| Leaving Capcom, Mega Man's planner Akira Kitamura asked his successor not to change the game's systems and to add Proto Man and Rush; he later said he created the two. | excerpt, on Kitamura's talk with his successorexcerpt, on Kitamura's talk with his successor | Book |
| After Kitamura left, Capcom put Masahiko Kurokawa, a programmer credited as Patariro, in charge of Mega Man 3. | excerpt, paragraph beginning "When Akira Kitamura left Capcom"excerpt, paragraph beginning "When Akira Kitamura left Capcom" | Book |
| Kurokawa left halfway through development, and Keiji Inafune took over his work, with two months to finish the second half of the game. | excerpt, paragraph beginning "The collaboration between Kurokawa and Inafune"excerpt, paragraph beginning "The reason I said that", Inafune quoted from Nintendo Power 220 (2007)excerpt, paragraph beginning "The reason I said that", Inafune quoted from Nintendo Power 220 (2007) | Book |
| Yasuaki Fujita composed most of Mega Man 3's music. | excerpt, paragraph beginning "Unsurprisingly, Masahiko Kurokawa" | Book |
| The release kept a debug feature on the second controller. Holding right on it lets Mega Man jump across the screen, and holding it right as he falls into a pit drains his health but leaves him impervious to damage. | excerpt, paragraph beginning "Determined players"excerpt, paragraph beginning "Determined players" | Book |
| Electronic Gaming Monthly scored Mega Man 3 9 out of 10. | excerpt, paragraph beginning "Like its predecessor" | Book |
| Famitsu rated Mega Man 3 lower than Mega Man 2. | excerpt, paragraph beginning "Like its predecessor" | Book |
| Mega Man 3 sold 1.08 million copies, by Capcom's count as of 30 June 2026. | excerpt, paragraph beginning "Like its predecessor" | Publisher |
| Proto Man, Rush, and the slide recur in nearly every later Mega Man game, and GameSpot's retrospective calls Mega Man 3 perhaps the series' best. | excerpt, paragraph beginning "Like its predecessor" | Book |
| Pane credits Mega Man 3 with settling Mega Man as Capcom's mascot and Inafune as the series' guiding figure. | excerpt, paragraph beginning "Like its predecessor" | Book |