Excessive difficulty and an underwhelming storyline mar what is otherwise a solid addition to the X series.
The game begins with familiar settings, with a preliminary stage that allows you to play as both X and Zero, painting some background to the storyline and getting things underway in exciting fashion. After this, however, things go steeply downhill. Once you embark onto one of the 8 Maverick stages, you realize you hardly stand a chance. Some of the Maverick bosses are hard enough when you have their weakness equipped, I couldn't imagine having to fight these with just the X Buster!
To add insult to injury, many stages feature "Mid-bosses" challenging mini-bosses that wait behind gated doors (What a surprise, eh developers?) around halfway through select levels. Secrets are one of the hallmarks of the X series, and while there are plenty of them in X3, they are all excessively hard to find; even the ones that are virtually required for game completion: (Leg power up, for example). Some interesting upgrades are available such as one that allows you to slowly replenish health as you stand still. Sadly you can only have one of the four special upgrades equipped, and once you have one you can't switch it out for any others! They only let you know this once you attempt to get a second one. The arm power up is still accounted for but the buster gun's fully charged shot is a joke, leaving Megaman mysteriously paralyzed after the initial shot, rendering it basically useless. The Maverick weapons are equally gimmicky, with wonky attack patterns and disappointing fully-charged capabilities. I found only the Ray Splasher to be consistently useful.
The musical score is apt, as with any other Megaman title. Some more notable tracks are that of the preliminary stage and Volt Catfish's lair. However, all of the tracks feature a synthetic crunchy guitar tone that really doesn't change the entirety of the game. This grows a bit old over time.
I can't help but feel that this title was rushed. There is even a scarcity of enemy types, with the same dozen or so robots appearing in every stage, eventually with a palette shift to try and confuse the player. The inclusion of the Robot suits could be nice, but without a guide they are damn near impossible to actually unlock, not to mention outright silly at times: (Frog armor, I'm talking to you!). Coupled with all of this title's shortcomings and the extreme difficulty, I can't recommend this to anybody but Megaman fans.