Mega Man 3 is where the series really starts to feel like itself—you’ve got the classic run-and-gun action, but now with Rush the robo-dog (who’s way more useful than I expected) and these weirdly emotional showdowns with Proto Man. The whole "Dr. Wily is good now, just kidding!" setup is classic NES-era nonsense, but it works. You’re hopping between mining planets, blasting Robot Masters for their weapons, and then suddenly Proto Man shows up out of nowhere to test you with that killer whistle theme playing in the background.

What I love is how the levels force you to actually use the new tools—like Rush’s coil jump or the slide move—instead of just spamming the buster. And yeah, the difficulty spikes hard in the Wily stages, but that’s Mega Man for you. That final gauntlet still gives me flashbacks.