 Cover box for original Famicom release in Japan Final Fantasy was developed during Square's brush with bankruptcy in 1987. In a display of gallows humor, director Hironobu Sakaguchi declared that his "final" game would be a "fantasy" role-playing game, hence the title.[4] Far from being Square's final game, however, Final Fantasy proved to be a major success in Japan, not only saving Square from bankruptcy, but presenting them with the second most popular role-playing game franchise in the country (after Enix's Dragon Quest).[citation needed] The characters and title logo were designed by Yoshitaka Amano. The scenario was co-written by Akitoshi Kawazu and veteran writer Kenji Terada.[5] Iranian-American game programmer Nasir Gebelli, who was living in Japan at the time, worked as the programmer for this game. Among the other developers were Hiromichi Tanaka, Akitoshi Kawazu, Koichi Ishii, and Kazuko Shibuya. The game was developed by Square's A-Team. Following the successful North American localization of Dragon Quest (as Dragon Warrior), Nintendo of America translated Final Fantasy into English and published it in North America in 1990.[citation needed] The North American version of Final Fantasy met with modest success, due partly to Nintendo's aggressive marketing tactics.[citation needed] No version of the game was marketed in the PAL region until Final Fantasy Origins in 2003.[6] Final Fantasy has been remade several times for several different platforms. While all of these remakes retain the same basic story and battle mechanics, various tweaks have been made in a variety of different areas, including graphics, sound, and specific gameplay elements.
North American localization The 1990 North American localization of Final Fantasy by Nintendo of America was essentially identical to the original Japanese game, although most names were changed for various reasons. Gameplay remained essentially the same, with changes limited to a few battle formations and removal of all random encounters from the final floor of the final dungeon. The majority of name changes resulted from technical limitations on name length, for example the spell "Thunder" being reduced to "LIT". Nintendo of America's censorship policies resulted in removal of religious references, such as the spell "Holy" being renamed to "FADE" and the Church being changed to Clinic, and the elimination of nudity from certain monster images. Some changes, such as "Beholder" to "EYE" with a vastly different image, were presumably made for copyright reasons. Most Light Warrior battle graphics were slightly altered, along with the graphical changes to remove religious imagery.[7]
MSX 2 The MSX2 computer standard was roughly analogous, in terms of technical capabilities, to the NES, and as a result, the MSX2 version of Final Fantasy is probably the closest to the original Famicom version. However, while the Famicom was designed to operate exclusively as a gaming console, the MSX2 was intended to be used more generally as a personal computer. In practice, this meant that the game was subtly altered to take advantage of certain features offered by the MSX2 and not by the Famicom, and vice versa.  The MSX2 version featured a larger palette and more vibrant colors Due to its release on floppy diskette, the MSX2 version of the game had access to almost three times as much storage space as the Famicom version (720 KB vs. 256 KB), but suffered from a variety of problems not present in Nintendo's cartridge media, including noticeable loading times. There were also relatively minor graphical upgrades. In general, the MSX2 version sports an ostensibly improved color palette which adds a degree of vibrancy to character and background graphics. In addition, the world map seems to have been moved slightly, meaning that the placement of monster "areas" on the world map is slightly different, and that monsters appear in different places than in the Famicom version.[7] Further, game data could not be saved onto the original program diskette, so it was necessary to provide a blank floppy diskette to save one's progress. For some reason, it was possible to store only one saved game on any given disk at one time, although it was possible to have multiple diskettes for multiple saved games.[citation needed] As an upgrade, the MSX2 featured more sound channels than the Famicom, and as such many music tracks and sound effects were altered or improved for the port.[7] Also, some dungeon music was swapped.[7] Finally, in the Famicom version, the strength of a Black Belt would increase with his experience levels, meaning that very soon the player would reach a point where a Black Belt could do more damage without any weapons than he could with weapons. In the MSX2 version, this is not the case: Black Belt strength does not increase nearly as quickly, and as such he cannot operate effectively as a barehanded fighter. Also, a few (though not all) items available at stores have had their costs changed.[7]
