Mega Man X3 (SNES)

Mega Man X3
Also known as: Rockman X3 (JP) Developer: Minakuchi Engineering Publisher: Capcom Platform: SNES Released in JP: December 1, 1995 Released in US: January 1996 Released in EU: May 1996 Released in KR: 1996 This game has unused enemies. This game has unused graphics. This game has debugging material. This game has regional differences. This game has a prototype article This game has a notes page

Dr. Doppler, whoever he is, is suddenly bent on world domination! Could Sigma be behind this? (Spoiler: Yes. Come on, you should have seen this coming.)

Because Capcom was focusing their efforts on the PlayStation and Saturn at this point, development on X3 was outsourced to Minakuchi Engineering, who had previously worked on the Mega Man games for the Game Boy and The Wily Wars for the Genesis. Although the game is still good in its own right, many fans say the results show. Disc-based ports with Redbook audio were later released on the aforementioned 32-bit platforms and PC.

Unlike Mega Man X Collection, Mega Man X Legacy Collection 1 & 2 features the SNES version of X3 instead of the PS1, PC, or Saturn versions like the former did.

Sub-Pages

Prototype Info

Notes

Unused Graphics

A smiley face used as filler in the intro stage's tileset.

These two tiles are present in Tunnel Rhino's tileset.

Located at $174C80 are unused graphics for X getting stunned. What's odd is that it's using the armor from Mega Man X2, and this sprite wasn't used there either (or even present in the X2 data, for that matter). This animation was used in Mega Man X if X was on the ground when Flame Mammoth landed from a jump.

Cx4 Test

This game has the same exact Cx4 test that Mega Man X2 does, and it's even activated the same way: hold B on Controller 2, then turn the game on. It doesn't affect gameplay, it's just a developer's tool.

Oddly enough, continuing to hold B on Controller 2 after the test will mute the Capcom logo jingle and cinematic intro music for one loop. This did not happen in Mega Man X2.

(Source: GoldS, original TCRF research)

Map Editor

Starting at SNES address $03874C is programming for a map editor. Use these Pro Action Replay codes to reach it:

00A32D22
00A32E4C
00A32F87
00A33003

During gameplay, pause the game to enter the Map Editor mode. If you hold R while pausing, the text palette will be different (the background and text palettes will sometimes conflict). The controller instructions are as follows:

Input	Controller 1 Function	Controller 2 Function
D-Pad	Moves screen.	Move tile cursor.
A	Toggles the game's sprite layers.	Copies current tile.
B + D-Pad	Faster cursor speed.	Faster cursor speed.
Y	Toggles index viewing for tiles(?).	Pastes copied tile.
L + R + X	Exits the Map Editor.	Cycles through tiles.

(Source: JLukas)

Debug Menus

Use the cheat code 00821a:XX (where "??" is one of the below) to display these strings in the opening copyright screen.

Opening Demo

Text index $02.

(Source: gedowski, FCandChill (code))

Object Viewer

Text index $13 and $14. The same object viewer found in other Mega Man games. This is fully functional in the August 23rd prototype.

(Source: gedowski, FCandChill (code))

Unused Stuff

Unused Ganseki Character

This type of Ganseki Carrier isn't used in game. It flies back and forth with a large spike ball and will fire at X/Zero when they're in range. Unlike the other types of Ganseki Carrier that eventually drop what they're holding, this type does not. When you kill it, the spike ball drops to the ground. The ball reflects all shots and damages you, as expected.

Video footage can be seen here from 0:00 to 0:18.

(Source: GoldS)

Unused Wild Tank Behavior

The Wild Tank enemy is digging out of the ground in this screenshot. This type of Wild Tank is initially invisible. When the player comes close enough, the enemy "digs" upward by 12 pixels, creating a dust cloud. In the final game, all Wild Tanks appear above ground by default.

Video footage can be seen here from 0:18 to 0:36.

(Source: GoldS)

Unused Vertical Boss Door

Back of the game's box with the unused door.

How Blast Hornet's boss room appears in the August prototypes.

