Last Battle (Final Fantasy III)

"Battle to the Death", also known as "Last Battle" or "This is the Last Battle," is the Final Boss Theme of Final Fantasy III. It was composed by Nobuo Uematsu in 1990.

Final Fantasy III
"Battle to the Death" plays during the two encounters with Cloud of Darkness. This theme was released in the Final Fantasy III: Original Sound Version album as the forty-third track.

"Battle to the Death" was remastered for the game's Nintendo DS remake and released as "Last Battle." However, two versions of the theme's intro were added to be used in cutscenes featuring the Cloud of Darkness, while "Last Battle -3-" is the theme used in the battle against the entity. "Last Battle -1-" to "Last Battle -3-" are the fifty-fourth to fifty-sixth tracks of the game's Original Soundtrack.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
A rearranged version of "Battle to the Death" plays during the battle against the Cloud of Darkness as she appears as the final boss of the Crystal Tower storyline. It was composed by Masayoshi Soken.

Dissidia Final Fantasy
An arrangement of "Battle to the Death" by Tsuyoshi Sekito that is labeled "This is the Last Battle -arrange- from FINAL FANTASY III" is present in this game's soundtrack as the sixteenth track of the first disc.

The theme can be used as a battle background theme, and can be selected automatically for battles taking place at the World of Darkness, or including Onion Knight or Cloud of Darkness.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
"This is the Last Battle -arrange- from FINAL FANTASY III" returns in Dissidia 012, and has the same use as in its predecessor. It can also be automatically selected for battles taking place at the new Crystal Tower arena.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
"This is the Last Battle" is a bonus BMS available as Downloadable Content. It was released in North America on August 9th.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call
"This is the Last Battle" recurs as a Battle Music Sequence track, this time available in the base game without download.

Chocobo Racing
The Fantasia Track of Chocobo Racing uses a version of "Battle to the Death" as its theme music, named "Illusion World." It is the twenty-fifth track of the game's Original Soundtrack.

Final Fantasy III: Eternal Legend of the Wind
In this studio album, the "Battle to the Death" was rearranged by Nobuo Uematsu into a medley, and renamed "The Dark Cloud." It is the last track of the album.

The Black Mages III: Darkness and Starlight
The theme was also included in their third studio album The Black Mages III: Darkness and Starlight. This version was retitled "KURAYAMINOKUMO" ("The Cloud of Darkness") and featured an extended guitar and keyboard solo by performed by Michio Okamiya, Kenichiro Fukui, and Tsuyoshi Sekito. It is the fifth track of the album.

This track was included in the Final Fantasy III: Original Soundtrack album.

Piano Opera Final Fantasy I/II/III
A piano arranged version of the theme appears on this album. It was arranged by Hiroyuki Nakayama, and is the final track of the album.

Square Enix Battle Tracks V.1
This theme was included in this compilation of Square Enix battle themes from Nintendo-console titles released between 1985 and 1996. It is the fifth track of the album.

Final Fantasy Vinyls
"This is the Last Battle" is included on the fifth disc of this collector's edition set.

Trivia

 * "Battle to the Death" is the first true final boss theme in the series, as the original Final Fantasy only used a regular random encounter theme for Chaos, and the original Final Fantasy II used the regular boss theme for the Emperor. Remakes of Final Fantasy gave Chaos his own final boss theme, whereas Final Fantasy II had new boss themes and established the boss theme used in the original as the Emperor's final boss theme.