Final Fantasy III

This article is about the 1990 video game. For its remake, see Final Fantasy III (2006 video game). For the 1994 Super NES game, see Final Fantasy VI.

Final Fantasy III
Developer(s)Square
Publisher(s)Square
Director(s)Hironobu Sakaguchi
Producer(s)Masafumi Miyamoto
Designer(s)
Programmer(s)Nasir Gebelli
Artist(s)Yoshitaka Amano
Writer(s)
Composer(s)Nobuo Uematsu
SeriesFinal Fantasy
Platform(s)
Release
April 27, 1990
    • Original
    • Pixel Remaster
    • Android, iOS, Windows
      • WW: July 28, 2021[3]
    • Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4
      • WW: April 19, 2023
    Xbox Series X/S
    • WW: September 26, 2024
Genre(s)Role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer (remake only)

Final Fantasy III[a] is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Family Computer. The third installment in the Final Fantasy series, it is the first numbered Final Fantasy game to feature the job-change system. The story revolves around four orphaned youths drawn to a crystal of light. The crystal grants them some of its power, and instructs them to go forth and restore balance to the world. Not knowing what to make of the crystal's pronouncements, but nonetheless recognizing the importance of its words, the four inform their adoptive families of their mission and set out to explore and bring back balance to the world.

The game was originally released in Japan on April 27, 1990. The original Famicom version sold 1.4 million copies in Japan. It had not been released outside Japan until a remake, also called Final Fantasy III, was developed by Matrix Software for the Nintendo DS on August 24, 2006. At that time, it was the only Final Fantasy game not previously released in North America or Europe.[5] There had been earlier plans to remake the game for Bandai's WonderSwan Color handheld, as had been done with the first, second, and fourth installments of the series, but the game faced several delays and was eventually canceled after the premature cancellation of the platform. The Nintendo DS version of the game was positively received, selling nearly 2 million copies worldwide.

It was also released for many other systems: the Japanese Famicom version via the Virtual Console on July 21, 2009 (Wii) and January 8, 2014 (Wii U), an iOS port of the Nintendo DS remake on March 24, 2011, an Android port on March 12, 2012, a PlayStation Portable port in late September 2012 (downloadable-only format outside Japan via PlayStation Network) and a Windows port via Steam in 2014. An updated release based on the Famicom version of Final Fantasy III was released as part of the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster collection, marking the first time the original version of Final Fantasy III was released outside of Japan. This version was released in July 2021 for Windows, Android and iOS, in April 2023 for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, and in September 2024 for Xbox Series X/S.

  1. ^ "Final Fantasy III" (in Japanese). Square Enix. Archived from the original on May 12, 2008. Retrieved July 11, 2008.
  2. ^ "Final Fantasy VII: In the Beginning...". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 93. Ziff Davis. April 1997. p. 72.
  3. ^ Diaz, Ana (June 30, 2021). "Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster's first three games come to PC and mobile in July". Polygon. Archived from the original on June 30, 2021. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference famitsusakaguchi was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Gantayat, Anoop (October 7, 2004). "Miyamoto Speaks to Final Fantasy Producer". IGN. Archived from the original on February 27, 2014. Retrieved September 3, 2006.


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