An unused set of vertical boss doors can be found above Blast Hornet's boss room. They seem to work as intended, though the graphics either aren't loaded properly or no longer exist.

Video footage can be seen here from 0:37 to 0:57.

The back of the game's box seems to imply that it was possible, or at least planned, to drop in on Blast Hornet via the ceiling, which is rather strange because nowhere else in X3 does the game ever have you drop in from above on a boss.

However, the the August prototypes shed more light on the mystery of the vertical boss door:

There's a vertical boss shutter in the top-right of Blast Hornet's boss room in the August prototypes. There's a placeholder vertical door object above that door in all versions, but it doesn't seem like X would use it; rather, the door would open automatically as part of Blast Hornet's boss intro - this is probably why he pauses a bit before he drops down in the August prototypes. It doesn't seem like that was ever programmed, though, so the final version just erases the boss door and makes the ceiling horizontally symmetrical.

A vertical boss door was used in Mega Man X2, where X drops into the intro stage boss room from above.

(Source: GoldS)

Test Boss

A very odd boss that's completely unused in the game. It looks like a glitched Ride Armor, though its intended appearance is currently unknown. It drops from the top of the screen until it hits the floor, and then does absolutely nothing else until you destroy it. Despite the fact that it flashes when hit, it has no invulnerability time.

Video footage can be seen here from 0:57 to 1:36.

(Source: GoldS)

HUD Icon

To do: Test this as Zero.

By forcing the selected weapon into an invalid slot, a W icon is displayed. Its intended palette is unknown (the colors change if, for example, the game switches control to Zero in the intro stage). For some reason, this also messes up the colors of other objects.

It can be seen when playing as X with the PAR code 7E1EE214 by pausing, pressing Up or Down, then unpausing.

Stage Select Leftover Behavior

Use a password with the Doppler stages unlocked, such as 1454 3535 6162 7162, and apply PAR cheat code 7E1FAF04 (this sets that you've completed 4 Doppler stages). Select the Doppler icon, and you'll oddly end up at Volt Catfish's stage.

This makes no sense until you know that the level ID of Volt Catfish is the same as Magna Centipede in Mega Man X2: there is leftover code in X3 that says "if the X-Hunter icon is selected and 4 X-Hunter stages have been completed, load Magna Centipede's stage instead". In X2, the 5th X-Hunter stage is Magna Centipede's stage, with a trap door to the final boss, Sigma.

This leftover code normally has no effect since X3 has only four Doppler stages.

Regional Differences

Title Screen

Japan	International

Keeping with the last two games, the international title logo was redesigned. The registered trademark (R) icon was also changed to simply a trademark (TM).

Name Changes

The eight Mavericks, as well as the Nightmare Police, had their names changed outside of Japan.

Japan	International
Explose Horneck	Blast Hornet
Frozen Buffalio	Blizzard Buffalo
Gravity Beetbood	Gravity Beetle
Acid Seaforce	Toxic Seahorse
Electro Namazuros	Volt Catfish
Scissors Shrimper	Crush Crawfish
Screw Masaider	Tunnel Rhino
Shining Tigerd	Neon Tiger
Vajurilla FF	Bit
Manderela BB	Byte

Much like Treble/Gospel in Mega Man 7 and Sunstar/Sungod in Mega Man V, Vajurilla FF and Manderela BB (whose names relate to Buddhism and Hinduism) likely had their names changed because of Nintendo of America's strict policy on religious references at the time (though despite this, Hell Crusher, the drill miniboss in Tunnel Rhino's stage, did not have its name altered in the ending cast roll).

Additionally, as with the previous game, two of the Maverick weapons received name changes:

Japan	International
Bug Hole	Gravity Well
Acid Rush	Acid Burst

Other Changes

In the international versions, dialogue boxes display the speaker's name.

Oddities

• When Byte is defeated with one of the abilities he's weak against, he says "How can this power can be generated from within such an ancient machine?!" This error was left unchanged in the CD-ROM versions and all other subsequent releases.