Final Fantasy (Nintendo, 1990)

The one that started the Final Fantasy franchise, that's saying a lot. There is now 12, soon to be 13 games in the Final Fantasy, and that's not including the other branches like Crystal Chronicles. But this review is about the very first Final Fantasy. Being an Original Nintendo game, you can't expect mind blowing graphics, a story that will tug at your heart strings, or game play that will get you totally immersed in the action, but there is a story none the less, the graphics look very nice for a NES game, and in spite of a few problems with the combat; it is still fun.

This game is likely to cost you quite a bit being such a classic and no doubt a much sought for collector's item, so I'd say if you are not a hard core retro gamer or collector, you should pass this one by. This may be a biased opinion, for I am both. I love this game, but the fact that it contains the roots of the arguably greatest RPG series ever made, that fact may be blinding me to think that a sub-par game is excellent. Well I give this game an Excellent rating because even though it was made in Japan a little over 20 years ago, and then brought to North America in 1990 (The English version of Final Fantasy is as old as I am!), I enjoy playing this game 18 years later.

So to finish this painfully long review off, I say this; if your more into modern games with the latest in graphics, gameplay, and what not, and you wouldn't even look twice at an N64 or PlayStation 1, then pass this game up. I'm confident that you will be turned away from this game immediately once you hear the beautiful 8-bit music and graphics. However if you enjoy older games, perhaps you still enjoy your SNES or Genesis and you really enjoy classic games, then you should definitely get this game. Your sure to get quite a few hours of gameplay out of it :)