Breath of Fire

"SNES RPG mediocrity.."

Breath of Fire was one of the earlier RPG's available on the Super Nintendo. Like most of the earlier RPG's, this one had some playability to it, but it still needed work.

Story: 7/10

The story in Breath of Fire was probably one of the higher points of the game. Although the game itself was mostly the same old stuff, the story was decently original. You play Ryu, a little boy who is raised in a village with your sister. One day, the village is destroyed by the stereotypical empire. Ryu's sister is taken and Ryu sets out on adventure to rescue her and avenge the village. Overall, not a bad plot, but still pretty cliche.

Graphics: 6/10

The graphics in Breath of Fire were pretty typical of the first generation of Super Nintendo RPG's. They were decent, but in no way comparable to later SNES games. Monsters were decently designed as were characters. Towns and other backgrounds were also decent, but not great. The world map was a pretty simple piece of work.

Gameplay: 6/10

Standard. That sums it up. It plays out as a turn-based RPG. Your characters can fight, run, use items or use magic. Ryu can also turn into a dragon and each character has some type of special ability. Like I said, nothing to brag about, but it's easily playable.

Music/Sound: 7/10

I remember it being decent, but not memorable. It wasn't unbearable to sit through and usually anything that I can stand gets a high enough rating.

Over all, it's a decent game. It's not an epic by a longshot but it isn't a total waste of time. Considering what you might have to pay to find a good copy of it, though, you might want to pass unless you can find it relatively cheap.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 08/09/00, Updated 08/09/00