By the end of this year, the Game Boy Advance should be home to all the classic Final Fantasy games in their original forms. All but one, that is. Final Fantasy III has been singled out for a DS-sized upgrade, gaining a brand new face and other as yet unnamed features.
The original FFIII was only released for the Japanese NES in 1990, and has never been officially translated into English. The fact it's coming out at all is enough to make Fantasy fanatics run for their stash of Phoenix Downs. Bigger news still is that it's getting a full-on 3D graphical overhaul, in a style similar to the whimsical earthiness of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles for GameCube.
Above: A view into how the game looked in 1990, and the Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles character art that has inspired its new style
No high profile port to the DS would be complete without some added stylus and wireless capabilities. What these will be isn't known for sure yet, but a menu-heavy series like Final Fantasy should have no trouble making use of the touch screen. If it eliminates the constant "boop boop boop" of moving that pointer finger around, we'll consider it a complete success. But will you want to grab a friend for this adventure? Console RPGs aren't known for great multiplayer experiences, but given the DS' popularity and Wi-Fi features, some form of group play or item trading isn't out of the question.
