About the Game
History
Final Fantasy for NES
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Final Fantasy was released for the Famicom in Japan in December 1987. Later in July 1990, it was released in North America for the NES. Final Fantasy is a traditional turn-based RPG developed and published by Square. It's the first game in the Final Fantasy series, created by Hironobu Sakaguchi. Final Fantasy was originally conceived under the working title Fighting Fantasy. However, trademark issues and unfortunate circumstances surrounding Square as well as Sakaguchi himself prompted the name to be changed.
The game offered several qualities and features that no other RPG had at the time. The aspect that you could choose the members of your party made the game overflow with replay value. The game had an in-depth story line, too! There was more dialogue than any other current RPG. The music was great for its time, too! It blew many people away.
The game was a great commercial success, received generally positive reviews, and spawned many successful sequels and supplementary titles in the form of the Final Fantasy series.
Final Fantasy for WonderSwan Color
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In December 2000, Squaresoft released a remade version of Final Fantasy for the WonderSwan Color in Japan. It featured many new graphical changes. The 8-bit graphics of the original NES game were updated, battle scenes incorporated full background images, and character/enemy sprites were re-drawn to look more like the ones from the Super Nintendo Final Fantasy games.
The WonderSwan and WonderSwan Color were not released in North America. So, obviously, this release of Final Fantasy never left Japan either. However, if you really want to play this in English, an (incomplete) English translation exists.
Final Fantasy Origins for PSX
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In April 2003, Squaresoft released a remade version of Final Fantasy 1 and 2 for the Sony Playstation in North America. This version was similar to the WonderSwan Color remake, and featured several changes. There are more detailed graphics, a remixed soundtrack, full motion video sequences, and art galleries of Yoshitaka Amano's illustrations.
Final Fantasy I for mobile
In March 2004, Square Enix collaborated with Namco to release a mobile version of Final Fantasy that is made available globally. For the young people reading this, smartphones didn't exist in 2004. When I say “mobile version”, I'm saying this game was released for flip phones.
This mobile release retained the same game difficulty and MP System from the original Famicom version. The rest of the game elements were borrowed from the Game Boy Advance & Wonderswan Color versions. Elements such as updated graphics, spell names, monster names, bosses, items, and areas. This version, though, did not feature additional areas and monsters present in the Game Boy Advance version.
Saving game data is done like in the original Famicom version by using Tent, Sleeping Bag, and Cottage or by going into an inn. There are now three save game slots and a “Temporary Save“ option.
Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls for Game Boy Advance
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Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls is, like Final Fantasy Origins, a port of the first two games in the series for the Game Boy Advance in 2004 by Squaresoft Square Enix. The Final Fantasy version incorporates various new elements, including four additional dungeons, an updated bestiary, and a few gameplay tweaks.
Final Fantasy I & II for PSP
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For the 20th anniversary of Final Fantasy, Square Enix remade Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II for the PlayStation Portable. The games were released in Japan and North America in 2007, and in PAL territories in 2008. The PSP version features higher-resolution 2D graphics, full motion video sequences, a remixed soundtrack, and a new dungeon, as well as the bonus dungeons from Dawn of Souls. The script is the same as in the Dawn of Souls version, aside from the new dungeon.
Final Fantasy I for Wii
In October 2009, Square Enix released the original NES version of the game on the Wii's Virtual Console service in North American. PAL region got it in May 2010.
Final Fantasy I & II for iPhone
In February 2010, Square Enix released Final Fantasy I & II for the iPhone and iPod Touch, worldwide. It's a port of the Sony PSP version. Later in 2012, this was also released on Windows Phone and Android.
Final Fantasy I Pixel Remaster
In July 2021, Square-Enix released the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster for Steam and mobile (iOS and Android). The Pixel Remaster features universally updated 2D pixel graphics, including character pixel designs created by Kazuko Shibuya, the original artist and current collaborator. All tracks have been remade, overseen by the original composer Nobuo Uematsu. The UI has been modernized. A new auto-battle feature was added to make random battles less of a chore. A 'boost' feature was added that allows you to increase the money, experience, and AP you earn.
