12th February 2003, 4:52 AM
Final Fantasy Review
By Ryan Usher
The one that started a revolution. Everyone knows the name Final Fantasy. Whether they like the series or hate it, it's a name among gamers as well-known as the likes of Mario and Zelda. While today the series is well-known for its epic storylines, great music and mind-blowing graphics, few people remember the series' humble beginnings in 1987, the first smash hit by the then-small and unknown developing house called Square, which had only done games like Rad Racer and a few even less-remembered. The "final" in Final Fantasy is there because Hironobu Sakaguchi, who is today a game guru among the ranks of Yu Suzuki and Shigeru Miyamoto, was disenchanted with previous games he made and was ready to leave the business. This RPG was to be his last ditch effort, his "final fantasy".
Your team of four children compose the Light Warriors. The Four Orbs of the Earth no longer shine, and because of that, the Four Fiends of the Earth are slowly killing the world, cancerous tumors on the planet. It's up to you to destroy these baddies and breathe life into the world once more, and to break a 2000 year cycle of destruction wrought by the evil Chaos.
Graphics
Nothing special, even by the standards of the day, but as far as NES graphics go, it wasn't all that bad. The monsters are nicely detailed, but most everything else is rather plain.
6.0
Sound
The sound for this game is quite good for NES, and you'll be humming some songs in your head. Sound effects are blah, but again, it's NES and I'm unfairly weighing against later efforts.
4.5
Gameplay
A caveat to hardcore FF Fans who never played this game before: THIS GAME PLAYS MUCH DIFFERENTLY FROM OTHER FF GAMES. After replaying it years later, I was completely stupified. Each enemy must be individually targeted, otherwise, the attack is for naught! Only certain character types can use magic, magic must be bought, and instead of MP, each spell level has a certain number of times it can be used, adding much challenge to those who like magic-users. The battles are mind-numbingly slow-paced as well. Playing through this game takes a saint's patience, indeed.
5.5
Modern Appeal
Certainly diverging from other FF games. If you want to see where it all began, go for it, but if you don't already like FF or RPGs in general, this game won't change you.
Purchase Price
I don't honestly know. I've seen it at FuncoLand for about $25-30, which isn't really too bad as long as the battery still works.
Total (not an average) : 6.5
By Ryan Usher
The one that started a revolution. Everyone knows the name Final Fantasy. Whether they like the series or hate it, it's a name among gamers as well-known as the likes of Mario and Zelda. While today the series is well-known for its epic storylines, great music and mind-blowing graphics, few people remember the series' humble beginnings in 1987, the first smash hit by the then-small and unknown developing house called Square, which had only done games like Rad Racer and a few even less-remembered. The "final" in Final Fantasy is there because Hironobu Sakaguchi, who is today a game guru among the ranks of Yu Suzuki and Shigeru Miyamoto, was disenchanted with previous games he made and was ready to leave the business. This RPG was to be his last ditch effort, his "final fantasy".
Your team of four children compose the Light Warriors. The Four Orbs of the Earth no longer shine, and because of that, the Four Fiends of the Earth are slowly killing the world, cancerous tumors on the planet. It's up to you to destroy these baddies and breathe life into the world once more, and to break a 2000 year cycle of destruction wrought by the evil Chaos.
Graphics
Nothing special, even by the standards of the day, but as far as NES graphics go, it wasn't all that bad. The monsters are nicely detailed, but most everything else is rather plain.
6.0
Sound
The sound for this game is quite good for NES, and you'll be humming some songs in your head. Sound effects are blah, but again, it's NES and I'm unfairly weighing against later efforts.
4.5
Gameplay
A caveat to hardcore FF Fans who never played this game before: THIS GAME PLAYS MUCH DIFFERENTLY FROM OTHER FF GAMES. After replaying it years later, I was completely stupified. Each enemy must be individually targeted, otherwise, the attack is for naught! Only certain character types can use magic, magic must be bought, and instead of MP, each spell level has a certain number of times it can be used, adding much challenge to those who like magic-users. The battles are mind-numbingly slow-paced as well. Playing through this game takes a saint's patience, indeed.
5.5
Modern Appeal
Certainly diverging from other FF games. If you want to see where it all began, go for it, but if you don't already like FF or RPGs in general, this game won't change you.
Purchase Price
I don't honestly know. I've seen it at FuncoLand for about $25-30, which isn't really too bad as long as the battery still works.
Total (not an average) : 6.5