Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition

"The one that started it all is still as good as ever"

Whenever you hear someone say the words, "Final" and "Fantasy", you're probably thinking of the more popular and / or newer Final Fantasies, such as FFVII, FFVIII, FFX and so on. But that whole great series would not have existed with this one simple game. The one that started it all.

Gameplay 8/10
Back in the day when this game was first released, this game was groundbreaking. Not only that; it was what got Squaresoft back on their feet. To this day, this game is still favorited by many gamers, and this remake of the original game does the series proud. It not only includes all the dungeons from the original Final Fantasy; it also includes a whole new optional dungeon. And the battle system has stayed it's same good self. Not only that, but the characters now, such as the Warrior of Light, can turn into a stronger version of itself. For example: The Warrior class in this game turns into a Knight. This, along with the Bestiary, make the game a whole lot more fun to play. It feels like you're sort of customizing your already gotten characters. And the Bestiary adds another challenge to the game. Once you beat the game, this list of monsters will keep you coming back to this game until you defeat every monster possible.

Now, moving on to the nice new features in the menu. If you are an analog person, you can change the control from the D-Pad to the analog. If you prefer the D-Pad, you could just keep the default options the same. Plus, a whole new menu coloring option has been created. You can choose how bright or dark the menu is, how opaque or transparent it is, and how colorful or bleak it looks. You can also switch the formation of your characters so that a different character can be seen leading every time you switch position, instead of just one character leading the way the whole time. All these amazing pieces of the gameplay come together to make an extremely fun work of art.

Story 8/10
The Story of Final Fantasy has essentially stayed the same. And it is a great story to tell. It might not be that long, but when Final Fantasy was first released, that was as good as it got. Now, in this remake of the original game, the story has come back to life. The whole plot has not aged a bit, but there are different little sidequests that you can do to make the game's story a more enjoyable experience. Not only are there more people to talk to; the words that the people say could actually come to help you later on in the game. All in all, the story of this great game has retained the greatness of its ancestor.

Sounds 8/10
The music in this game excels in every way. Each song fits its place accordingly, such as the royal melody playing in the air, or the dark, mysterious tune that plays in dungeons. Probably the best part about the soundtrack is that there is a menu in the starting menu of the game where you can listen to all the tracks in the game. So instead of looking all around the Internet to find that one song again, you can just go to the music menu and find out what it is called, and actually listen to it again. The soundtrack of the original game is still able to shine in this new remake, and it has not gotten worse; only better.

As for the special effects sounds... They're not amazing, but they're not that bad either. The rumbling sound that shakes your PSP after you defeat a boss never gets old, but the sound that the airship's propellers make sort of leaves a sour note ringing in your ears. This is because you hear it so much throughout the course of this game. Other than that, though, the soundtrack and special effect sounds merge together to make a great sounding game.

Graphics 7/10
For a PSP game? Heck no, this game does not have the greatest graphics. Whenever you defeat a boss, the boss always just sort of... shakes apart. And every single enemy dies the same way. Just fading away in a blur of dashes and lines. The scenery of each area though, is something to admire for a 2D game. It seems to look like a 3D version of a 2D world. The mountains seem to stand up, the cave walls look like raised platforms, and the cracked stones in ruins of villages actually make the place look ancient. The graphics aren't extraordinary, but unless you are extremely picky about how good the game looks, then you won't mind the graphics of this game.

Play Time 8/10
This game has varied play time. This game can be beaten in under 15 hours. But in order to collect all weapons, all items, and defeat all bosses and explore all dungeons, this game could take well over 60 hours of play time. That's a long time to play a remake of an NES game!

Replay Value 8/10
Replaying this game is actually fun to do. Exploring the FF world all over again is a thing that most people would enjoy doing, and fighting all your favorite bosses over again is always fun to do. Plus, on a second playthrough, people start to respect the time and effort that the game programmers put in to create this game. In fact, third playthroughs and fourth playthroughs wouldn't be that bad either.

Final Recommendation
This game is one great remake, and out of the many times that I have played it, it has never let me down. The ending is still epic, and all in all, it brings back memories of playing the first FF when it came out. So if you have the chance to buy this game, for all means, go and buy it. It's worth the money.

Gameplay: 8/10
Story: 8/10
Sounds: 8/10
Graphics: 7/10
Play Time: 8/10
Replay Value: 8/10
Total Score: 7.8/10 which rounds up to an 8/10

Final Score: 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/22/09

Game Release: Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition (US, 06/26/07)