Final Fantasy III

Final Fantasy VI, released as III in North America, hails from all gamers of the 2D era as one of the greatest games ever made. The first game in the series to have a "modern" theme to it, this title follows the exploits of Terra, an enslaved soldier in the Ghestahlian Empire, as she and two lowly soldiers are sent to investigate the recent discovery of an Esper frozen in ice near the mountain town of Narshe. All hell breaks loose when the Esper links with Terra, removing her slave crown and blanking most of her memory. The story follows as she joins up with the treasure hunter Locke and several others as they head on an epic journey of self discovery and more in the pursuit of stopping the Empire from gaining full control of the lost art of Magic.

The story reaches out to many audiences by dealing with a wide range of topics, from tragic love stories to issues such as teen pregnancy and suicide. The story is unexpectedly emotional, made even more powerful thanks to the 10/10 soundtrack by famed FF composer, Nobuo Uematsu.

There are currently three versions of this game available in North America; the SNES version here, the port of it on the PlayStation in FF Anthology, under its original title of FFVI, and a recent port to the Game Boy Advance, which has a much better translation and an extra dungeon. In my opinion, the original is best. The PS port had grueling load times, and the sound quality took a loss. The GBA port has a notch above the others with the better translation, which makes the experience (most notably the opera scene) a hundred times better. It also incorporates a "run" button, and the new dungeon adds a little more time to the experience. With all of those upgrades, you are left wanting to play it on the television, and with a better sound quality, and the Game Boy Player does not do it justice at all. If you're in need of experiencing this epic in full quality, you'll want the SNES version. Just grin and bear it through the translation (and after you get to the opera scene, YouTube the GBA version of the scene. SO much better.).

In short, this is the title in the franchise referred to by fans of the series as "the masterpiece", and typically beats out its successor in "top xx games of all time" lists across many publications. Truly a great game, and is easily worth $40 fourteen years after its release. 10/10.Buy Final Fantasy III!