

Mega Man III was made available on March 13, 2001, for the Nintendo Power cartridge service in Japan alongside the other four Game Boy Mega Man games. The editors of GameSpot consider Mega Man III a rare find because it was never re-released in budget form likes the two games before it. Not really bad, but made unplayable by the sheer frustration level." In contrast, the United Kingdom's Nintendo Magazine System called it "a prime example of flogging a dead horse. Mega Man III was given a positive review from the North American Electronic Gaming Monthly, which noted its use of familiar gameplay and a large amount of visual detail. Mega Man III features four Robot Master adversaries from Mega Man 3 (Snake Man, Shadow Man, Spark Man, and Gemini Man) and four from Mega Man 4 (Dive Man, Drill Man, Skull Man, and Dust Man). Another companion robot, Flip Top Eddie, will appear in certain stages to randomly lend the player health, weapon power, extra lives, or storable Energy Tanks for completely refilling health. The player can also gain access to Mega Man's dog Rush, who can transform into a "Coil" mode to let the player jump higher or a "Jet" mode for flying large distances across the screen. Beating the Robot Master boss at the end of each stage allows the player to add its unique weapon to Mega Man's arsenal. Mega Man's primary method of attack is his "Mega Buster", which can fire an unlimited number of small shots or can be charged by holding the down the button and then releasing a larger and more powerful blast. The player is able to choose between 4 stages that are immediately available. Mega Man III shares the action and platform gameplay set forth the NES Mega Man games. Because of the three-way spread and its ability to go through enemies, the Thunder Beam is considered the most powerful weapon in the game.The game combines elements from the NES games Mega Man 3 and Mega Man 4. Shoots three long electrical bolts in different directions, one forward, one straight up, and one straight down. If there is not enough room available to create an arc, or if/when they land on the ground, the blocks will scatter. Press the attack button to pick them up and press it again to throw them. Mega Man can walk up to certain blocks, and if they can be picked up by the Super Arm, they will flash. Takes the form of a large pair of extremely sharp scissor blades that are thrown like boomerangs, flying in front of Mega Man in a teardrop-shaped pattern before returning to him. It is produced via a blast of super-chilled air laced with liquid nitrogen, which then crystallizes to form a projectile. Takes the form of an arrowhead-shaped blade of ice that can either damage or freeze enemies. Throws bombs in a small arc with a slight delay between when a bomb is thrown and when it explodes, but with a decent enough explosion that damages or destroys anything within the blast. Shoots a fireball, and has a temporary shield effect. Below is a list of Special Weapons obtained by defeating the Robot Masters in the original Mega Man game, how Mega Man can use them to his advantage and the Robot Master/boss who is the most vulnerable to them.
