This will be more than just a SNES review of Final Fantasy IV, it will be talking about all the platforms of this game, because there are very many of them. The game started out on the SNES, then went to the PS1, the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and has had a sequel called Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. To say this brought FF to America mainstream is probably being politically correct, but it wasn't the Final Fantasy that made it popular. That would be FF7, another game I will review in time. In this game review, I will primarily go through the SNES version but also then tell you the later versions that I have played, which are DS, PS1, and GBA (that would be Game Boy Advance.) This will probably be the most in-depth of the reviews that I have done, or at least the most in-depth in quite a number of years, so here we go!
Positives (SNES Version):
1. Graphics- Square did well with the graphics despite it being 1991. I thought they did very well to do the mountain stages of the game, the caves, the towers as well. The more simple designs are castles, forests and such and those are also made well. Square with Nintendo deserve a round of applause for this.
2. Music: Final Fantasy, Uematsu, yeah this is literally all I am going to say about music (and if you want me to say more, I'll say YouTube FFIV music.)
3. Story- The story is absolutely fantastic on the whole. I love the whole aspect of the story, and it doesn't leave much in the way of plot holes (any that are are minimal and described in The After Years anyway) but it is a game that you know is great on storyline and great in every single way.
4. Character development: Oh boy there is a whole lot of character development. Some very quickly, some characters evolve over time. You have a quick feeling of strong development with the Protagonist, Cecil, early on. However the other characters, whether it is Kain, Rosa, Rydia, Yang, Palom, Porom, Cid, Tellah, Edge, or Edward. They all have some sort of development and this is honestly one of the better games for character development of the pre-PS2 Final Fantasy games.
5. Battle System- Pretty easily done, pick up and play and attack, use magic, and some strategy and you are good to go. It's pretty fluid as well so you aren't struggling to stay alive and you have a good sense which makes it a good game for a beginner to Final Fantasy
Negative:
1. Translation- Oh dear me, the translation is horrendous in the SNES version but I feel a lot of that is due to the.. let's go strict nature of Nintendo promoting itself as family branded at the time. A lot of this is noted in the text, but also the magic (For Instance, Holy is White.. yeah..) and it just makes it severely awkward and yes that is why I put the picture here as well.
As an aside, people say the SNES version is easy.. I can tend to agree there. It is an easier game but I don't think it is so easy a young toddler can play it easy. It still involves strategy and the ability to do well and progress. It's just an easier difficulty than that of the versions later.
For the PS1 version, the end boss is a LOT, LOT tougher. Yeah whatever the SNES one had with being light on the boss is worse with the PS1 version because the end boss is not forgiving. You have to change a lot of your strategies for this boss with that one part. On the whole, for the PS1 version it is a lot, lot better in translation, mainly because the Sony limitations of rules for family friendly are just.. let's just say non-existent. So the game provides better context into their translation and that's the main difference here. It still sold well and was with a combo pack of this and Chrono Trigger for the PS1 which sold well. The story is still the same as the SNES version, no major differences in the art style, gameplay other than different buttons for the controllers. Overall the disc version of this game doesn't hinder the speed like it does with Chrono Trigger because the fights all are the same way in the SNES version, just random.
For the GBA version, at the worst I would say it is just the same as the PS1 version, maybe just a bit more of a finer text to make it look cooler. Otherwise some graphical changes and essentially the same difficulty exists as the PS1 version. Overall I enjoy the GBA version and think of it highly much like the PS1 version.
For the DS version, oh boy do bosses get juiced up here. It is impossible with some of these bosses and you have to win just off pure luck. It's unfortunate because of that but overall it is a very crisp, good looking game that goes into the modern era of video gaming. I have a lot of respect for how modernized they made the graphics, text and so forth. However the difficulty, especially with bosses is deeply unforgiving and if you got turned away from this, I can definitely understand this in the fullest. As you can see how the graphics are in the picture here.
Overall Ratings/Rank of SNES:
I'd have to give the DS version a B grade just due to the unrelenting difficulty. PS1 and GBA versions get solid A grades due to how well they translated the game better than the SNES versions overall. For the SNES version, the deal with the translation and text if that turns you off I can definitely understand because that is something that honestly is very cringe worthy. If you are playing the game for literally anything else besides that, then you will enjoy it. For me as far as a number rating, 8.4 is probably good. For me, it's not a top 20 SNES game, or even top 30. I would though put it in the Top 50. I'd put it probably 41st of the games on the SNES.
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