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Portables (Games) Role Playing (Games) Entertainment Games

Final Fantasy I & II Remakes Confirmed For GBA 64

Posted by simoniker from the nintendo-and-squeenix-smooching dept.
Thanks to 1UP for its story revealing Square Enix has announced a Game Boy Advance compilation of Final Fantasy I & II, due to debut in Japan this July. The article mentions: "That's the same pair of 8-bit RPGs that came to North America for the PlayStation as Final Fantasy Origins. However, the GBA remakes will feature a few new extras on top of the content from the original games", including new dungeons and substories - the remake also "seems to use the magic point system from later games in the series", and a U.S. release is likely but unconfirmed.
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Final Fantasy I & II Remakes Confirmed For GBA More

Final Fantasy I & II Remakes Confirmed For GBA

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  • Great. (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Vargasan ( 610063 )
    It's about time.
    They've been out for the Wonderswan for ages.

  • Sweet (Score:4, Funny)

    by j0nb0y ( 107699 ) <jonboy300NO@SPAMyahoo.com> on Friday April 09, 2004 @02:16PM (#8817765) Homepage
    I've been hoping for this ever since I saw a Gameboy-game shaped box for Final Fantasy Origins. Then I noticed that it said Playstation on it and not Gameboy. It was just a ploy to lead me astray.

    Now, finally, my hopes will be realized. I can't wait.

  • Wow (Score:4, Funny)

    by (trb001) ( 224998 ) on Friday April 09, 2004 @02:16PM (#8817769) Homepage
    Apparently, the Square guys really do read and take to heart Slashdot comments [slashdot.org]...

    --trb
  • I hope this leads to still more Final Fantasy goodness on the Nintendo platforms.

  • Square milks the cash cow again (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Pluvius ( 734915 ) <pluvius3&gmail,com> on Friday April 09, 2004 @02:21PM (#8817828) Journal
    Thanks again, Square, for not including FF3 in your compilation in order to make even more money when you put it in another compilation somewhere down the road.

    Rob
    • You should see the icon that's on the front page of Crunk Games [crunkgames.com] regarding this particular piece of news... I think it compliments your comment nicely ;)

      And I too would like to see a US release of the original FF3. As I recall, Square had been planning on releasing a port of this game for the Bandai Wonderswan, but it got cancelled :P

      • Addendum (Score:3, Interesting)

        by May Kasahara ( 606310 )
        (not to say that the Wonderswan was a system popular over here, but the Wonderswan ports of FF1 and FF2 did find their way to the US as Final Fantasy Origins... Maybe if the FF3 port had been completed, we'd have that game as well)

        • Re:Addendum (Score:4, Interesting)

          by shadowcabbit ( 466253 ) <cx AT thefurryone DOT net> on Friday April 09, 2004 @07:27PM (#8821502) Journal
          [...]but the Wonderswan ports of FF1 and FF2 did find their way to the US as Final Fantasy Origins... Maybe if the FF3 port had been completed, we'd have that game as well[.]

          All things considered, it still might. Assuming S/E decides to bring this over (and let's be totally honest here, they'd be insane not to), it's very likely that any hopes for a US localization of FF3 will hinge on sales of FF1&2.

          I bought Origins when it came out, played through it sporadically for a while until I finished FF1, and then sold it because I had no intentions of going through FF2 on my PS2. The games' repetitive nature (read: combat every fifteen seconds) makes them very well-suited to the GBA, and once the cart is released here, I'll be starting FF2. Personally, I'm surprised this wasn't S/E's first title on the Game Boy.

          I haven't read the article yet-- will do so when I get home-- but the idea of using the MP system just feels so alien to me. Sure, I played through FF1 on Easy Mode, but it was far more challenging than some other RPGs I've played because you actually had to think about your magic use rather than use the time-honored tradition (snicker) of "use Ultima on all enemies, chug Ether, repeat until final boss is crispy".
    • Ahmighad! A company, made up of people with families, is trying to *make* *money*?!!? So those "people with families" can "make a living" off their "work" to "feed and clothe themselves and their families"?!?!?

      HOLY FSCK!! Somebody get Bush on the phone! We have to put Shock and Awe on their asses! Shove a plunger up their butts!

      --
      Evan

      • Ahmighad! A company, made up of people with families, is trying to *make* *money*?!!?

        There's a difference between trying to make money by making new, interesting products and trying to make money by doing nothing but selling old products and making crappy MMORPGs.

