"Breathes fiery life into your day!"

Coming from a person who never played the original Breath of Fire for the Super Nintendo, I think this is a great game. I also hear that the original was a great game too (but seeing that they are nearly the exact same I could see how that could happen). Therefore, I recommend that for people who already own the original game should not buy this game unless they have a hankering for some portable Breath of Fire. Anyway, on with my review.

Note: Please excuse my poor excuse for a synopsis.

Gameplay- 9/10

I really enjoy the gameplay for Breath of Fire. During battles, it was quite interesting, as the commonly used HP was replaced with a Health Meter. During boss battles, once it is empty, the bosses have a second wind where you don’t have a clue how much HP they have left. Also, if you get bored with the game, you can run around shooting animals for items or fishing (although this is less interesting than actually playing through the game).

According to my lame synopsis, this game breathes fiery life into your day, so I’ll stick with that. I really enjoyed this game, and am awaiting the sequel (or in the case that you’re reading after it has been released, I am happily playing BoF2).

It is a pretty hard game, mostly because of its length, but it’s nothing that you couldn’t handle. And if you do get stuck, visit an FAQ.

The controls are fair. Nothing ground breaking, but when you press left on the control pad your character goes left, etc. so it’s all good. There is also a B button dash, which wasn’t available in the snes version.

Story- 4/10

Ryu is a light dragon, and being one, he has the ability to turn into a dragon. Your village is burning, and so you go out to destroy Zog. Along the way, you’ll find many friends who have their own reasons to accompany you. But watch out, you’ll encounter many obstacles along the way.
The story is nothing great, but not horrible. As you can see from my score, it leans towards horrible a bit more than great.

Audio/Video- 8/10

For some reason I really enjoy the battle animations, but not only that, you can see the screen very well on the Gameboy’s screen. The colors used are nice and bright, nothing bland and dreary. Pretty good graphics for the GBA, so even if you are a shallow person who plays games just for the graphics, it’s still a game you should check out.

The sound is good, the music never becomes tiresome and repetitive and suits the game well. Battle sounds are fine, but don’t raise the score.

Replayabilty- 2/10

Come on, it’s an RPG, what did you expect. Once you beat this game, I don’t see you coming back for more. You could want to get some of the items you may have missed I suppose, so that’s why I gave it any points at all. But it’s a long game so you don’t need to play it again. No, alternate endings, no hidden packages to collect, not even trophies.

To buy or rent?

I recommend buying this game, it’s over 30 hours long for the average player.

Overall- 8/10

This game holds it’s own against games like Golden Sun, and a must buy if you like RPG’s or games in general.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/05/02, Updated 03/05/02