Pixel Remasters for consoles
The Pixel Remaster was generally well received. Not everyone was a fan of the new pixel characters. The biggest complaint was the tiny font used for dialogue and the UI, which was difficult to read and had no resemblance to the original pixel-based font. I have a page with screenshots if you want to see the tiny font. Steam users were able to remedy this by installing custom-made fonts.
A year later, in April 2023 the Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster was released for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. It can be purchased individually or as a Final Fantasy 1-6 bundle. Square-Enix had promised this version would offer a pixel-based font. The new font was an improvement, but fans still weren't happy with it. It wasn't nostalgic and it still wasn't easy to read. Nevertheless, that didn't stop people from buying the Pixel Remasters. They allowed us to finally have the opportunity to play the classic Final Fantasy games on modern platforms.
The Story
In the story of Final Fantasy, four orbs are gradually losing their power, as it is sucked out of them by the four powerful and merciless fiends. They hope to take over the world by using the power of the very essence of life itself. Soon, the world will be plunged into darkness, and there is only one hope.
Four warriors must undergo a testing of their true strength and power to re-energize the orbs, defeat the fiends, find out who is causing such a horrible disturbance and destroy the source of the problem.
To learn more about the story, watch the video below. The game shows a special opening sequence after you save the princess and cross the bridge.
Opinions
Normally, at the bottom of my game reviews has a section where I talk about my opinion of the game. In this case, I must confess that I haven't fully played the original Final Fantasy. 😅 To make up for the lack of my personal opinion, I asked followers on FantasyAnime's social media what they thought of the original Final Fantasy for the NES.
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I played the original on NES. Fun game except when you accidentally forget to save! Lots of grinding (which the GBA version has fixed). Be sure to get 99 of all the items you can afford, and it goes slowly... the original Nintendo Power guide was very useful as well for the maps.”
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It was the Skyrim of its time! Long game to play through, considering the majority of games were like sonic and sh*t. So it truly was in a class of its own back in the day.”
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I got it from my folks for winning my 6th grade spelling bee. I was a hardcore Dragon Warrior player and wanted to try something else in the genre, but there really wasn't any alternative until Final Fantasy. It was a mind blowing experience in 1990. Much faster paced than DW, animated spells, different looks to each weapon, a more modern feel with things like the robot in the waterfall and sky palace, and a freaking airship! I can see how those who played it after the SNES offerings wouldn't have appreciated it as much, but for its time, it was a tremendous gaming experience. Not to mention when I found the “HERE LIES ERDRICK” tombstone, I about died laughing!”
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As a kid it was a unique experience for me. I think even as an adult, it still holds up for me.”
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It was very different from other NES games were like... build up in the form of random battles, but after playing all the Final Fantasy games in full, the original Final Fantasy is clunky, imbalanced, and has aged like fine milk.”
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I think the earliest exposure I had to the original Final Fantasy was in Origins, but the first time I played the NES ROM I did fall in love with it. It would've been a game that I could have been absorbed with back then, if it'd been released in my country.”
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I played the GBA version because the NES version did not age very well. If I played the game with no knowledge of the sequels' existence I probably would have enjoyed it, but the game does not pace very well. The battles drag, it takes forever to level up and gain a sizable amount of Gil (or in the NTSC port, GP), and since it is the first installment they didn't account for errors like they do today. For instance, if multiple characters target an enemy (or an ally for healing) and the target dies, then you wasted a turn. Maybe I'll try and go further if I get a physical copy of the NES game (or emulate it again), but as it stands, it's not the definitive version, since there's better ports out there.”
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I tried the first Final Fantasy on NES, but didn't really play it very long. The story felt generic, but it had the trademark battle music we all know and love, but only NES sound quality. I tried to play the original Dragon Warrior, but ended up only playing the Super Nintendo remake.”
