SNES Classic: The Ultimate Guide To Final Fantasy III

By BlackNES Guy and TBD

Think you know Final Fantasy 3? Think again!!

This is the ultimate reference guide to Final Fantasy 3 on the SNES Classic and original Super Nintendo Entertainment System, from the creator of The Ultimate Guide series; bestselling author The BlackNES Guy!!

This book is a reference&nb

• Language: English
• Publisher: BlackNES Guy Books
• Release date: Jan 5, 2018
• ISBN: 9781989120576

Book preview

Prologue

Beings of pure magic once ruled the world with power and command. But power rarely leads to contentment... A dispute amongst these beings turned into an all-out war. Beasts of doom, known as Espers, were created and unleashed to do the bidding of their masters. This War of the Magi reduced the world to smoldering rubble. When it ended, the Espers were gone, as were most of the citizens of the world.

With the War of the Magi but a distant and fading memory, and magic itself long absent from the world, technology has sprung forth as the power of the future. Machines of many sorts have found their ways from drawing boards to city streets, and ever-new inventions fall fast upon the heels of technological advancement. But as history has proved, time and time again, when technology offers

new power, some will grasp that power and twist it to serve themselves. In this case, the Empire has harnessed the power of advanced technology to create fighting machines stronger than anyone hasever seen. And while these machines alone could control the world, power-hungry generals can only imagine how great their power would be were they able to harness the mystic energies of magic.

History

Final Fantasy III was originally released to Japanese audiences in April of 1994 under the name Final Fantasy VI. Though it is the sixth game and the Final Fantasy franchise, it was the third game available and the United States. Thus, it was released to the international market under the name Final Fantasy III in October of 1994.

Though the game was originally created for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was ported, with minor differences, to Sony's PlayStation in 1999. In 2006, Nintendo remade the game for the Game Boy Advance. Eventually, Final Fantasy III would be released on the Wii via the Virtual Console, on Android and iOS devices, and even through Steam on the PC.

Yoshinori Kitase and Hiroyuki Ito directed Final Fantasy III. It was the first game in the series not directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi, due to his recent promotion to Executive Vice President at Square, though he remained part of the team as the producer. Nobuo Uematsu composed the soundtrack, as he was the regular composer for the franchise. Later, various albums, covers, remixes would be released. An operatic aria using Italian lyrics and performed by Svetla Krasteva was even arranged for the song Aria di Mezzo Carattere in the album Final Fantasy VI Grand Finale.

There are 14 playable characters in Final Fantasy III, with all members of the production team contributing to their creation. The original narrative for the game was written by smaller group of people. Ideas for each of the characters’ individual stories were incorporated into the base narrative to create a cohesive plot. Final Fantasy III has the most playable characters of any Final Fantasy game.

It is the last game of the Final Fantasy franchise to use 2D graphics. However, Final Fantasy III makes good use of the SNES specific Mode 7 graphic renderer. Unlike many previous video games that featured an overworld map, Final Fantasy III used Mode 7 to create a slightly three-dimensional perspective. This is only used on the overworld. The PlayStation re-release would later feature 3D cutscenes and enhanced graphics.

Programming proved to be a challenge for the team, with many functions needing to be done by hand. At the time, square head no software to help the text errors. The game features many glitches. Evasion is by far the most prominent error within the game. The Evasion Stat does not work at all. Instead, players must use M Block.

Square gave Ted Woolsey just 30 days to translate the Japanese Final Fantasy VI into the English Final Fantasy III.  Although there are no major changes to the gameplay, there are various alterations to the graphics and text of the story. Primarily, these relate to religion, nudity, vulgarity, and names. Tara's name was changed from Tina in the Japanese version. The Magic Spell and element Holy became of Pearl. Any imagery depicting nudity was altered with clothing. Harsh language, offensive words, and violent expressions were softened in the English version.

The most recent official number, given in 2003, states that Final Fantasy III has sold over 3.48 million copies worldwide. However, with many re-releases on various consoles since, today this number is much higher. The game has received overwhelmingly positive reviews and has ranked on many top game lists. Publications such as Nintendo Power, GamePro, and IGN, it rarely receives less than and 9 out of 10 or above. In 2017, IGN ranked it as the second-best RPG of all