Is Mega Man III Truly as Hard as They Say?

That’s the question which seems to be put forth in an edition of “I Might Be Wrong There” (which follows with “to be fair, we usually are”) by The D-Pad that takes a look at the third Game Boy title in the Mega Man series.

Note: The following video is filled with Not Safe For Work language.

Before they dig into the game, they also check out some of the Robot Masters from Nintendo Power‘s contest who would go on to become actual game characters — or at least share the names with some of them — as well as give a look at the custom fan intro made by PStart and MegaManUSA for Mega Man 3. Funny thing about Clone Man is that he shares the same color scheme as the alternate costume for Mega Man in Marvel vs. Capcom and, if I’m not mistaken, Mega Man 7‘s versus mode.

As for the Game Boy game itself, they provide some interesting citations with regards to Mega Man III not only being the hardest of the Game Boy titles, but “the hardest Mega Man game ever made.” Nintendo Magazine System apparently even went so far as to say it was “not really bad, but made unplayable by the sheer frustration level.”

Personally, I don’t see it. I finally got to play it when it came to Virtual Console, and while it was tough at points, it didn’t strike me as anything out of the ordinary. Off the top of my head, I’d say that Mega Man: Dr. Wily’s Revenge, Mega Man Zero, and the original Mega Man game were all harder than this one. Heck, throw in games with vehicle segments, and I can probably add several more to the list.

On other points made: Regarding the ESRB rating on Mega Man II, that one was a “Player’s Choice” re-release from after the ratings system was implemented… and the game had moved a million copies. For the black sheep of the series, that’s still quite the landmark.

About the offshore oil rig Dr. Wily was said to have taken over, I thought this was the oil rig:

You know, before it turns into this:

It just seems more the part to me… by being over what looks like water, if for no other reason.

And just so long as I’m talking about it, anyone else ever wonder what that extra gear was on Mega Man in the picture used for the box art? Way back in the day, I figured maybe the thing on his back is what let him do all those super-long slides from a standing position — something that propelled him along. As for his belt, in lieu of literally any other Mega Man media to tell me otherwise, I assumed it was the “proton beeper” spoken of in the Worlds of Power adaptation of Mega Man 2. Given that the box art was unique to the west, I still wonder if that might not have been the case.

If you’d like to see more of The D-Pad crew play Mega Man, they have a few playlists on their channel, including Wily & Right no Rockboard: That’s Paradise, Mega Man Battle Network 2, and many more.

Thanks for the link, Rick!

LBD "Nytetrayn"

David Oxford, or “LBD ‘Nytetrayn’,” as he is sometimes also known, is a freelance writer of many varied interests who resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. If you’re interested in hiring him, please drop him a line at david.oxford (at) nyteworks.net.

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