It's actually insane to see how far this subseries has come. Starting off from what was an interesting but deeply flawed first title, and continuing with a fairly improved but still off 2nd title, I couldn't even imagine that it would evolve into what I, and many people consider, the peak of the entire franchise.

It might be odd to start of talking about the story, but Zero 3 places far more emphasis on it than the previous entries. It has a genuinely engaging story with a really enticing amount of twists and turns that kept me wanting to experience more of the game beyond just trying its mechanics. It's one of the best strengths of the side series of Mega Man and it makes me wish that the classic series adopted it with its newer titles.

This game refines or takes apart every single element I didn't like about the previous games. The level design is rock-solid and didn't have nearly as many cheap pitfalls if any at all, and the weapon level up system is completely gone. The bosses are mostly stellar, with the only downside being that some of them feel a bit too easy. All of those and more make learning and mastering its mechanics so much more rewarding than the other two entries, and I can easily see myself replaying this one quite a bit.

This game embodies what I love about platformers as a genre, it does everything in its power to encourage skill mastery and is more and more rewarding as you fight on for everlasting peace.

Also cannonball is one of the best final boss themes of all time holy SHIT