Mega Man 3 was one of the selling NES video games back in the Nintendo Entertainment System's heyday. While Mega Man 2 put the Mega Man series on the map, Mega Man 3 made the series and characters icons in the video game industry. It should come as no surprise that Mega Man 3 has been remade several times and ported to different systems. However, it should also come as no surprise that a lot of hacks have been done using this game. Mega Man 3 the Rise and Fall of Dr. Wily is a hack of Mega Man 3. I will be comparing this game to the original as well as other hacks of MM3 I have played.

Story-The Story has remained the same. Dr. Wily appears to have denounced his evil ways. He teams up with Dr. Light also known as Dr. Right to build a peace keeping robot named Gamma. However, to power Gamma they need 8 crystals. The problem is 8 new robot masters has a crystal and they are running haywire. Dr. Light sends Mega Man to retrieve the crystals, stop the robots, and stop whoever is in charge of these new robots. Has Dr. Wily really turned good? Mega Man goes out to find these answers.

The original Mega Man 3 had a good solid story line. In my opinion there was no need to change it. The maker of this game decided to keep the original story. Since the plot is left unchanged I give the story a solid 8 out of 10.

Graphics and Controls- I really like the graphics in this game. The maker not only redesigned the stage layouts, but they made the colors darker and bolder. I am visually impaired so it was nice to enjoy the game's background with colors that I can see. For example, Gemini's Man stage has some yellow in. But the blocks change purple, red, green, and blue. I also like how some of the backgrounds in other stages have been changed to bold colors. The stage layouts make the game more difficult, but they were nicely done.

The only problem with the graphics and controls. Is a few times it seems like the controls and graphics lagged a little bit. It is not much of a problem once you learn were the lags occur, but they are there. Now with that being said. This is a hack so I would suspect a few lags in a hack. The controls are nicely done like the original game. I have played some hacks of MM3 were the controls just frustrate you. This is not the case here. Had it not been for the lags I would have given the graphics/controls a 10 out of 10. Since there are a few lags I will give the graphics and controls a solid 9 out of 10.

Sound- Mega Man 3 had an awesome soundtrack. What is there not to like. Gemini Man, Shadow Man, Spark Man, and Top Man have awesome soundtracks. The fortress stages have an awesome soundtrack. I was glad that the maker did not change any of the tunes or alter them in anyway. I have played some MM3 hacks were the soundtrack was altered sometimes that was good and sometimes it made you want to mute. I find a lot of the tunes to be relaxing. Sometimes you just want to pause the game and listen. The other sounds in the game are nicely done as well. I like the sound of the weapons, and the sounds the enemies shots make. Whoever, made this game certainly knew what they were doing. Just like the original I give the sound a 9 out of 10.

Replay value- Mega Man 3 was an awesome game and one that you want to go back and play through again. How does this hack compare? To be honest this is a hack I will def play again and again. It is close replay value as the original game. Some hacks I have played and want to replay them, others I do not want too. This game falls into the high replay value. I love playing this game due to the better colors, because I can see better, the new stage layouts makes me think I'm playing a new game when I'm just playing a hack. I think anyone who plays this hack will def want to go back and play through it again and again. I give the replay value a good 8 out of 10.

Depth-Even though this is a hack it is still a Mega Man game. Mega Man games are infamous for their depth. This game is no exception. There are lots of items to collect and find. A lot of the stages have hidden items in them. Also, this game is long so it will take you a while to master. Also a lot of the stages are long so take you time to make sure you get everything. This is what makes Mega Man games great is their depth. The only small minor issue I have is you better make sure you get all the stage's items. Like earlier Mega Man games you cannot revisit a stage. Mega Man Games after the original Mega Man 3 you could revisit stages. The good news is if you miss an item in a stage chances are another stage will have it. Therefore, I give the depth a solid 9 out of 10.

Difficulty- The Original Mega Man 3 game was difficult the first time, but once you played it, it became easy. This game is more difficult. The stage layouts have been changed from the original. There are more traps, death spikes, and pits. Also enemy placement can be a problem in certain stages. Enemies just love to knock you down a pit in this game. It also seemed like some of the enemies were faster and did more damage. I really like games that offer a challenge and this game appears to be difficult for the right reasons. The game is difficult due to enemy placement and obstacles. Other games have been difficult due to bad controls. That is not the case here.

Even though the game is difficult once you play it a few times it becomes easier. While the game is difficult and chances are you will die a few times in this game its not unbearable. Its not Battle Toads like difficulty. The difficulty is doable. If somebody is new to Mega Man I would recommend them playing the original Mega Man 3 before this hack just so they could get a feel for Mega Man 3 in general. I think 8 out of 10 should do it for the difficulty.

Overall- Overall I think this is a very good game considering its a hack. It has a lot of the same features that made Mega Man 3 a great game. However, it is also different in some areas. The stage layout makes the game feel like its different. I really liked the design of the stages. As I mentioned above I liked how the colors were changed some stages are more darker and are more color cordinated. The sound in this game is amazing just like the original. The game is more difficult than the original but its the right difficulty and its doable.

The only problems I have with this hack are minor. The lags are minor and are not really a big deal once you learn were they occur. However, the original game was known for not having lags.

Still, overall this is a good solid game. I give the game a 9 out of 10. As I mentioned in the difficulty if somebody is new to Mega Man. I would recommend they play the original game first just to get a feel of what a Mega Man game is like. Other than that this is one of the hacks I recommend playing. Its close to the original in terms of story, music, and depth. On the other hand, its also different in terms of stage layout and difficulty. Basically, I would highly recommend this hack. In my opinion its one of the better Mega Man 3 hacks.

This concludes my review for this game. I hope you take time to check out this game. You will probably forget you are playing a hack. I also hope you have fun playing this game like I did.

Wow, I should listen to the OST! Sounds like a good game. Are the lags in the game annoying? I like this review, you go into detail about the game, I rate this 4/5! I hope you can do more Mega Man reviews!

Ive done a lot of Mega Man reviews on this site. The lags in this game as I stated are very minor so I did not find them too annoying. When they occurred they were not around a lot of pits or anything like that.