Dragon Quest III came out for the Famicom in Japan on 10 February 1988. Yuji Horii designed and wrote it, Akira Toriyama drew the art and Koichi Sugiyama wrote the music, while Chunsoft developed the game for Enix. It replaced the series' password system with save slots, partly because Horii disliked long password codes.
Launch day became a social phenomenon: queues several kilometres long formed outside Japanese retailers, and about 300 students were reportedly picked up for truancy after skipping school to buy it. The popular story that Japan then banned Dragon Quest releases on school days is a myth; Enix itself chose to release later games on weekends.
The North American NES version, Dragon Warrior III, arrived only in 1992, when 16-bit consoles were already on sale. Japan later got a Super Famicom remake in 1996, and a Game Boy Color remake reached both Japan and North America. Since 2014 the game has been sold worldwide as Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation on smartphones and, later, on Switch.12
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | Dragon Warrior III | NES | March 1992 | Enix | 1 |
| NA | Dragon Warrior IIINew translation | Game Boy Color | Jul 17, 2001 | Enix | 1 |
| JP | ドラゴンクエストIII そして伝説へ…Doragon Kuesuto Surī: Soshite Densetsu e…Famicom; date also in Japanese Wikipedia | NES | Feb 10, 1988 | Enix | 1 |
| JP | ドラゴンクエストIII そして伝説へ…Super Famicom remake by Heartbeat; Japan only | SNES | Dec 6, 1996 | Enix | 1 |
| JP | ドラゴンクエストIII そして伝説へ…Game Boy Color remake by Tose | Game Boy Color | Dec 8, 2000 | Enix | 1 |
| JP | ドラゴンクエストIII そして伝説へ…Japanese feature phones (mobile version by Matrix Software) | Other | Nov 19, 2009 | Square Enix | 1 |
| JP | Dragon Quest 25th Anniversary CollectionCollection including the Famicom and Super Famicom versions of I–III | Wii | Sep 15, 2011 | Square Enix | 1 |
| JP | ドラゴンクエストIII そして伝説へ…Also iOS | Android | Sep 25, 2014 | Square Enix | 1 |
| WW | Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of SalvationAlso Android | iOS | Dec 4, 2014 | Square Enix | 1 |
| JP | ドラゴンクエストIII そして伝説へ…Nintendo 3DS version released the same day | PlayStation 4 | Aug 24, 2017 | Square Enix | 1 |
| WW | Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of SalvationDigital only | Switch | Sep 27, 2019 | Square Enix | 1 |
Also known as: Dragon Warrior III NA1Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation WW1Dragon Quest III: Soshite Densetsu e… JP1そして伝説へ… JP2
Box art by region
NA Dragon Warrior III 
JP ドラゴンクエストIII そして伝説へ…
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.
Version differences
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ContentNES (NA)
Dragon Warrior III has its own title screen and music, an extra prologue showing Ortega's fight at the volcano, and changed graphics for church crosses and coffins.2
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DifficultyNES (NA)
On the North American NES, monsters give about 25% more experience and gold, and the casino-style payout went up from 2x to 10x.2
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ContentGBC
The Game Boy Color remake adds a Thief class, renames some classes and lets you pick the Jester at Dhama; it also adds Mini Medals, Monster Medals traded by link cable, a board-game minigame and two bonus dungeons.1
Translations
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English Official
Enix1992NES · Japanese versionReleased · complete
The first English version, released in North America in 1992 as Dragon Warrior III.1
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English Official
Enix2001Game Boy Color · Game Boy Color remakeReleased · complete
A fresh English translation made for the 2001 Game Boy Color remake.1
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English Official
Square Enix2014Android · Mobile versionReleased · complete
The 2014 smartphone version (The Seeds of Salvation) has English text; its Google Play listing says the in-game text is English only.3
Where to play legally today
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Google Play Purchase
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Steam Purchase
DRAGON QUEST III HD-2D Remake
2024 HD-2D remake (not the original game)
Checked: 2026-10-134store.steampowered.com
Reception
The Famicom original sold 1.1 million cartridges within a day and about 3.8 million in Japan, making it the country's best-selling game of 1988. The Super Famicom remake sold 1.4 million, and the 2024 HD-2D Remake passed 2 million worldwide by December 2024.1
In lists
Sources
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
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