Breath of Fire III arrives almost three years after the fun-but strictly orthodox-Super NES title, Breath of Fire II. Although BOFIII isn't a radical departure from the earlier games in the series, don't let that turn you off; it's reassuring to see that sprite graphics haven't given way entirely to origami-style polygons. Sporting a quasi-medieval European setting, a heroic story line, and turn-based battles, BOFIII will appeal to fans of Square's Final Fantasy series and Working Designs' Lunar titles. An Epic Journey Breath of Fire III starts with the discovery of a tiny dragon that goes on a deadly rampage before it's captured. The dragon escapes and is transformed into a young boy named Ryu, who is befriended by a pair of delinquents, whose thoughtless pranks get them captured by some truly evil people. Ryu is left for dead, but his dragon powers revive him, so he sets off in pursuit of his friends' captors, unaware that he's about to be drawn into an ever-deepening pool of danger, deceit, and death. Like earlier BOF titles, Ryu can befriend several partners during his epic journey. Nina, the princess of Windia, makes another appearance in the series, although in this game she's apparently unrelated to her earlier incarnations. Ryu, too, shares the name of a character from the series, but he's also unrelated. However, Gobi, from the first BOF game, makes a cameo appearance. Nostalgic Graphics Graphically, BOFIII is leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessors. Texture-mapped polygons are used to create the backgrounds, terrain, and buildings, while sprites are used to compose the various characters. More animation, colors, and special effects have been added to this version, but the look of the game will still be familiar to fans of the BOF games. The three-quarter-overhead view field map can be rotated somewhat so you can peek behind obstacles, but not to any great extent. Battles are fought directly on the field map, with characters and monsters displayed diagonally in one of four directions: Two are seen from the front and two from the rear.