Mega Man 3 (NES)

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Mega Man 3 (NES)
Also known as: Rockman 3: Dr. Wily no Saigo! (JP) Developer: Capcom Publisher: Capcom Platform: NES Released in JP: September 28, 1990 Released in US: November 1990 Released in EU: February 20, 1992 This game has unused graphics. This game has unused music. This game has unused sounds. This game has regional differences. This game has a prototype article This game has a prerelease article

Mega Man III is an epic tale about...uh...fighting robots and spring-loaded dogs? The game really could have used some sort of intro.

Commands on Controller 2

While well-known, the commands for controller 2 are very likely not built-in cheat codes, but rather debugging features that the developers forgot to remove:

• Hold Right + A to give Mega Man a super jump. Note that jumping into pits with this will mean you won't die.
• Hold Up + A to freeze the logic timer. Enemy AI will stop progressing, meaning enemies will continue to do whatever they were doing; big eyes on pogo sticks will either stay glued to the ground or bounce around madly, etc.

Unused Graphics

Mega Man

A turning sprite for the Magnet Missile. The missiles change direction immediately so this isn't used, but it was reused in the Wily Wars version of Mega Man 3.

What looks like a shooting animation for the Rush Marine. Though the Rush Marine can indeed shoot in the final version, its animation does not change. This animation was reused in Mega Man 4.

Break Man

Graphics found in the Break Man stage that show Proto Man unmasking himself from his Break Man facade.

Both Proto Man and Break Man have graphics for shooting while on the ground. In the final game he only fires while in the air.

Gemini Man

This giant planet is supposed to appear in the beginning of Gemini Man's stage. Despite taking up a large chunk of CHR ROM and using two of the four background palettes, it's never actually seen. The planet's background tiles are placed on the second screen of both versions of Gemini Man's stage, however the stage uses a parallax scrolling technique that only uses the star field background from the first screen, preventing the planet from being seen. The planet uses background palette 2, while the rings use background palette 1, with the exception of one meta-tile which mistakenly uses palette 1 in the normal version of the stage.

Multiple planets can be seen in early shots of Gemini Man's stage.

(Screenshot: Chris Covell)

Magnet Man

Unused Tiles

A number of unused tiles for Magnet Man's stage, including electric current, broken platforms, and a little smiley face.

It should also be noted that with some of the tiles being broken, there exists a possibility that Magnet Man's stage was once intended to have been re-used as a Doc Robot stage instead of Spark Man's. Doc Robot stages tend to have a destruction/decay theme to them, as can be observed in Spark Man's Doc Robot stage.

Magnet Turning

Magnet Man also has an unused turning sprite for his Magnet Missiles.

Spark Man

Broken Ladders

In spite of their appearance, these 16x16 metatiles actually function as a ladder. The upper tile is the top of a ladder, while the lower tile is a standard ladder. They were probably drawn for the destroyed version of the stage, but aren't used in any of the 32x32 metatiles.

Junk Piles

My dignity!

There are a number of 32x32 metatiles depicting large piles of broken electronics. Interestingly, they are the only tiles in the stage that Mega Man can walk behind! It's safe to assume that these were originally placed at the bottom of the long, vertical shaft midway through the stage, in the hallway with the garbage chutes, and Mega Man had to find his way out of the pile.

Spikes

The graphics and individual 16x16 metatiles are all that remain of these spikes; however, they do still work as intended. Pop!

Static

A ball of static that appears in the Spark Man frame set. It's placed after the small diamond-shaped spark balls. It's possible that the small sparks paralyzed Mega Man rather than harm him.

Note that this uses different graphics than Spark Shock's static ball.

Top Man

Early Background Metatiles

In-Game	Hex Values	Recreations

An early screenshot of Top Man's stage shows it using a very different background: There is a fence at the top of the screen and a city with towers at the bottom. The 16x16 metatiles for this background are actually still defined, but the individual 8x8 tiles that comprise them have been replaced with square placeholders. The cycling palette used by the light panels in the background was likely a darker blue originally.

(Scan: Chris Covell)

(8x8 tile recreations: Dragonsbrethren)

In-Game	Hex Values

In addition to these, there are also 16x16 metatiles for background structures not seen in any shots: Something circular, which has been partially overwritten by tiles used in the final stage, and a standing structure of sorts with one of its tiles still present.

