SupergoldZero's Full Review: Final Fantasy Anthology for PlayStation 1
Ah the wonderful, wonderful world of Final Fantasy. Ever since the original game was released here and in Japan it seems everyone and their mother jumped into the series very quickly, considering it was the first true Role –Playing to ever be released. But that was many years ago on the original Nintendo Entertainment System and over the years many squeals to Final Fantasy were released, namely: Final Fantasy 2-3 for Nintendo [in Japan only] and 4-10 [4-6 on Super Nintendo, 7-9 on Playstation, and 10 on Playstation 2]. Also we can’t forget the little known Final Fantasy Mystical Quest for Super-Nintendo and the Final Fantasy Legends series for Game Boy. Needless to say, that’s a lot of games and with long series like this we are always treated to polished re-released versions of them on newer systems. Such is the case with Final Fantasy Anthology, which has Final Fantasy 5 [never released America before now] and Final Fantasy 6 [Released in the U.S.A as Final Fantasy 3]. This small package of wonderful Final Fantasy games is a good one indeed for it has the two better games of the series…
Final Fantasy 5
Gameplay- Final Fantasy 5’s gameplay plays like many other RPG’s out there you walk over a huge world interacting and talking to folk located in towns and other places to get info on where you should go next while fighting random battles as you walk on the world, in caves, and other such places. When you battle you have the three most basic options of either fighting, using an item, changing rows [press right on battle menu to make this option available during a battle], defend yourself [press left on the battle menu to make this option available during a battle] or simply running away [can be done by holding all R and L buttons]. But there’s a twist in this Final Fantasy that gives it much diversity amongst all other games of the series and that would be the Job system. You see, in every Final Fantasy game, you can earn experience just by beating any sort of battle, thus raising the level of your character’s improving them in many different fields [such as there overall health]. Though this is the same in this game as well you can also choose what kind of field you want you character to pursue in [Monk, White Mage, Blue Made, Berserker, and so on] and every time you beat a battle you earn experience for each’s person’s job too [which is simply referred to as your Job Level]. After you earn job levels you can get to use unique moves during battle that only a person in that particular field can use [Such as the White Mage’s ability to use White Magic, or a Blue Mage’s learning ability, which is always on during battle once equipped but it is not actually on your battle menu, and enables your Blue Mage to learn Monster Abilities if a monster uses a special move on him/her]. The other cool thing with this is that you can mix and match different jobs and moves for all of your characters so that each one has more ability to fight [For example I made one of my characters earn job levels in both the White and Black Mage fields so he can heal people with White Magic and hurt the enemies with Black magic], the possibilities are truly endless. Just take note, that one character can only use 2 moves at once each, meaning training them in every new job you get would be useless since you can’t use all of there moves at once in one battle. Just make sure you check the abilities each job class gets in your manual before you go off training recklessly. Also every job requires your character to use certain weapons and armor that other Job Classes can’t use, so take note of that as well.
Final Fantasy 6 [U.S.A’s Final Fantasy 3 for Super Nintendo]
Gameplay- Final Fantasy’s 6 gameplay is just like Final Fantasy 5’s gameplay except there is no job system and all of your character’s come with there own unique abilities. This is the case to every Final fantasy except the first one [which did not have a job system also but you could choose what your character’s classes were permanently from the beginning of the game]. Also like in every other Final fantasy you roam around a giant world looking for more stuff to do by conversing with people from towns and other areas and you still fight in random battles all over the world.
Both Games
Graphics- It hard to convince anyone that the graphics for these games are any good by today’s standards because really, there not. But back in the day they were truly amazing looking games, especially Final fantasy 6 which was one of the better looking games for Super Nintendo with it’s rich 2- D backgrounds, but limited animated sprites. Final Fantasy 5 looks obviously worse then it’s squeal, but still manages to pull off some cool graphical effects, like fog.
Sound- Well one thing that EVERY Final Fantasy game has is amazing music. The music in both games both range from odd-ball to upbeat to instrumental and your ears will surly be amazed through you journey in both of these Final Fantasy titles. Also this package comes with a soundtrack wit selected tunes from both games.
Overall- Final Fantasy Anthology should be on the list of anyone who wants to play two very good RPGs and doesn’t mind about old of date graphics [which TOO many people care about, it is not all about graphics people]. One odd problem with both games however is the fact both how long loading times for saving and have small loading periods before every battle, pause menu, and if you bring up the world map. This was so annoying to me since I played and have the “no-loading” cartridge original of Final Fantasy 6 and it made me mad enough to take off one star. A cool added bonus about these games is that they have extras on them too that can be unlocked once you beat the games. Also there are newly added cinemas in each game, but they are nothing to cry home about.
Final Fantasy Anthology offers two games in one package. This PlayStation release was created by Square Soft in response to demand from fans of the Fi...More at HitGaming.com
Showcasing two installments of SquareSofts wildly popular role-playing game (RPG) series, Final Fantasy Anthology features the U.S. debut of Final Fan...More at eBay
Includes both Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI Original 2-D graphics and 16-bit sounds For 1 player, Platforms: PlayStation, ESRB Rating: TeenMore at Amazon
Includes both Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI Original 2-D graphics and 16-bit sounds For 1 player, Platforms: PlayStation, ESRB Rating: TeenMore at Amazon Marketplace
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2008 Shopping.com, Inc.