Dragon Warrior III, known as Dragon Quest III in Japan, is the third installment of the popular Dragon Warrior series, first released for the Famicom in Japan, or NES in the United States. Dragon Warrior III was later released for the Super Famicom and Game Boy Color.

Dragon Warrior III is set many years before the original Dragon Warrior. A wicked fiend, Baramos, threatens to destroy the world. The hero, son of the legendary Ortega, recruits up to three travelling companions and sets out to defeat Baramos, only to find later that Baramos is merely a disciple of Zoma, the fiend who rules the Dark World below. The hero then travels to the Dark World, which is known as Alefgard in subsequent installments of the series, and restores light. For his bravery, the hero receives the title of Erdrick.

The flow of the game is as follows. The hero travels from his home country of Aliahan to explore the world and acquire two of the three keys needed to open doors throughout the game. After saving two people of the town of Baharata from the rogue Kandar, he receives Black Pepper, which he trades for a sailing ship at Portoga. With the ship, the hero acquires the Final Key and the six mystical orbs which are used to revive the legendary bird Ramia. Ramia takes the hero to Baramos' castle. After a ferocious battle, the hero's celebration is cut off as Zoma attacks and opens the pit to the dark world. In the dark world, the hero acquires the Stone of Sunlight and the Staff of Rain. These items create the Rainbow Bridge, which leads the hero to Zoma's castle for the final confrontation.

Dragon Warrior III is noted for greatly expanding upon the original Dragon Warrior and Dragon Warrior II. DW III adds a class system, in which each character has a certain class. While the hero always keeps the Hero class, the other characters can choose among the following: Soldier, Fighter, Pilgrim, Wizard, Merchant, Goof-off, and Sage. The choice of class greatly affects the character's stats and spells he or she can learn. Furthermore, upon reaching level 20, a character may change classes at the temple of Dharma. Another innovation is an arena where the player can place bets on the outcome of monster battles. Dragon Warrior III features a much larger world than its predecesors, as well as a much larger array of items, equipment, magic, and enemies.

The Game Boy Color version of Dragon Warrior III offers many new features, including a mini game called Pachisi from which the player can win items, monster and attack animation in battles, a new Thief class, two challenging bonus dungeons, a monster medal collection, new items, the small medal system seen in later Dragon Warrior games, and many other small changes. The Game Boy color version is based on the Super Famicom version, which is currently being fan translated.

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