Spikes

This 16x16 spike metatile is functional but never used in the stage. It has a black background, unlike the thorny spikes that are actually used in the stage, which have a blue background.

Unseen Palette

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$27

$17

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This palette is loaded after descending the first ladder: It replaces the fourth BG palette, which is used by the light panels, the cat minibosses, and the early 16×16 metatiles mentioned above. It is only loaded for three screens, and doesn't really fit any of the final graphics it's applied to.

Wily Scene

Early Takeoff	Final Takeoff

An early version of the Dr. Wily scene still exists in the ROM. The city seen here is a stark contrast to the emptiness of the final version. Also note that the early version has a large black box at the bottom, presumably for dialogue.

To see this layout in-game, use Game Genie code EAXAAAAA+ELXAPAOL before the scene begins.

Early Sky	Final Sky

This starry background with moon was replaced with a simpler star field in the final version. Probably done because Wily flies to the left during this scene, and they wanted the background to scroll.

To see this layout in-game, use Game Genie code AGXAAAAA+ELXAPAOL before the scene begins.

Other

A picture of Mega Man from behind. This is found in the same graphics bank as the Mega Man from the Get Weapon screen. Its intended use is unknown.

Some kanji characters are used in the Rockman 3 robot information screen (the one with the Robot Masters from Rockman 1), but about half of them aren't used. Interestingly, all but one of these kanji are used in the back story found in the Japanese manual, which strongly suggests that this game was supposed to have an intro sequence.

The only kanji not used in the manual or the game is 犬, dog, definitely referring to Rush. Perhaps Rush was supposed to have an entry in the ending?

(Source: Lavacopter (manual), divingkataetheweirdo (Kanji translation))

These eight letters are also found in the same bank as the unused kanji. They're styled differently from the standard font used everywhere else, and judging from their arrangement, once spelled out "YOU GOT" and "AND".

It's possible that the weapon acquisition sequence once used Japanese text for the weapon and Rush adapter names. This is a mockup image of how that would look.

Full border	In-game border

Part of the weapons menu border is cut off by the edges of the screen, so some of the border tiles are "unused".

Unused Music/Sounds

Ending

1 minute and 12 seconds worth of this song plays during the ending. A whopping 55 seconds of this track is cut during normal play, but it can be heard in game by holding Up and A on the second controller as Mega Man teleports. It even loops!

Wily Castle Map

Used for the Wily Castle map screen, but only 4 seconds of this 18 second song are heard in normal play.

Unused Sound #1

Just some beeps that are never heard in the game.

Unused Sound #2

Sounds like some kind of explosion or eruption.

Unused Sound #3

Technically, this sound is used in-game. It's supposed to play when you get a new weapon, but it's interrupted by the menu pop-up sound. In the Rockman Complete Works and Mega Man Anniversary Collection versions, this sound is used and audible.

It also should be noted that in the Capcom Music Generation Famicom Music Complete Works Rockman 1~6 album, the above two songs are recorded in their full glory, and all three unused sound effects can be heard on the 25th track of the second disk that contains all of the sound effects in the game.

Regional Differences

Some changes were made to the game when it was brought to the west. Note that the version of the game included in the Mega Man Anniversary Collection is based on the PlayStation port of Rockman 3 and does not have these changes, with the exception of the title logo.

Title Screen

Rockman 3	Mega Man 3

Aside from the usual logo change, the Japanese title screen features Mega Man's "you got..." sprite on it, the copyright date by Capcom, and a trademark symbol next to the logo.

US	PAL

In the western versions, the trademark, copyright, and licensing info is on a separate screen, which fades in first before the title screen. While the US version specifies being licensed by Nintendo of America, the PAL version simply states "Licensed by Nintendo".

Stage Select

Rockman 3	Mega Man 3

Curiously, Rockman 3 uses the western-style logo as its stage select background.

Room Change

Rockman 3	Mega Man 3

Near the end of Wily stage 1, the Japanese version has a broad platform situated in the top-center of the screen, on which the two large weapon capsules sit. The western versions move them to a smaller, lower one above the door.