Final Fantasy Anthology

"If you want to play the greatest RPG ever then get this set!"

Six years ago I borrowed a little game called Final Fantasy 3 from a friend of mine. Now Final Fantasy was a name that I was familiar with. I remember back when the original Final Fantasy came out and my uncle rented it and he let me play it, but of course I had no idea how to play RPGs so I got my ass kicked. But it seemed so fun. So then I knew that borrowing FF3 from my friend would be a great idea. After playing the game for only a few days I thought that it was one of the greatest games ever made. It had a great story, a huge cast of memorable characters and a very interesting villain. But unfortunately I had to return this great gem to my friend. And I couldn't even find a copy of it in stores. So this is why Final Fantasy Anthology is worth getting.

For those of you who have not yet figured it out. Final Fantasy Anthology is a collection of 2 classic games. One being the mediocre Final Fantasy 5 (which was never released here in the states until now) the other being the great RPG ever made, Final Fantasy 6 (called Final Fantasy 3 when it was first released on the SNES).

Now I'll review what each game has to offer.

Final Fantasy 5:

Graphics 8/10 : yes nothing special but if you like games with an old school look to it (like it do) then you should be pleased. They still aren't as good as other games for the SNES and PSX but at the time they were very good.

Sound: 7/10: This game doesnt really have any tracks that are very memorable but they're still pretty good.

Story 4/10: This is what makes the game fail for me. It has a very thin and boring story and the characters aren't all that interesting either.

Gameplay 4/10: okay this is what makes the game fun (I guess). In FF5 each character can select a certain job. each job has special abilities that you can learn with more battles. This is similar to the job system in Final Fantasy Tactics, but instead of being fun, like in Tactics, the job system in FF5 just seems rather tedious.

Overall 5/10: Final Fantasy 5 isn't a bad game but compared to other Final Fantasy games it just seems rather mediocre.

Final Fantasy 6:

Graphics 10/10: Now this is a great looking game, it has that old school look to it, but its still very detailed and full of color. And in my opinion this is the best looking Final Fantasy to date.

Sound: 10/10: Now this is some great music. It has very memorable tracks that each seem to bring out a certain feeling to the game to help give it a great atmosphere.

Story 10/10: Now this is a great story. I won't give any detail to the story but it still has a certain typical RPG story where the good guys travel the world to fight the bad guy. But the are lots of twists and details in the story to make it very memorable. Plus is has an amazing cast of characters to help make the story great.

Gamplay 10/10: Another thing that makes the game so great if that in this FF there is an Esper System. The Esper system allows each character to summon an esper (monster summon) in battle and each Esper has a list of magic spells that the character using the Esper can learn buy getting ability points at the end of each battle. When a character gets enough points for a spell they can then be able to cast that spell whenever they want to in battle (as long as they has enough MP).

Overall: 10/10: This a in my opinion not only the best RPG ever made, not only the best game square has ever made, but one of the greatest games ever made! This game alone is worth getting the set.

Final Fantasy Anthology: 10/10: In this set you get the greatest RPG ever made, an okay RPG game and also a soundtrack CD that takes tracks from both games. Both games do experience some loading time now, but its not that big of a deal. Plus if you don't feel like spending $50 on a used version for the SNES then I suggest you get this set. Its a great deal to get 2 classic games brand new.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/11/02, Updated 07/11/02