Mega Man 3 (NES)

Dummy link
Mega Man 3
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 3 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 VRAM and using two of the four background palettes, it's never actually seen. The planet's background tiles are placed on the third screen 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.

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

(Source: Chris Covell (Screenshot)

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

I said no!

Magnet Man also has a turning sprite for the Magnet Missile, but one of its 8x8 tiles is missing.

Spark Man

Junk piles

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. The screenshot on the left is a guess as to what the area might have looked like; the more compact-looking tiles on the right are actually solid and can be walked on.

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 the Electric Spark's static ball.

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 for the emptiness of the final version. Note also that the early version has a large black box at the bottom, presumably for dialogue.

To see this layout in the game, use the following Game Genie codes before the scene begins: EAXAAAAA+ELXAPAOL.

Early Sky	Final Sky

This starry background with moon was replaced by 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 the game, use the following Game Genie codes before the scene begins: AGXAAAAA+ELXAPAOL.

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 Rockman 3's 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. Rush was supposed to have an entry in the ending, it seems.

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

Full border	Border in the game

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 are never heard normally. 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 the game. It's supposed to play when you get a new weapon, but it's interrupted by the menu pop-up sound. In the Mega Man Anniversary Collection, this sound can be heard as intended.

Regional Differences

Title screen

Japan	US

Aside from the usual logo change, in the Japanese version, the title screen fades in by itself; the title screen itself features Mega Man's "weapon get" sprite on it, the copyright date by Capcom, and a trademark symbol next to the logo. In the US, the copyright info fades in first before the title screen; the title screen itself has most of the featured objects from the Japanese title screen removed.

Room change

Japan	US

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 US version simply moves them to a smaller and lower one above the door.