2010: I beat the original Mega Man in one segment without taking a single hit. • Mega Man - No Damage R...
2011: I complete this task again for Mega Man 2. • Mega Man 2 - No Damage...
2012: I present this video. Mega Man 3 has been conquered.
The very idea of a single segment Mega Man 3 perfect run used to be preposterous to me. I knew it was possible, but I figured the game was far too long, and there were too many annoying spots that came late in the game. I recently took a closer look at the game, coming up with any tricks and exploits that could be implemented to mitigate a number of problem areas. After some time, I discovered enough methods to actually consider going for a perfect run.
Dozens and dozens of hours went into attempts at this. I learned a lot of nuances along the way that helped out my play as the days went on. Doc Quickman is by far the biggest worry of the entire run. He can be very hard to dodge, and he takes 7 hits with the gemini laser or search snakes. I got pretty good at perfecting him semi-consistently in practice, but there's a lot more at stake in an actual run. Going straight for him after defeating the 8 robot masters takes just over 30 minutes with my playstyle. It's not
uncommon to be a little nervous, and that makes one play worse. Even then, he can just be completely unfair and offer a pattern that you have no chance of dodging. I played so many runs where I went for Doc Quick immediately after the regular stages, and sure I could get by him every now and then. However, I found that as soon as I got past him, my play suffered considerably. The parts that are normally a lock would just constantly end my runs. Countless attempts later, I decided to save him for last. That was a good choice I think.
Sure Doc Quickman is a huge bastard, but none of the others are anything to sneeze at either. Doc Air is perhaps the second biggest worry. Rush jet negates most of the threat he presents, but he still got me more times than I'd have liked. My Doc Crash strategy is perhaps strange, but surprisingly it has never let me down in a run. His unpredictability regarding his jumps makes fighting him any other way unappealing. Doc Flash was a huge concern at first, but the strategy I came up with proved to be 100% effective in runs. Doc Bubble can also be nerve-wracking. The trick with him is to get below his rising bullet shots. I use pausing and unpausing to fall slower so I can get under the shots safely if he launches too many bubbles. Using this trick means you don't have to jump as high, increasing the distance between you and those awful spikes. It's a fool-proof method in practice, but he's got me a couple times in runs. Doc Wood isn't too hard to abuse with the rush jet. And Doc Heat... I hate him so much. That initial attack seems so easy to avoid in practice, but it's gotten me at least 4 times in runs. It got so frustrating I finally had to start with the alternate Shadow Man stage first. Doc Metal isn't too bad, but he got me once.
Mega Man 3 has really disappointing and easy Wily stages. However, at this point in the run absolutely everything scares me. I had only made it to the Wily stages once in all of my previous attempts (got hit by panicking against the devil in said run). The turtles are pretty much a joke of a boss. The yellow devil is normally very easy to dodge, but my shakiness was climbing up there. The hit boxes on the bouncing parts are way bigger than they should be, so the rush jet is essential. The clones were one of my biggest fears of the Wily stages. They can be killed very fast, but you also have to move and attack fast to kill them off as soon as possible. No chokes so far... The junk golems' attacks in Wily 4 are easy enough to lead away, even under extreme stress.
Beyond all odds I reached the rematch room. Needle Man only takes 4 shots from the laser, but he is very random and hard to dodge at times. This one was a narrow win. Shadow Man absolutely requires rush jet abuse to defeat consistently. Still jittery, I take him out as well. Spark Man was still a slight worry. He can be killed very quickly with his own weapon, but he can still cause a panic if he goes straight for the bottom left at the start of the fight. I breathed a sigh of relief at this point. The last robot master rematches were handled well enough. Wily Machine 3 is very exploitable, and Gamma is a big joke.
In the end... I finally did it. I don't know what to say. It probably shouldn't have taken a fourth as long as it did before I succeeded, but it's all over with now. Thank god. I don't think I'll ever surpass this.
I hope you enjoyed the run. This was a single segment run with no save states or slowdown used.