Capcom's Mega Man X series grew throughout the 1990s to allow for more playable characters. While the first two games in the series only gave us Mega Man X himself as the sole controllable protagonist, the third installment finally let players take X's partner in Maverick hunting, Zero, for little test drives. Zero could be summoned once per stage, but could not fight any of the game's sub-bosses (save one) or Mavericks, could not pass through more than one-third of any given stage, could not access any of X's special upgrades, and only had one life. If a player accidentally dropped Zero onto a bed of spikes three seconds after calling for him in the second stage of the game, then he was out for the remainder of the adventure. Playing as Zero was pretty awesome in Mega Man X3, but the many limitations placed on him were not. Later games in the series brought Zero in as a spotlight hero with all of the powers and abilities granted to X himself.  Now thanks to a hack for the Super NES version of X3 from Justin3009, it's possible to let Zero spread his metaphorical wings, shatter Capcom's handcuffs, and tackle the game from start to finish without the usual restrictions. Here's some of what you can expect in this alteration:

• Play as Zero anytime except areas where he's unavailable such as the introduction stage.
• Zero is able to use sub-weapons.
• Zero is able to air-dash.
• Zero can scroll through sub-weapons with any method.
• Zero is able to gather Heart Tanks, Energy Tanks and Ride Armor chips. He's able to fill sub-weapons and energy tanks while also able to use them.
• Zero can use Ride Armors.
• Slightly updated dialogue to reflect both characters being playable.
• Zero can use Capsule upgrades to a certain extent.
• Zero has 4 more health pieces than X.
• Zero has new animations for charged Triad Thunder, Ray Shot & Gravity Well.  There's a new damage animation when you've obtained the armor capsule.
• X and Zero are swapped during events. If you're Zero, X will appear, vice versa. If Zero is destroyed for the ending then Doppler will take his place.
• Energy Tanks work like [Mega Man Zero]. If you're full health during a sub-tank use, it will stop healing.
• The game remembers who you played as last after you've beaten a level or died.
• Character select on Stage Select screen.  The Giant "X" at top center is the character select.  Buster noise for X and a Sabre noise for Zero.
• Golden Armor is savable.

I love seeing creative fans tinker with classic games to make them new all over again.  The more talented ROM hackers have some intriguing ideas and it's great to see them come to life.  I've long since seen everything that Mega Man X3 has to offer, but being able to go back to a game that I know very well and find a new set of challenges really is a breath of fresh air.  Emulation is the only way to play this hack and of course it isn't endorsed by Capcom, but it's still a worthwhile undertaking.  Take a look at Zero in action and tell me that you wouldn't kick Capcom a few dollars if this version of the game turned up in an official capacity on the download service of your choice.

(image via The Mega Man Network)