Final Fantasy Anthology

"Two Perfect Final Fantasy's in one package!"

First of all let me tell you just what Final Fantasy Anthology is all about. It's a bundle pack containing two of what are some of the best games ever made, Final Fantasy V, and Final Fantasy VI. Final Fantasy V, has never been over here to America and was on the Super Nintendo. Final Fantasy VI is actually Final Fantasy III on the Super Nintendo. Hardly anyone recognizes Final Fantasy V for its greatness. However Final Fantasy VI (III) has been greatly known for its greatness. Also these games now have CG cinemas. Now SquareSoft puts the two of them together and what do you get? Well read the review to find out.

Note: The review will be separated into two reviews, one for each game.

Final Fantasy V

Story 10/10
Ahh...the story, one of the most important parts of any game. Well SquareSoft had some bright ideas for this one. One day, an adventurer, Bartz (Butz in Japan) is camping out in the woods with his Chocobo. He sees a meteor fall from the sky and lands in the nearby woods. Be curious as we all would be he meets a princess, Reina. Now I'm not going to spoil the whole story for you so I'll leave it at that. The story that unfolds will leave you on the edge of your seat wondering what will come next. Now the character development is very good too. The four people you adventure will all have secrets, and mysterious pasts. Uncover the story for yourself and find out what these secrets are.

Graphics 9/10
Not perfect for the Super Nintendo, but still very good. Let me start off with the characters. The characters are very well detailed. You will see as you course through the game that they even have facial expressions. For example, when one of the characters gets surprised you see their eyes get big and they jump back. There's a good mix of NPC's (Non Playable Characters) as well, so they don't seem to all be the same person. The backgrounds/environments are very well detailed, but my one complaint is on the world map, there should have been more colors. Other then that the graphics are nothing to be worried about.

Sound 10/10
Once again the great Nobuo Uematsu has out done himself. The music for the most part perfectly fits the characters situation. The lively tunes will keep you humming them all day long. The battle theme gets you psyched up, and ready to take on you enemy. Overall the music is wonderful, if not perfect!

GamePlay 10/10
Ready for some nostalgia? Well here it is. The gameplay in this game will have old school RPG fans remembering fond memories of their pasts playing RPG's. It certainly had that effect with me. First of all the overall exploration is incredible! In this game (and like many RPG's) there are so many places to check out, and find out what's in them. You also have to find out where to go and when. You can do this by getting hints in the story, talking to people, or just guessing. Then there's the battle system. The battle system features the great ATB (Active Time Battle). ATB is when a bar fills up and when it does you can attack, use items, cast spells, etc. You also have the famous Final Fantasy job system. The job system is when your characters can change what they do. By doing that, they gain new abilities. Oh did I mention about 30-60 hours of gameplay? Overall the gameplay is old school greatness.

Replay 5/10
Don't be shocked by the low replay, most RPG's don't have much. Some gamers will like to just experience it over and over, and some gamers will be happy finishing it once.

Final Fantasy VI

Story 10/10
Welcome to a world of war, technology, and magical Espers. Espers where seemingly wiped out a long time ago, now an Espers has been found. Magic might be returning, and one of the main characters, Terra has been sent out to investigate. From here you uncover one of the best story's ever to grace any console ever made! Once again the characters are extremely well made, the only games with better characters are probably the later Final Fantasy's.

Graphics 10/10
Wow! This is a HUGE difference from Final Fantast V. Everything looks amazing and it is truly showing off the Super Nintendo's power. Even though the graphics are not very comparable to today's graphic standards, they still look very good. The pixels run together, and the backgrounds are just drop-dead stunning. The characters look extremely good as well.

Sound 10/10
Just like Final Fantasy V, the music is perfect. Once again the great Nobuo Uematsu has composed godly songs for this game. Everything from the battle theme, to the world map theme is great. The music for the most part is very lively unless the character(s) is/are in a bad situation, the music changes to a bit more dramatic tone, or the music changes entirely. The battle theme, again, gets you pumped up to kill whatever it is in front of you.

GamePlay
Once again, nostalgia will wash right over you playing this game. However that wasn't the case with me. To me the gameplay in this game feels a lot like a 2D Final Fantasy VII. I guess that's because Final Fantasy VI transferred a lot of elements into VII. For example, the Esper system. The Esper system gives you abilities when you equip them. Example: Equip a Bolt Esper, and you are able to cast Bolt in battle. That's a lot like Final Fantasy VII's materia system. Like in all Final Fantasy's the exploration is huge! The world in this game is probably bigger then Final Fantasy V's. The battle system is that far off of V's, it has the ATB and such but no job system. Also all the characters have their very own special abilities. The gameplay here is simple but very good, and entertaining.

Replay 5/10
Like Final Fantasy V's, some people like me will have so much fun with the game that they'll play it over and over again. Some people will just be happy with finishing this game once.

Overall (For both games) 10/10
I must admit VI is better then V, but they both are very good RPG's that no one should ever miss out on.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/28/04