{"id":2675,"date":"2013-04-02T18:28:55","date_gmt":"2013-04-02T18:28:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/?p=2675"},"modified":"2013-04-02T18:35:27","modified_gmt":"2013-04-02T18:35:27","slug":"my-top-100-4-mega-man-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/?p=2675","title":{"rendered":"My Top 100: #4 – Mega Man 3"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"1990<\/a>

1990 – Capcom (NES, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, Virtual Console)<\/p><\/div>\n

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I’m not sure whose idea it was for to\u00a0get me a subscription to Nintendo Power<\/em>, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t mine.<\/p>\n

Sure, I liked buying issues of this and that from time to time, but I didn’t really think getting one in the mail monthly was necessary.\u00a0 Still, it really was a nice little surprise to have an issue waiting in the mail that first time…\u00a0 it sucked that it was a guide to 4-player games, but I couldn’t be too upset.<\/p>\n

I mean, seriously,\u00a0what percentage\u00a0of\u00a0gamers have ever\u00a0played a 4-player NES game?\u00a0\u00a0Thankfully, the next issue\u00a0featured something\u00a0I could actually\u00a0get excited about.<\/p>\n

My sister was picking me up\u00a0on\u00a0my last day before Christmas vacation in Grade 2, and she had gotten the mail beforehand.\u00a0 She\u00a0put the issue of NP<\/em> on my lap as I got into the car, and saw that\u00a0Mega Man 3<\/em> was on the cover.\u00a0 That was amazing!\u00a0 Since the first issue I got was a player’s guide, there was no mention of the following month’s cover story.<\/p>\n

In fact, aside from seeing small and blurry screenshots in an EGM<\/em> or two, this was the first good look I got at it.\u00a0 I liked Mega Man 2<\/em> quite a bit, so this one should theoretically be much, much better.\u00a0 That’s just the way it went with games.\u00a0\u00a0A sequel\u00a0was supposed to be better than the first game, and #3 in a series was essentially supposed to be perfect.\u00a0 That’s what the Mario<\/em> games seemed to be doing, anyway.<\/p>\n

For my money, Mega Man<\/em> games don’t get any better than 3<\/em>.\u00a0 2<\/em>\u00a0incorporated everything awesome about the first one, then\u00a0built on it.\u00a0 In that same vein, 3<\/em> took everything awesome about 2<\/em>, and built on that model even further.\u00a0 Bigger levels, better items, more\u00a0characters, a fleshed-out plot (you know, by 8-bit standards), and a\u00a0higher difficulty level…\u00a0 you didn’t even get to Wily’s lair until you beat\u00a0the eight Robot Masters from Mega Man 2<\/em>!\u00a0 Although, technically, it was spread over four levels and not eight, but it was still hard as hell.<\/p>\n

Rush’s abilities were more\u00a0flexible and useful\u00a0than the\u00a0aptly named “1”, “2” and “3”\u00a0from the second game.\u00a0 Mega Man could now perform a slide move to scoot away (or under) from attacking foes, which\u00a0minimized the\u00a0annoying threat of having an enemy respawn if you backtracked a bit too much, just for being careful.\u00a0 I definitely liked the challenges the first game threw at me, but respawning enemies\u00a0could sometimes\u00a0drive me nuts.<\/p>\n

Proto Man was an intriguing addition, seeing as how you didn’t know what his deal was until the very end of the game.\u00a0 Was he a friend?\u00a0 Was he a foe?\u00a0 All you knew was that he had a terrible attack pattern, showed up just long enough to drain a bit of health from you, and had a really cool whistle to announce his arrival.\u00a0 That curiosity about Proto Man, and wanting to find out who he was in the grand scheme of things, really helped drive me forward during some of the more difficult parts of the game.<\/p>\n

Once you get through Dr. Wily’s Castle and beat the game, you’re treated to some of the best 8-bit music there is.\u00a0 The extended Proto Man theme that leads into the credits is probably my favourite chiptune of all time!\u00a0 Obviously, the rest of the game’s soundtrack is great, as well, but overall, I still believe the music from Mega Man 2<\/em> is better.<\/p>\n

There will always be people on both sides of the Mega Man 2<\/em>\\Mega Man 3<\/em> “argument”, but it’s\u00a0pretty clear which side I’ve always\u00a0been\u00a0on.<\/p>\n

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