"Definitely one of Square's finest games"

Final Fantasy III (Which is now officially VI, so I will refer to this game as Final Fantasy VI) has been considered to be the best of the series. Final Fantasy VI is easily the best Final Fantasy on the NES and SNES. Not only that, Final Fantasy VI can go on par with the more "mainstream" Final Fantasies such as Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, and Final Fantasy IX. Final Fantasy VI is a splendid game that every gamer needs to own. It's well received for a reason, not because of its pretty looks! This game is great for people who are new to RPGs as well as people who are veteran to Role Playing Games. While the storyline is usually pretty dark and depressing, there is much humor and excitement to keep you glued to the screen.

Story/Characters: You start the game out with a green haired girl named Terra. She is under control of the Empire and is being used to obtain an esper. Why? Well, you'll need to play the game for yourself! Anywho, the journey will unfold. Now, there is a LOT of characters you will encounter. In my opinion, there is a little bit too much. You may like a lot of characters; I would have liked the number to be smaller because when there are a lot of characters, it detracts from the development and background of the other characters. Still, Square did a great job of giving each character a unique purpose and personality. You have a king, a ninja, a thief, a gambler and a moogle! And that's only a few of the many characters you will encounter! The main villain is Kefka. He is arguably the best FF villain. (Yes, he's better than Sephiroth) The story is magnificent and the characters are great. 18/20

Game Play: The game play starts out nice and simple. You'll have the basics. Attack with a weapon, use and item or use your special technique (Edgar, a character you get early, can use tools such as a drill or a chainsaw!) However, as you get further into the game, the true game play will be revealed. Introducing, the Esper system! I mentioned espers earlier and you may have not known what they are. Permit me to inform you of what they are. Espers are basically the deceased summons of FFVI. Throughout the game, you will obtain the crystals, these espers that allow you to some pretty spiffy stuff. If you've played FFVII, you will see it is fairly similar to the materia system. You can only equip 1 esper per person but when you equip them, you can summon them and they will either do damage to your foes or they will help you (Restore H.P., put a barrier around you etc) Also, when an esper is equipped, you start learning certain magical spells. When you defeat enemies, you gain experience to gain levels but you also get Magic points. Once you get a certain amount of magic points, you will learn the spell. My biggest complaint is that this only works well for characters with high magic. Some characters have low magic and can't really use the esper system to it's greatest potential. I found it to be a decent system but you might love it. 15/20

Graphics: Well, by today's standards, you may not be impressed with the graphics. Let me remind you that this was a game for the SUPER NINTENDO. Yes, and Super Nintendo Graphics are not Play Station 2 Graphics. So how do you determine the graphics? Well, you compare them to other Super Nintendo graphics. Final Fantasy VI's graphics are about as good as they get. If you look at the other SNES Final Fantasy graphics (a la Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy V) you'll see that there is a huge difference. For example, in the other Final Fantasies, when a character would attack, they would just move their weapon up and down and damage would appear for your opponent. In Final Fantasy VI, it becomes more realistic as the characters will actually move up and attack the enemy. The colors are vivid and exquisite and the background is lovely. You can see the facial expressions of several characters. Honestly, the graphics are just about as good as they get in Final Fantasy VI. Great job Square! 20/20

Music/Sound: The music and sound to this game are very good. Let's start with sound. It's great. One example off the top of my head is the ever famous laugh of Kefka. You'll find that the sounds are realistic and fit well with the game. The sound is perfect. The music is also well done. The regular battle music is just so-so. It honestly can get repetitive, it isn't Chrono Trigger battle music but it could be worse. The boss music is great as well as other themes and location tunes. Also, the final music to this game rivals that of Final Fantasy VII's One Winged Angel. 19/20

Replay Ability: One of the most important things concerning a game in my opinion is the replay value. A game that can only be played through once or twice is not as good of a video game that can be played through several times. Fortunately, Final Fantasy VI does have good replay value. There are several side quests to take part in and like most of Squares RPGs, you'll be able to restart the game and have just as much fun. You'll be able to play this game over and over. 8/10

Difficulty: This game had some hard bosses but it wasn't too terribly hard overall. The final battle, while having good music, wasn't too hard to take down. However, perhaps I was overleveled, I tend to do that. Anyhow, I'm sure if you don't level your guys properly, or neglect to learn powerful spells via esper system, then you could find this game virtually impossible. 7/10


Story/Characters: 18/20
Game Play: 15/20
Graphics: 20/20
Music/Sound: 19/20
Replay Ability: 8/10
Difficulty: 7/10

OVERALL: 87/100 = B

Now, I'll answer some questions that may or not be on your mind....

Q: "If I played some of the newer RPGs first, will I like this old school game?"
A: Absolutely. This is the type of game that you'll rarely see getting bashed. This game is great, it can be loved by the older gamers AND it can be equally treasured by the people who started with the newer games.

Q: "I heard this game can be done in just 10 hours. Is this true?"
A: It is possible to do a "10 Hour Challenge" So yes, you could, but this game is not short. Unless you're a pro, you won't be beating this game in 10 hours. Furthermore, this game is crammed with various side quests that will keep you entertained for quite some time.

Overall: Overall I give this game a solid 8/10. It has a few flaws to it but they are all negligible. Unless you absolutely hate RPG's, it is virtually impossible to hate this game. I would definitely recommend purchasing this game and if the SNES version is too expensive, buy Final Fantasy Anthologies for the Play Station 1. You'll also get Final Fantasy V as a bonus! I will admit this game is overrated, but just slightly. It is not a perfect game but it is a great game, no doubt. There are so many characters to get attached to and so many options to do that you will get soaked right in. Well, what are you doing right here?! Go out and play this game! NOW!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10 | Originally Posted: 11/15/04

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