PrinceWatercress plays Mega Man X3 - Part 1 of 11

The 16-bit Mega Man series came to an end here (unless you count the then Super Famicom-only Mega Man and Bass), but it ended with a pretty big bang.

After the events of X2, the Mavericks have been neutralized and reverted back to law-abiding robots by Dr. Doppler's Neuro Computer. Everything is absolutely fine until several months later, when the supposedly neutralized Mavericks begin to riot. Turns out Dr. Doppler was behind the rioting the entire time.

Soon, the Maverick Base is under attack, and X and Zero have to quell the uprising and figure out what's going on.,,

Intro Stage

After a couple of seconds of loading, you ride on a big metal bug copter before getting shot down and ending up at the base.

The purple robots with the cannon on their heads can fire at three angles.

The green spiked robots that move up and down the walls can shoot tiny lightning balls at you, but they're easy to get rid of.

You'll soon meet Mac. When X checks on him to see if everything is okay, Mac captures him instead, betraying the Maverick Hunters and revealing he's a member of Doppler's Army. He then takes X away, then part of the ceiling falls down. Zero comes down from the ceiling, and for the first time in the series, you'll finally be able to play as Zero.

He plays much like X, really. However, he has two more attack levels for his Buster cannon. One lets him shoot two powered-up shots at once, while the other one does that but also lets him slash at whatever is directly in front of him with the sword for a third hit. You'll want to take advantage of this as you make your way forward to the next ladder.

You'll see the red and black robots with the pod cannon on its head, which shoot explosive pods at whatever is in front of it. You'll also have to deal with falling ceilings and flying, spinning robots that try to follow you around if you move past them.

You'll come across a long vertical shaft. Start wall jumping from the left, then press A and B simultaneously while moving to the next wall after the first spiked ball comes down. Keep doing this until you're at the top so you can get to the top without taking damage.

You'll then fight Mac. Guess what? With a fully charged attack and some more arm cannon shots, he's the easiest guy in the game. Once you beat him, destroy the machine that is keeping X in the air, and you'll free X. After a bit of conversation, you'll be able to play as X again. You'll then be able to move straight to the next boss.

To beat the giant robot, shoot at the head with fully charged X-Buster shots to make this battle short and sweet. You can avoid the spiked balls it has for hands whenever the arms extend, but since they do one HP of damage when they connect, this is a rather pathetic boss. After the battle, Zero will check on Maverick HQ, and will ask you to call him if you need him.