Square's last outing for the NES, they pushed the 8-bit system to its limits.

The nearest thing to a true sequel in the Final Fantasy series, Final Fantasy III shared many elements with the original game. The plot concerned an ancient evil, long-contained but now seeking to escape its bonds with and lay waste to the world. Once more, only four Light Warriors of legend could defeat this dark force and restore balance to the world. The game began with four young orphans exploring a mysterious cave. Once inside, they were attacked by beasts, and forced to fight their way through. Eventually, in a crystalline chamber, they discovered the lost Wind Crystal, which explained the danger facing the world. Proclaimed them to be the 'chosen ones', the Crystal granted each of the four a special power, and sent them on a quest to destroy the malignant force threatening their world.

Moogles made their first appearance...	... but still never released to western audiences; Final Fantasy by this time had become a household name in Japan.

Final Fantasy III was a 4Mb NES cartridge, and Square put the extra capacity to great use. As well as pushing the humble NES to its graphical and sonic limits, the third Final Fantasy game was also far more complex and detailed than earlier offerings. The system was similar to that of the original, enabling players to choose the names and character classes for four heroes. This time, however, there were more classes, and the game featured more locations, monsters, weapons, equipment and spells.

Amongst these were several new additions that have since become trademarks of the Final Fantasy line. Chocobos were back, and this time there were two different kinds. The cutesy Moogles made their first appearance, together with several more monsters and weapons that are now standard features. Final Fantasy III also introduced several new classes, including the Dragoon and the Caller, together with a new set of summoning spells. Although their names were different, these spells are still recognisable as the same ones that appeared in Final Fantasy VII - Chocobo, Shiva, Ramuh, Ifrit and the rest.

Despite its impressive sales in Japan, Final Fantasy III never appeared outside its home country.

A surprise success in the US, but nowhere near as in Japan...

By 1991, Square had gone from being just another small games company to one of the most respected software houses in Japan. The Final Fantasy series had already become one of the most popular games lines in the country, and the release of the original Final Fantasy in America in the previous year had begun to pave the way for the international fame that was to follow. Perhaps the most important step the company ever made, though - at least until the release of Final Fantasy VII on the PlayStation - was with Final Fantasy IV.

The fourth game in the series was the first role-playing game to be released on Nintendo's new console, the Super Famicom (known to us as the SNES). A 16-bit machine with an impressive array of custom graphics and sound chips, the SNES was a gorgeous piece of kit at the time, and the Japanese gaming world was eager to see what Square would do with the machine's greater power. They certainly weren't disappointed.

Final Fantasy IV was an 8Mb SNES cartridge, and it put the vastly more impressive graphics and sound of the SNES to good use. The characters and monsters were larger, more colourful and much more detailed than before; the look of the game's magic was improved, and the summon spells were awesome.

The extra capacity of the SNES cartridge, and the machine's greater processing speed and memory, were stretched to provide gamers with one of the most complex, engrossing and imaginative storylines ever to appear in a videogame.

Final Fantasy IV was the first Final Fantasy to truely impress players with graphics and sound...	...something that was to become a feature of the series from herein.

Final Fantasy IV returned to the 'fixed' character concept first used by Square in Final Fantasy II, casting the player as Cecil, a Dark Knight and captain of the Red Wings (an elite force of military airships in the Kingdom of Baron). As the game began, though, Cecil questioned the desire of his king to capture the Elemental Crystals, and was sent to deliver a strange package to a nearby town. When the package exploded, destroying the town and nearly killing him, Cecil and his friend Kain vowed to fight against the King's power-mad ambitions. As the pair made their way through the game, they befriended nine other characters.

After its massive success in Japan it was unsurprising that Final Fantasy IV was translated into English and released in America, where it enjoyed more healthy sales and critical acclaim. However, due to the fact that Final Fantasy II and III hadn't been released in the States, the game was renamed Final Fantasy II, beginning a tricky number policy that was only stopped when Square released Final Fantasy VII... well, Final Fantasy VIII.

There were two versions of Final Fantasy IV released in Japan - the 'standard' game, and Final Fantasy IV Easytype. Easytype was intended for younger players, and had many items, monsters, spells and skills removed. It was also the version which the American Final Fantasy II was based, so there's never been a true (official) English-language edition of the complete Final Fantasy IV.