Final Fantasy III

ファイナルファンタジーIII (Fainaru Fantajī Surī)NES, Nintendo DS, Wii, iOS +81990

  1. JP1990
  2. NA2006
  3. EU2007
  4. RU—

Final Fantasy III kept the same title everywhere, but for decades the West only had the 2006 3D remake for Nintendo DS. The easiest legal way to play the original 2D game today is the Pixel Remaster (2021), sold on Steam and also released on Switch, PS4, Xbox and smartphones.

Final Fantasy III was released by Square for the Famicom in Japan on 27 April 1990. It brought the job system to the series, along with Moogles and summoned monsters. It was the last Final Fantasy made for the Famicom and, on a 512 KB cartridge, one of the largest games on the system. Part of development took place in Sacramento, California: when programmer Nasir Gebelli's work visa expired, the team followed him there.

The game became the series' first million-seller, at about 1.4 million copies in Japan. A Western localization was planned but dropped so the team could focus on the Super Famicom, so the 2D original stayed Japan-only until the 2021 Pixel Remaster.

Before that, Western players met the game through the 2006 Nintendo DS version, a full 3D remake by Matrix Software with characters redesigned by Akihiko Yoshida. That remake was later ported to iOS, PSP and Steam.12

Names and releases

RegionTitle on the boxPlatformDatePublisherSrc
NA Final Fantasy III3D remake; first official Western release Nintendo DS Nov 14, 2006 Square Enix 3
JP ファイナルファンタジーIIIFainaru Fantajī SurīFamicom; Japan only until 2021 NES Apr 27, 1990 Square 1
JP ファイナルファンタジーIIIFull 3D remake by Matrix Software Nintendo DS Aug 24, 2006 Square Enix 3
EU Final Fantasy III3D remake; Australia 3 May 2007 Nintendo DS May 4, 2007 Square Enix 3
JP ファイナルファンタジーIIIVirtual Console, Famicom version; English Wikipedia gives 2011 Wii Jul 21, 2009 Square Enix 2
WW Final Fantasy IIIPort of the 3D remake iOS Mar 24, 2011 Square Enix 3
JP ファイナルファンタジーIII3D remake with added content; NA 25 Sep 2012, PAL 26 Sep 2012 (digital only outside Japan) PSP Sep 20, 2012 Square Enix 3
JP ファイナルファンタジーIIIVirtual Console, Famicom version; 3DS Virtual Console 23 April 2014 Wii U Jan 8, 2014 Square Enix 2
WW Final Fantasy III (3D Remake)Steam port of the 3D remake Windows May 27, 2014 Square Enix 4
WW FINAL FANTASY IIIPixel Remaster (also iOS/Android); first release of the 2D game outside Japan Windows Jul 28, 2021 Square Enix 1
WW FINAL FANTASY IIIPixel Remaster; PS4 the same day Switch Apr 19, 2023 Square Enix 1
WW FINAL FANTASY IIIPixel Remaster Xbox Series X|S Sep 26, 2024 Square Enix 1

Also known as: FF3 JP2FFIII JP2ファイファンIII JP2Fainaru Fantajī Surī JP2Final Fantasy III (3D Remake) WW4

Box art by region

  • ファイナルファンタジーIII box art, Japan release
    JP ファイナルファンタジーIII

Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.

Version differences

  • ContentDS remake and its ports

    The 3D remake turns the four nameless Onion Knights into named characters — Luneth, Arc, Refia and Ingus — each with a look, backstory and personality, while the core story stays the same.3

  • GameplayDS remake and its ports

    The remake reworks the job system: Freelancer replaces Onion Knight as the starting job, capacity points are removed, and switching jobs now brings a temporary stat penalty.3

  • GameplayDS remake

    The DS version drops the split between weaker and stronger Fighter/Knight jobs, so those jobs can grow much stronger, and Onion equipment is weaker.2

All differences (5)

Translations

  • English Official

    Square Enix2006Nintendo DS · 3D remakeReleased · complete

    The first official English release was the DS remake, launched in North America in 2006.3

  • English Official

    Square Enix2021Windows · Pixel RemasterReleased · complete

    The 2021 Pixel Remaster brought the original 2D game to the West for the first time.1

  • Spanish Official

    Square Enix2021Windows · Pixel RemasterReleased · complete

    The Pixel Remaster includes Spanish (Spain) text.5

  • Russian Official

    Square Enix2021Windows · Pixel RemasterReleased · complete

    The Pixel Remaster includes Russian text.5

Where to play legally today

Reception

About 500,000 copies sold in the first week and 1.4 million in Japan by March 2003, more than either of the first two games. The DS remake sold 1.93 million worldwide by August 2008, and in 2006 Famitsu readers placed the game eighth in an all-time list.1

In lists

Sources

  1. 1en.wikipedia.org
  2. 2ja.wikipedia.org
  3. 3en.wikipedia.org
  4. 4store.steampowered.com
  5. 5store.steampowered.com
  6. 6ja.wikipedia.org

Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13

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