Whether the medium be film, game, album, or what have you, the third release is infamous for being a tricky, dangerous animal that can make or break any hopes of longevity. Final Fantasy III aspired to get right everything that I & II couldn’t, and to bring the best of both worlds together, in yet another all-new experience. Coming at the end of the Nintendo Entertainment System’s lifespan, this game exploited the hardware to full tilt with more detailed sprites, a deep job system, and one of the longest storylines possible—narrowly missing maximum capacity of the NES cartridge.

Unfortunately, this game was limited to Japanese audiences for sixteen years, until the Nintendo DS remake arrived in 2006. Final Fantasy III is now available on iOS, Android market, and will be featured on Android’s Ouya in 2013. FFIII is widely regarded as an RPG for RPG enthusiasts, due to its straightforward nature and modicum of difficulty. There is a large emphasis on training characters, centered around the job system.

Players unlock new jobs as they recover each of the four elemental crystals, allowing them to upgrade and change jobs as they see fit. With twenty-two jobs in total (23 in the remakes), this game offers a plethora of strategic combinations that cater to certain playing styles or provide an advantage against tougher foes. Although the job system was not perfectly balanced, Final Fantasy III did admirable work to further improve and grow the franchise, and as the final game before the SNES era, it set the stage for an even bigger adventure on the next console.

Content contributed by Red XIII.