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Dragon Warrior III
The NES RPG that sold faster than any game before it
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PRESS START
An Introduction To Today’s Game
I recently bought Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake and have loved every second of it. The experience made me curious enough to go back and try the original for the first time.
Dragon Warrior III, or as it was known everywhere else, Dragon Quest III. The game was so phenomenally popular that on launch day in Japan, it sold over a million copies and resulted in nearly 300 truancy arrests as students skipped school to get their hands on it. By the end of the first week, it had moved 3 million copies in Japan alone.
The game would go on to be remade for the Super Famicom and Game Boy Color, breaking records all over again. Add in a Wii collection, mobile ports, and the recent Switch remake, and you have one of the most successful RPGs in Japanese gaming history.
This game is a juggernaut and I was pretty excited to dive into it once I had it on my schedule.
So sit down by the fire, grab some hot chocolate, tune out that Mariah Carey Christmas song that’s stuck in all of our heads right now and let’s check out this RPG classic.
BEHIND THE PIXELS
Let’s Dive Into The Game
Dragon Warrior 3 is a turn-based role-playing game where you explore an expansive world, battle monsters in random encounters, and slowly piece together how to defeat the archfiend Baramos.
This is classic JRPG territory, you gain experience points, level up your characters, buy better equipment, and venture into increasingly dangerous dungeons. The core loop feels familiar now, but in 1992 this formula was still being perfected.
The game's defining feature is its job system. At Luida's tavern, you create three party members and assign each a class. Soldiers absorb damage and hit hard. Pilgrims heal your wounds. Wizards unleash devastating spells. Merchants earn extra gold and appraise items. Fighters excel at hand-to-hand combat. Each class shapes how your party functions, and smart combinations make tough battles manageable.
When dad fought a creature on a volcano. This probably won’t end well.
The real genius appears at level 20, when characters can change classes at the Temple of Dhama. They drop back to level 1 and lose half their stats, but they keep all their learned spells and abilities.
This lets you create hybrid powerhouses, like a warrior who can cast healing magic or a wizard with sword skills.
Exploration happens across a massive overworld map filled with towns, castles, caves, and dungeons. Early on, your party walks everywhere. Eventually you acquire a ship, opening up new continents and hidden locations.
If this sounds like pretty standard JRPG stuff, you’re not wrong. Dragon Quest and its more popular cousin, Final Fantasy, have helped defined this genre for nearly 40 years now. While Final Fantasy has had higher peaks, it hasn’t been as consistent as the Dragon Quest series.
If you’ve only played recent Dragon Quest games, going back to the originals is not as jarring as Final Fantasy. You will be very familiar with its design and flow.
The ghost effect is a nice touch.
The presentation captures that late NES era charm. Sprites are colorful and distinct, with Akira Toriyama's monster designs bringing personality to each enemy. My favorite little bit is how your characters turn into a ghost outline when they die.
The music, composed by Koichi Sugiyama, remains memorable, from the adventurous overworld theme to the tense battle music.
Menus dominate the experience though, opening doors requires navigating through commands, and text scrolls at a pace that tests patience. Combat unfolds from a first-person perspective, you see the enemies but not your own party, and turns play out slowly as each character takes their action.
I’m not the biggest fan of the combat screen, and think the UI design needs some work, as the spacing made it hard for me to read at times. But you do get used to it after some time.
The combat screen. The top part burns into my eyes but I eventually got used to it.
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WHERE TO PLAY
The game has been ported to multiple platforms.
Emulation will be your best bet if you just want to play the original.
You can’t go wrong with the 2D-HD Remake that came out in 2024.
Original Copies of the Game (All prices in USD)
Loose: $95
Complete: $275
New/Sealed: $1,100
GAME INFORMATION
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Cover Art
 JP Cover |  US Cover |
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RETRO NEWS
Here’s a quick roundup of the latest retro gaming news we’ve dug up.
• Arcade Archives Revives Bermuda Triangle for Modern Retro Fans
The classic vertical-shooter returns with a faithful port and fresh accessibility options.
Read more at Retro News
• New EGM Documentary Shines Light on the Magazine’s Legendary History
A deep YouTube dive explores the origins, rise, and legacy of EGM.
Read more at Time Extension
• Ambitious Banjo-Kazooie Fan Game Debuts After 14 Months of Work
A passion project built with love that demands a PlayStation console.
Read more at Time Extension
GAME OVER
Why You Should Play This
Well, aside from its historical significance (this is the game that many Japanese RPG fans cite as the genre’s crowning 8-bit), it’s simply fun , even in 2025
Dragon Warrior 3 deserves its reputation as a landmark RPG. The job system influenced countless games that followed, and the freedom to build your ideal party still feels rewarding.
For NES hardware, this game pushed boundaries with its scope, complexity, and ambition. The catch is that playing the original NES version today means accepting significant friction. Slow text, constant random encounters, and menu-heavy gameplay will frustrate modern sensibilities.
If curiosity strikes, the HD-2D Remake released in November 2024 preserves what made this game special while fixing nearly every frustration. That said, experiencing the NES original offers a glimpse into gaming history, when developers figured out formulas we still use today.
Just know you're signing up for a grind, literally and figuratively, but the destination makes the journey worthwhile for anyone who appreciates where JRPGs came from.
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