WonderSwan Color | WonderSwan Color remake | | Release date(s) | JPN December 9, 2000 | | Media | 32 megabit cartridge | Many more changes were introduced for the WonderSwan Color (WSC) remake of the game. The 8-bit graphics of the original Famicom game were completely redrawn for the WSC version, bringing the game roughly on-par with 16-bit era graphics (between Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI). The color palette was much larger and battle scenes now featured full background images. Character sprites, or two-dimensional pre-rendered figures, were also redesigned to look more like characters from the Super Famicom Final Fantasy games, especially as they upgraded in class. In the Famicom version, shops and inns had no interior map: once a character entered the building, they were greeted with a menu-based purchase screen. In the WSC version this was changed to more closely resemble other games in the series, where each building had an interior, along with a shop counter where the transaction screen could be accessed. Similarly, the battle screen was redesigned, with all textual information moved down to a blue window stretched across the bottom of the screen in an arrangement similar to that utilized in Final Fantasy II through Final Fantasy VII. As a further update, short cutscenes using the internal game engine were added to expand the story of the game somewhat. One such cutscene involved the construction of the bridge by the army of Cornelia. Also of significance is that the original Famicom version of the game did not have the ability to display more than one window of text during a conversation, which meant that all conversations with non-player characters were strictly limited in length. The WSC version removes this restriction. In the original version of the game, any attempt to attack a monster that had been killed by a previous character's attack would result in an "ineffective" attack. The WSC version introduced an option wherein the attack would be redirected to another monster rather than fail. Similarly, a "dash" option had been introduced: holding down a specific button while walking around in a town or dungeon map would cause the character to move around at twice their normal pace. Both of these options can be turned on and off via the game's configuration screen. As in the original version, every magic-using character has successive "spell levels". Each character has only three available slots per spell level, but is given the option of choosing from four spells. Once that choice had been made in the original version, there was no way to "unlearn" spells to free up a space for the unchosen fourth spell. In the WSC version, this has been changed so that it is possible to delete spells once purchased. In the original Famicom version, the cartridge could only store one set of game data at a time, and every time a new save was made, the previous one was overwritten. The WSC version provides up to eight distinct slots for saved game data. There is also a "quick save" feature introduced which allows the player to save his or her progress at any time (except during battles). This will exit the game, however, and as soon as the game is resumed, any quick save data is lost. Another change from the original version involves items; only items specifically assigned to a character could be used during battle. In the WSC, this has been changed so that there is a party-wide "pool" of items which can be accessed at any time by all characters. Certain status-healing items (such as "Soft") can now be used during battle. Further, in the original game, not only did each character have their own armor and weapon inventory, each was fixed to storing only 4 of each category per character. This meant that as opposed to the first game, one could now actually equip all 5 different armor types, as well as collect every single armor and weapon in the game without needing to drop or sell anything. A number of magic spells that didn't work properly in the original were also now "fixed" to work as originally intended. The status ailment "silence" no longer prevents items from being used. In addition to remixing the soundtrack, composer Nobuo Uematsu has composed several new tracks, including a new "boss battle" theme. Because many of the above changes make the game simpler than before, the hit points of certain monsters, and almost all boss monsters, have been substantially increased (doubled, in some cases) in order to better balance the gameplay.
