Apart from some added extras the game didn't change much in the series.
Story: A few years have passed since X and Zero once again defeated Sigma.
The humans and maverick hunters have come to the realization that terminating mavericks will not solve their problem of security.
Even if a maverick destroyed another reploid will eventually become a maverick and the cycle will never end.
It was at that time a reploid scientist named Dr Doppler has claimed to have found a cure for mavericks. By using his Nero computer to rewrite the system of the mavericks Dr Doppler has managed to neutralize them.
Thanks to Dr Doppler the world was about to reach a golden new age.
However several months later the mavericks that were thought to have been neutralized by Dr Doppler have suddenly began to go on a rampage.
Dr Doppler then declared war on mankind and has launched his first assault on Maverick Hunter HQ to capture some high class reploids and reprogram them to serve in his army.
X and Zero were dispatched to save maverick hunter HQ and also to bring Dr Doppler to justice.
Game design: The graphics are the same as the last 2.
You start out in an intro stage and will select 8 stages after that followed by a final stage.
During the course of the game you will also encounter mini-bosses that show up in some place at random (similar to the X-hunters from X2) and you will also face an old enemy in a secret stage.
The game also has different endings depending on who you beat at what time so you will find yourself coming back for other endings.
Gameplay: X plays the same as usual and you will also collect parts for the new Max Armor. There are 4 mains parts and enhancement chips for each part.
The enhancement chips can further upgrade an armor part, however you can only use one chip so if you decide on a chip you won't be able to use the other 3 chips for the remainder of the game.
The leg module will allow X to air dash at any direction, the leg enhancement will allow X to dash twice.
The chest module will increase defense and will trigger a protective field once hit, the chest enhancement will add an additional protective field for extra protection.
The arm module will upgrade the X-buster, allowing X to shoot 2 charged shots at once, and if you combine the shots it will create a powerful scatter charge shot that will hit almost everything on its wake, you can also charge special weapons, the arm enhancement will further upgrade the power of your shots and reduce charge time.
The head module will allow X to view hidden items in the stage select screen and will also view a mini map and the location of hidden items in the beginning of the stages, as for the head enhancement I forgot.
A notable addition however is that you can also play as Zero.
Zero's charged shot will consist of 2 charged shots and a saber cut that will destroy ANYTHING.
You can call for Zero using the tag team system at anytime, however Zero can only be used once in a stage, will not get any upgrades and will not fight any boss, also if Zero dies you will seize to play as him for the rest of the game.
Another new feature would be the ride armor system. There are 4 different ride armors you can collect and they can be used to go through places that are tough by foot or access hidden areas.
However apart for accessing hidden areas you won't really need the ride armors much.
Sound: Music doesn't really sound that great, sound affects are the same.
Megaman X3 is a lot deeper in content than the last 2 which gives it lots of replay value, the game is fun and challenging (although there are bosses that are way too predictable) however the dated graphics does seem to hold the game down because when comparing this to Super Mario World or Donkey Kong Country its not all that great.
Also the game once again uses the Password system, which is getting very old and annoying to memorize codes these days as current games use simple saving systems.
Also while the additional contents are great they are not really all that useful, play time as Zero is very limited and short, and the ride armor system is almost completely useless.
The game is best recommended for fans because they would be the only ones who will appreciate the deep content and challenging game play, others probably won't see anything special in the game.