demands the next room will place on your platforming skills."
Since its 1990 release, Mega Man 3 has sold over one million copies worldwide, currently making it the 48th best-selling Capcom game. Mega Man 3 has been listed as the third-greatest 8-bit video game of all time by GamePro
GamePro
GamePro Media was a United States gaming media company publishing online and print content on the video game industry, video game hardware, and video game software developed for a video game console , a computer, and/or a mobile device . GamePro Media properties include GamePro magazine and...
. The readers of Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
voted Mega Man 3 as the third-best game of 1990 in the magazine's "Nintendo Power Awards" for that year. The publication listed it as the 11th best NES video game in their 20th anniversary issue.
Legacy
Shortly after its launch on the NES, the game was made into a stripped-down handheld electronic game by Tiger ElectronicsTiger Electronics
Tiger Electronics is an American toy manufacturer, best known for its handheld LCD games, the Furby, and Giga Pets. When Tiger was an independent company, Tiger Electronics Inc., its headquarters were in Vernon Hills, Illinois....
. The NES version was included as part of Nintendo's PlayChoice-10
PlayChoice-10
PlayChoice-10 was an arcade machine which could consist of as many as 10 different games previously available only on the Nintendo Entertainment System home console...
arcade
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
systems that same year. In 1995, Mega Man 3 was re-released alongside its two predecessors on the Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
Mega Drive game Mega Man: The Wily Wars
Mega Man: The Wily Wars
Mega Man: The Wily Wars, released in Japan as is a video game compilation by Capcom for the Sega Mega Drive. The game features remakes of the first three Mega Man games that were originally released for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The Wily Wars was released in cartridge format in Japan and...
, which featured updated graphics and sound. Mega Man 3 was released on the Sony
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony...
PlayStation in the Rockman Complete Works
Rockman Complete Works
Rockman Complete Works is a lineup of video game remakes released for the PlayStation in Japan of the first six games in the original Rockman series by Capcom...
line in 1999, which featured remixed music and added features. The NES edition of the game was also part of a North American compilation of ten titles in the series called Mega Man Anniversary Collection
Mega Man Anniversary Collection
Mega Man Anniversary Collection a compilation of video games developed by Atomic Planet Entertainment and published by Capcom. It was released exclusively in North America on June 23, 2004 for the Nintendo GameCube and Sony PlayStation 2 and on March 15, 2005 for the Microsoft Xbox...
, which was released for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
and GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
in 2004, and the Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
in 2005. Also in 2005, Mega Man 3 was released alongside other Capcom games as part of a "Plug It In & Play TV Games" peripheral by Jakks Pacific
Jakks Pacific
JAKKS Pacific, Inc. is a designer and marketer of toys and consumer products, with a range of products that feature numerous children's toy licenses...
. Mega Man 3 was released by Capcom on mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
s in Japan in 2005 and in North America in 2008. The NES version made its way to the Nintendo Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
's Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
service worldwide in 2008. Finally, the Complete Works version was released on the Japanese PlayStation Network in 2010, making it available for download on the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
. This version was also made available in the import section of the North American PlayStation Network in 2011.
Many of the features introduced in Mega Man 3 have been carried on by the series: the characters Proto Man and Rush; the ability to slide; and stages between the initial eight Robot Masters and Dr. Wily's fortress. However, with the release of Mega Man 9
Mega Man 9
Mega Man 9, known in Japan as , is a video game developed by Capcom and Inti Creates. It is the ninth numbered game in the original Mega Man series. Mega Man 9 is the first, new home console game in the original Mega Man series since Mega Man 8 and Mega Man & Bass, which were released at least one...
in 2008, some elements and others set by the fourth through eighth installments were forgone in favor of the basic gameplay in Mega Man and Mega Man 2. The producers of Mega Man 9 have referred to the ninth game as "the new Mega Man 3" because they wanted to surpass what they accomplished in Mega Man 2."