PlayStation -
Released both individually (in Japan only) and alongside its follow-up, Final Fantasy II in a collection entitled Final Fantasy Origins (or Final Fantasy I+II Premium Collection in Japan), the PlayStation port of Final Fantasy by TOSE was based on WonderSwan Color version. Most of the changes instituted in that version of the game remain in this version. However, there are a few differences. Although the graphics are basically the same as in the WSC version, the higher screen resolution of the PlayStation means that most have been improved to some degree, with more detail.[citation needed] Tsuyoshi Sekito also remixed the soundtrack to Final Fantasy IX quality to utilize the audio capabilities of the Sony PlayStation and also composed a few new tracks like the ones used in the opening movies.[8] In the Japanese language version, the script has been changed to include kanji.[7] The English language translation, too, has been completely rewritten, and is, in most cases, much closer to the Japanese than the original English NES version was.[citation needed] Character and magic name lengths have been increased from four to six characters, as well. Saved game data takes up one block on the PlayStation memory card, which means that up to fifteen games can be saved onto each memory card, a major improvement. The "quick save" feature of the WonderSwan Color version has been excised, but in its place a "memo save" feature has been introduced where game data can be temporarily saved to the PlayStation's random access memory (RAM). This data remains until the system is turned off, or its power supply is otherwise interrupted. The game is now bookended by two full-motion, prerendered video cutscenes. An "omake" (or bonus) section has also been made available. It includes a bestiary, an art gallery, and an item collection that are unlocked as the player progresses through the game.[9] Also, a new "easy mode" could be chosen at the beginning of the game wherein shop prices are lower, experience is gained more quickly, and stats increase more rapidly.[7]
Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls -
Another fairly extensive list of changes accompanies the Game Boy Advance release of Final Fantasy as part of Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls. The difficulty level of the Game Boy Advance version most closely resembles the "easy mode" of the Final Fantasy Origins. Unlike that version, however, there is no option to switch back to the original difficulty level. Similarly, the redirection of "ineffective" hits, which had been optional since it was introduced in the WSC version, is now mandatory. Graphics are more or less identical to the WSC version, but the GBA has a slightly higher screen resolution than the WSC, and certain sequences (such as flying around on the airship) look better on the GBA than on the WSC.[citation needed]  A battle against a Soul of Chaos boss in the GBA version. This one is Shinryuu from Final Fantasy V The "spell level"-based magic system is dropped from this version in favor of the point-based magic system used in more recent Final Fantasy games.[10] Although spells are still classified at certain levels for some purposes (characters can still only be equipped with three of the four available spells of any given level, for instance), every spell is now assigned a point value. When cast, that value is subtracted from a total number of magic points that apply to all spells known by a character. Many new items have been introduced. Healing items are now much easier to procure, and less expensive, as well. The party starts the game with 500 gil instead of 400 gil as in previous versions. The omake artwork gallery and item collection present in the PlayStation version have been omitted, but the bestiary gallery remains and operates more or less exactly as it did previously. Certain classes have been modified: the Thief and Monk have become more powerful, whereas the Red Mage has become less so. Stat growth has been altered, and Intelligence now affects the strength of weapon-based magic spells. The game can now be saved at any time, anywhere (again, except during battles).[11] There are three available save game slots; however, there is no way of clearing or deleting their contents aside from starting a new game.[citation needed] Because the changes introduced in this version make the game less challenging, many monsters and boss monsters have had their hit points increased once again.[citation needed] Four new optional dungeons have been introduced, one corresponding to each Fiend, and becoming available after that Fiend is defeated. These dungeons are especially challenging and feature items and monsters not found anywhere else in the game. At the end of each dungeon, there are a variety of boss monsters from Final Fantasy III through Final Fantasy VI. Finally, during character creation, the player can choose to have the game randomly assign a name to each character, using character names from other games in the series.
Mobile phones  A battle with Lich, as depicted in the NTT DoCoMo FOMA 900i enhanced remake In 2004, Square Enix released a version of Final Fantasy for two Japanese mobile phone networks. A version for NTT DoCoMo FOMA 900i series phones was launched on 1 March 2004 under the title Final Fantasy i. A subsequent version for the CDMA 1X WIN-compatible W21x series was released on 19 August 2004 as Final Fantasy EZ. Another version, simply titled Final Fantasy, was also released for SoftBank Yahoo! Keitai phones on 3 July 2006.[12] Graphically, the games are superior to the original 8-bit game, but not as advanced as many of the more recent console and handheld ports. Square Enix planned to release this version of the game for North American mobile phones sometime in 2006.[13]
PlayStation Portable For the 20th anniversary of Final Fantasy, Square Enix has remade Final Fantasy for the PSP along with Final Fantasy II. The first game was released in Japan on 19 April 2007.[14] The North American version was released on 26 June 2007.[15] The PSP version has higher-resolution 2D graphics, the FMV sequences from the Origins release and the bonus dungeons from the Dawn of Souls release. It also contains an all-new dungeon, as well as an Amano Art Gallery. The gallery uses the PSP's high resolution to display high-quality art by Yoshitaka Amano, with new pieces of art being unlocked as the player progresses through the game. The new dungeon, titled Labyrinth of Time (時の迷宮, Toki no Meikyū?), is a dungeon with a time limit, in which the player's HP constantly decreases as time passes. The player is able to exchange abilities such as White Magic usage and the Dash command in order to extend to the time limit, allowing them to delve deeper into the dungeon.[16]
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