When did Rambo III release?

Rambo III was first released on December 1, 1988.

Rambo III

Dec 1, 1988ShooterArcadeSega Master System/Mark IIIArcadeSega Mega Drive/GenesisAmigaAmstrad CPC

Rambo III — frequently asked questions

What platforms is Rambo III on?: Rambo III was released on Sega Master System/Mark III, Arcade, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST/STE, Commodore C64/128/MAX, DOS, MSX, ZX Spectrum.
When did Rambo III release?: Rambo III was first released on December 1, 1988.

About Rambo III

Rambo III is a shooting game developed and published by Sega for the Sega Master System, making use of the Light Phaser peripheral. It is based upon the film Rambo III. John Rambo, America's favorite soldier, makes a daring rescue attempt on a Russian military base deep in war-torn Afghanistan. A fast-shooting Light Phaser game that tests your fighting skills to the limit.

Summary via IGDB.

Rambo III on Wikipedia

Rambo III is a series of video games based on the film Rambo III (1988). Like in the film, their main plots center on former Vietnam-era Green Beret John Rambo being recalled up to duty one last time to rescue his former commander, Colonel Sam Trautman, who was captured during a covert operation mission in Soviet-controlled Afghanistan. Taito released an arcade video game based on the film. The console versions were developed and published by Sega, the IBM PC compatible version was developed by Ocean and published by Taito, and Ocean developed and published the other home computer versions: Atari ST, Amiga, Spectrum, C64, Amstrad CPC.

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0).

Game details

Developer: Sega Enterprises, Ltd.
Publisher: Sega Enterprises, Ltd.
Game modes: Single player
Themes: Action, Warfare
Series: Rambo

Details via IGDB.

Reception

IGDB rating

62/100

from 8 ratings

Every version compared

Prices, contemporary reception and the studio credited for each release

Platform	Year	Loose	Complete	Sealed	Period reviews	Built by	Fake risk
Sega Master System	1988	$10	$25	—	77%	Sega	Low (look-alike)

Also released on: Sega Master System/Mark III · Arcade · Sega Mega Drive/Genesis · Amiga · Amstrad CPC · Atari ST/STE · Commodore C64/128/MAX · DOS · MSX · ZX Spectrum. We haven’t priced or authenticated those versions yet.

Collector value & authenticity

Sega Master System · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-10-28

Loose

$10

Complete

$25

Sealed

—

Other releases and variants

Release	Loose	Complete	Sealed
European (PAL) release	$10	$35	$59

What it needs to play

RequiredLight Phaser — a light-gun game: it is played with the Light Phaser (game booklet / Sega catalogue).

How often it sells

Loose: about once a month
Complete: about once a week
Sealed: about once a year

Sales frequency from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, as of 2026-10-28.

Price over time

Loose
Complete

A loose copy sold for about $4.69 in Jul 2009, $17.95 five years ago, and $10.00 as of Oct 2026.

Show as table

Month	Loose	Complete
Jan 2010	$3.81	—
Jan 2011	$2.00	—
Jan 2012	$5.50	—
Jan 2013	$4.99	—
Jan 2014	$7.25	$10.00
Jan 2015	$7.45	$16.97
Jan 2016	$7.56	$9.99
Jan 2017	$10.00	$14.95
Jan 2018	$10.55	$13.47
Jan 2019	$10.10	$18.38
Jan 2020	$9.99	$15.00
Jan 2021	$10.25	$15.00
Jan 2022	$19.75	$25
Jan 2023	$13.47	$19.99
Jan 2024	$12.00	$24
Jan 2025	$17.26	$25
Jan 2026	$15.21	$25
Oct 2026	$10.00	$25

Monthly price estimates from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, sampled quarterly, through Oct 2026.

Release record

Territory	Date
North America	December 1988
Europe / PAL	1989

Source: Product numbers: MAME's Master System software list and the No-Intro serial records in the libretro database, published only where both agree on the same cartridge dump; Japanese numbers also checked against Sega Japan's software list. Board and ROM numbers: MAME's software list

Region: NA+EU
Released: 1988
Authenticity: Low

Modern re-releases, such as Sega Ages and Virtual Console, are not tracked hereLow look-alike risk

Sega Master System prices, all games & how to spot a fake

A Light Phaser shooter in the style of Operation Wolf, and one of the better ones for the gun.

Rambo III is a light-gun shooter along the lines of Operation Wolf, developed and published by Sega. It reached North America in December 1988 and Europe in 1989. The story follows Rambo as he sets out to rescue Colonel Trautman in Afghanistan.

Computer and Video Games called it the best Light Phaser game available on the system, and Mean Machines gave it a high mark.

What the press said at the time

Sega Pro Issue 36

September 1994

77%

“Despite the limitations of this being a Phaser-based product, it is remarkably playable. III Challenging, but the addiction doesn't last.”
— Sega Pro, September 1994

Also on other platforms

Arcade · Genesis · Amiga · Amstrad CPC · Atari ST · Commodore 64 · MS-DOS · MSX · ZX Spectrum

Sega Master System	Sega
Amiga	Ocean
Arcade	Taito (publisher)

Genesis. The Mega Drive version, released in 1989, is an overhead-view game with six missions, and Rambo dies after one hit.
Amiga. The Amiga version has three missions and varies drastically from the console versions.

Before you buy

Two releases exist, the US cart and the European cart. Loose, they cost about the same, but a complete European copy costs more. You need the Light Phaser to play, since the game is built around the gun. The US cart sits below the middle of the US-released carts on price, and the look-alike risk is low. Check the manual is there on a complete copy.