E3 06: Final Fantasy III Impressions

LOS ANGELES--The Final Fantasy series can trace its heritage from the original Nintendo Entertainment System to present-day consoles, but the Japanese and English-language releases got separated somewhere along the way. Reunited at the release of Final Fantasy VII, we've spent the past few years revisiting and renumbering some of the classic titles, but one game has been lost in the mix--until now. Final Fantasy III first appeared on the NES in 1990, and almost two decades later, it's finally our chance to experience the only Final Fantasy that's never before seen an official English translation. The upcoming DS release of Final Fantasy III is no mere port, however, as the game's getting a fresh facelift to 3D. We got to check out a new trailer of the game at Square Enix's E3 press event.

The trailer started off with a CG scene of four characters mounted on chocobos, running across an open field. The camera swung around to show the group moving in profile, and an airship rose out of a sea of clouds behind the riders. More airships then filled the sky, before switching to shots using the in-game engine. The game is fully in 3D, with cute, simplified faces on characters and clearly defined appearances (the white mage and black mage were, as always, easy to point out). A number of scenes then flashed by of various battles against numerous threatening monsters, which were also sizeable and nicely detailed. Only a single screen was shown, so there's no evidence as of yet to point to any DS-specific features that may have been included.

If you've been saving a spot on your Final Fantasy shelf and hoping for the release of Final Fantasy III, you're about to get your wish. Our collections will at last become complete later this year when the game is due to arrive on the Nintendo DS. Keep watching our continuing coverage for the latest info on this "final" fantasy.