People are nuts I tell ya, nuts!!!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mega-Man-X3-for … 1441748925

one word: insane

I have the game myself... managed to get it (just the cart) in good shape for $48 before the price spiked in the last year or two to $150. A boxed copy goes for about $500-600 but this... cripes.

It's a good game... but at the end of the day it's just a standard sequel. In my opinion X3 is interesting because of its development history... not because of the game itself. Outside the basic groundwork like Maverick design the game was out sourced and then canceled. Then it was un-canceled. I'm glad it saw the light of day but it doesn't hold a special place in my heart like X or X4.

Does the PSX version go for prices like this as well?
I have the feeling that's pretty rare too...

It was never released in the US, not sure about Europe. X3 on Japanese PSX and Saturn was always pretty common, usually running around $30 or so (haven't checked prices recently).

I do believe Europe got the PSX version... but having played it on the X Collection I don't think we missed out on much. The 32-bit music doesn't meld with the 16-bit visuals well IMO.

I had a boxed, mint copy ten years ago that I sold cheaply to afford an Evangelion model kit. Wished I hadn't almost immediately.
With that said, X3 is definitely near the weaker end of the spectrum of quality. Boss design felt really lazy to me. The tunes were decent at best (unthinkable for a Megaman game, as far as I'm concerned), marred by really shitty instrumentation. There was too much shit to collect. Also, the controls were sloppy. Zero felt like a tank compared to the more lithe X, who in this game was jittery as shit after you get his leg armor (again, poor control in a Megaman game is almost enough to kill the experience). Blizzard Buffalo was an almost exact duplicate of Tunnel Rhino, etc. Shit, I could go on.

I'll take X, X2 and X4 over X3 any day of the week, no question.

Personally I never use Zero after the intro level when I play the game... you're better off not using him, saving his one life and doing the trick to get the Z Saber. Not that you really need it... the golden armor is already pretty boss.

Edit:

I still think the hidden capsule in X3 should have been the hurricane kick. You know, complete the set.

Still, when it comes to the old cart based games I don't even worry about the boxes and the manuals... it gets too expensive too quick. I'll get the box and manual if I can get a good deal and the price doesn't spiral out of control otherwise I don't worry. However, I do hold CD-based games to a higher standard and do try my hardest to make sure they are complete.

Yeah, Europe got the PSX version but I have the impression that's pretty rare too.
I always rather liked the remixed soundtrack too. Capcom did some really cool synthy stuff in the early PSX days.