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Mega Man X3 (PAL Saturn Port)
MEGA MAN X3's original format was on the Super NES/SFC, being released in 1995 in the US and Japan and in the summer of 1996 in Europe. However, in Japan the decision was made to port the game over to the PlayStation and Sega Saturn in the Spring of 1996, and Virgin Interactive decided to pick up a license to port the game to the PS1 and Saturn in Europe and release the game on April 26, 1996 in limited quantities.
The gameplay of the Saturn and PS1 versions are essentially identical to the SNES version of the game. However, you are playing with a different controller, and the Saturn controller seems a bit more awkward at times unless certain button reconfigurations are used.
In order to maximize the PS1 and Saturn's graphical processing, the game's screen is letter-boxed from the side (left and right sides of the screen), with various background fillers used to make it blend in with the game (i.e. trees are used on the side of the screen when in Neon Tiger's stage). This is okay, but one would think that Virgin and Capcom could have come up with a better use of the systems' graphical capacities.
Where the game truly shines is in two areas: music and anime-style cutscenes. The music in the 32-bit version is fully-orchestrated thanks to Kinuyo Yamashita, Toshihiko Horiyama, Shusaku Uchiyama, Yoshino Aoki, and Makoto Tomozawa. Their work builds off of the 16-bit tunes in the SNES version, but gives them a techno-rock sound that is very memorable. In the CD-ROM version, the game features a fully-animated introduction, animated cutscenes to tell the story, animated intros for all of the Maverick stages, and an animated ending of the game that gives some tidbits of X and Zero's backstories (it shows Dr. Cain opening the capsule and X's training under Zero and Sigma).
While the Japanese PlayStation and Saturn versions, along with the U.S. PC release, are quite easy to come by, the PAL Saturn version is very rare, having been released in limited quantities. Unfortunately, however, some "unofficial" copies of the game exist out there and look very similar to the official product, so don't be fooled! As such, an unopened copy of the PAL Saturn version may sell upwards of $100.00 USD (as of late-February 2009), but a used copy should not sell for more than approximately $75.00 USD.
If you already have Mega Man X3 for the SNES and just want to see the cutscenes, it would probably be best to pick up the Japanese version since there is no talking in the cutscenes. However, if you truly feel as if you must own the English-language version, then be prepared to shell-out a decent amount of money for it.Read full review...
Capcom Proudly Presents
Mega Man X3(Rockman X3)is a Super Famicom(SNES) port of the popular Rockman X series for the Sega Saturn. There are no graphical improvements over the SFC version, which is quite a disappointment. The graphics are bland and the animation isn't as good. The whole game runs in a stupid box with boarders down the right and left sides of the screen. Still quite a fun game to play. This was released in Japan and Europe. The PAL(Europe version) is in English. The game is still highly sought after. I own two copies. I bought this because I am a fan of Mega Man and I wanted to add this to my Sega Saturn collection. If you want it, be sure to pick it up. Enjoy.Read full review...