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Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

February 20, 2012 – 12:39 pm | 3 Comments

Tiny Diggers has just been released on the iPad and soon the Mac computer. Here’s the details on this fun, educational game from TouchTilt Games.
Tiny Diggers Delivers Learning With Construction Trucks For Kids on the …

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Home » Nintendo DS, Reviews

First Impressions: Final Fantasy III

Submitted by on January 21, 2007 – 10:00 pm5 Comments

hilt-and-stuff.pngIt feels like I’m telling you all something you already know when I give you a history of the main line in the Final Fantasy series, but it’s best to assume at least one person doesn’t already know, and this review could be confusing without the background. So be forewarned, I’ll start there. The other benefit is, once I beat the game and write a final review, I won’t have to give you this background.


Final Fantasy I, II, and III came out for the Famicom in Japan in the 1980s. Squaresoft localized and released Final Fantasy I for the NES in the US. Final Fantasy IV, V, and VI came out for the Super Famicom in Japan in the 1990s. Squaresoft localized and released Final Fantasy IV in the US for the SNES, renaming it to Final Fantasy II so as not to confuse the not-too-bright Americans. They then released Final Fantasy VI in the US, calling it Final Fantasy III. Final Fantasy VII, VIII, and IX came out on the Playstation (VII and VIII came out for Windows, too) in both territories slightly to either side of the turn of the century. I, II, IV, V, and VI were released in the US on the PS1 as part of three separate collections. X, XI, and XII were PS2 titles (XI also appeared on Windows and 360). I and II were also released on the Japan-only Wonderswan in a combined cartridge, which was later released on GBA.

Now that all that crap’s out of the way, Final Fantasy III has finally arrived in the US, nearly a decade and a half late, completely rebuilt from the ground up in full 3D (ala Final Fantasy IX) and shaken up a bit to fit more with the style of the episodes that followed it. For example, the characters in the game have been given names and identities, rather than having them be the blank slates they were in the original Famicom version. The graphics are some of the best I’ve seen on the DS, and the music is pretty great as well. A lot of time obviously went into pushing out some serious visuals on a platform that has had more than its share of lazy graphic design.

Despite the overhaul in so many areas, the game still feels more like the first two Final Fantasies so far than the following ones I’ve played (that’s all of them up to and including X). It’s got that retro kind of style and the very predictable plotline. I haven’t delved into any of the much hyped job system yet, but I’m looking forward to comparing it to that in Final Fantasy V for you in the final review.

I’ll have a much deeper review when I’ve beaten the game in the future, so stay tuned.

  • Kia

    Nice article, but “first impressions?” The game came out in November, kinda late isn’t it?

  • Stephen

    Sadly, unlike the big guys, we don’t get sent free games from the publisher to review a week before they come out. We have to wait to buy a game or receive it as a gift. I got the game less than a week ago.

  • Maxathon

    Man, the thing you are probably learning about this game right now is that it is haaaaaard. Less so at the start, but the inability to save in dungeons or to purchase phoenix downs anywhere in the game really makes the endgame a grind. I played through an hour and a half of the final dungeon before losing unceremoniously to the final boss because I was weak and unworthy. Now I have god knows how much grinding to look forward to before I try to scale that height again.

    It’s really good, and the DS functionality is just superb in all respects (witness the drag-box spellcasting that’s perfectly intuitive), but I’m not loving it as much as I thought I might. Since I didn’t play it on the NES or the SNES back in the day like I did I, IV and VI, it holds no nostalgia. And the job system is wierdly punitive (stat hits from changing jobs, Squeenix? I already have a real career that works like that, thanks) and not as elegant as V’s. Overall, worth beating but I’ll probably sell or trade it after that.

  • Gilgamesh

    I never understood all the people who said that this game is hard :S .. Well yes i did lvl. a lot on my way through the game. I don’t think that the dungeons need any save points .. admit it they are verry short and you get repleished health and mp after defeating the boss.
    But ok the final dungeon was quite alott harder than the others. One thing i thought was alittle frustrating though was that some jobs stopped getting equipment when reaching a sertaing point and you had to change. Though changing my Drk. Knight to Geomancer wasn’t that bad .. i still wanted my Drk. Knight. (Did someone else have problems connecting to Mognet .. would be great with 4 onion knights in my party ^^)

  • Maxathon

    Gilgamesh, did you beat the game, or stop before the endgame? Because while most of the dungeons are short enough to do in one sitting easily, the final tower takes upwards of an hour and a half (which I had to repeat once because the final boss steamrollered my party, which had been plenty powerful before that). My girlfriend wanted to play Nintendogs, and all I could say was, “sorry, I can’t save! Ancient Japanese game design!”