"Mystic quest- the only FF bomb Square has made"

The Super Nintendo was the best system for RPGS. There's no question about that. Between Final Fantasies 4, 5 and 6, Chrono Trigger, and Breath of Fire, it was a stupendous RPG system. However, maybe they just set the expectations too high, and maybe it's that this game was just really bad, but when I bought this game and put it in, I knew from 5 minutes of gameplay that it was a mistake, and certainly nothing in comparison to the games that were already out.

Overworld Gameplay: 6/10- Well, this wasn't all that bad. Benjamin, your main character, faces the typical final fantasy world. We have our usual assortment of puzzles in this game- trying to weave your way around odd colored patches of dirt, trying find your way through a cave, cutting down trees to make a path in the forest. . . . you get the idea. Characters (explained later) usually give you a new weapon that allows you to get past the next obstacle. You can get grip gloves (well, claws) which allow you to climb walls, bombs that blow through weak stone walls, and as I said earlier, axes to cut down those trees.
Random battles are similar to those found in Chrono Trigger. That is, enemies can be seen from a distance, thereby allowing you to avoid any unnecessary battles.

Battle Gameplay: 2/10- This wasn't quite as good.
Battle angle was new; the camera is pointed at the enemy from behind you, so you don't see your character's face. The battle system itself is marvelously simple- you've got 4 commands- attack, throw special weapon, magic, and item. Throwing and magic aren't that useful until other characters (explained later) teach you/give you the required stuff. In other words, at first, you just hack away at the enemy.
Now, this seems rather easy, and it is, but let us look at the first fight. You've had the game on for, say. . . 20 seconds. You now have to fight a behema (behemoth is plural, remember), which most of you know is a rather difficult enemy in most Final Fantasies. It's no different in Mystic Quest. The behemoth has 9 hits or so. Of course, you do damage, but it boils down to 9 hits to the behemoth.
The behemoth can wipe you out in 4. Now, you attack 3 times for his 2, but that means that you're only two - thirds done with him when he kills you. The only way, and I mean the ONLY way to kill the very first enemy of the game is to rely on luck. Amazing, isn't it?
That first battle scared the living daylights out of me, but thankfully, it's much easier from then on. All the same, it left a bad first impression; I give it a 2.

The characters: 1/10- Ah. . . . this was by far the most. . . peculiar aspect to this game.
You start out alone, but as soon as you kill that dastardly behema, you jump off the castle into the forest, where you meet a person who will gladly join your party. Now, unlike most Final Fantasies, they don't have the same old tacky ''I want to help save the world!'' motto, but they have their own agenda that you're helping them accomplish. For this reason, you'll character will not stay with your very long.
The characters are broken down very simply- They join your party at extremely high levels (usually before a boss), and can wipe out almost all things that oppose you. However, after 3 or 4 fights, it becomes evident that this was just a show that they were putting on to impress you, because they start to become very weak, very fast. After 30 or 40 minutes, you'll be almost finished with a dungeon, and the character will say ''My work is done'' and leave your group. Don't worry, they give you their weapon, whatever it may be, even though it leaves them unarmed. Now, once this person has left your group, you'll continue your travels. After traveling 50 or 60 feet, the next character will literally come crashing down upon you, and promptly join you in your quest, thereby starting the cycle anew.

Plot: 2/10- The plot is simple- save the planet from a monster who is destroying the crystals. It never gains any complications, so don't expect them.
Now, the characters all have little quests that you have to do for them in payment for the helpfulness that they are giving you. In one scenario, you have to save a frozen town. If you guessed it involves fighting an ice monster in an ice cave, you hit the nail on the head.
All in all, they rely too heavily on side stories that aren't even good.

Graphics: 6/10- Now, I give them a 6 out of 10 when comparing them to the graphics of Final Fantasy 4, because the graphics are almost exactly the same, except that Benjamin and his party member retain their sprite from the world map in battle. Knowing that Square could do as well as 4 if they had wanted to, it gets a 6.

Sounds: 10/10- It's tinny, it's repetitive, it's exactly what a Square game had for music back then.

Overall, a bad story with a very weird system for characters that just makes you want to laugh and cry at the same time.