        Rob (Nice try at being clever, though)

        • Re:Square milks the cash cow again (Score:4, Interesting)

          by JabberWokky ( 19442 ) <slashdot.com@timewarp.org> on Friday April 09, 2004 @05:39PM (#8820582) Homepage Journal
          What is the difference between doing this and a traditional book publisher doing reprints? Some reprints even come with a new author's foreward or a couple of extra maps. Often they are cheap paperbacks or nicely bound collector's editions. That's pretty much the same as the $10-$15 "classic reissue" video games or the special anniversary editions. Of course they are going to republish. That's what publishers do - publish a work as long as there is interest. Bantam is going to publish the new Song of Ice and Fire novel, "A Feast for Crows" this year. It's the fourth in the series, but the first novel, is still being reprinted. There have been 44 different covers, I have no idea how many editions. Or maybe you are saying that Lord of the Rings shouldn't be published because there are "new, interesting" novels out, and it's an "old product". What about Hamlet? That's public domain, and it's still being actively printed. Horrible. The fact is, there are people who want this, who want it for GBA, and the publisher is working to satisfy that demand and make a living doing it. Nothing wrong with either side of that equation as far as I can see.
          • It costs money to republish a book; most people aren't going to read a book off of a computer screen, or waste time and money printing it themselves. A game, on the other hand, is simple to re-release; just provide it for download with an emulator (they could even use P2P if they want to minimize server costs). Playing a game on a PC is not very different from playing a game on a console, especially if you get a PC gamepad or controller converter. There are emulators for consoles too, if you're really ad

            • Re:Square milks the cash cow again (Score:4, Interesting)

              by JabberWokky ( 19442 ) <slashdot.com@timewarp.org> on Friday April 09, 2004 @07:09PM (#8821369) Homepage Journal
              Uhm... I'm still looking forward to Final Fantasy Eight. I'm also waiting for PS2 prices to drop so I can get one (game machine and games).

              A good game from ten years ago is still a good game.

              As for the emulator issue, book publishers could release their books as text files (then your computer emulates a book, basically). Baen is doing this as an experiment. That might happen eventually, but that's not how it works right now. It would be nifty if we had a space elevator and a nanotech assembler commerce society, but right now, authors make money from publishers who make money by publishing. That's the way it works if you want to make a living writing either books or video games.

              I'm not sure how Square can justify charging $20 or more for a 15-year-old game. [...] Hamlet is not obsolete; FF1, in its current form, is.

              If it is obselete, nobody will buy it. I would; I was watching the Wonder Swan with interest. FFI is a fun game. Hell... I drop a quarter into just about every Ms. PacMan machine I see because it's a fun game.

              "Obselete" is not defined as "Pluvius is not interested in it". More to the point, a story (even one as simple as the Light Warriors against Chaos) or a game (even one as simple as the original FF battle engine), never becomes obselete. Aesop's Fables are simple stories, and checkers is a simple game, but they aren't obselete after thousands of years... and are still published.

              --
              Evan

            • I missed the part in the article where Squenix is forcing you to buy the rerelease. Obviously there is a market for it, or else rereleases wouldn't make money. Don't blame Squenix for making a product there's a demand for, blame the people who will go out and buy the same game 10 times over.
    • Thanks again, Square, for not including FF3

      Erm, theyre Square Enix [square-enix-usa.com] now, or as I like to call them, 'Squeenix'.

      I wonder what a square Enix looks like... in fact, for that matter... I wonder what an Enix looks like, even if its not square...

  • So we can play "pirated" games when they dont allow us due to unfair geographical restraints.

  • Are you as confused as I am? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by gklinger ( 571901 ) on Friday April 09, 2004 @02:43PM (#8818146)
    I saw this news posted elsewhere and was instantly confused by which versions were being released because the Japanese and North American numbering schemes are different. I had heard that what was released as Final Fantasy II in North America was called Final Fantasy IV in Japan and Final Fantasy III in North America was Final Fantasy VI in Japan. I did some web searching and came across an interesting site about the History of Final Fantasy [allrpg.com] that cleared up all my confusion. I highly recommend checking it out.

    Numbering scheme aside, it's nice to see these games being (re)released so that fans can relive the good times and new RPGers can experience what all the fuss was about. And if Square Enix and Nintendo can make a few bucks, great. Everybody wins.

    • AFAIK... (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Ayanami Rei ( 621112 ) *
      Ever since FFVII came out, Square doesn't refer to the US numbering scheme anymore for identifying it's previous games (it'll say something like FFIII US if they were trying to make that distinction. Otherwise they'll say FF VI. So FF II is the real FF II, not FFII US (which would be FF IV). Capiche?

    • No (Score:3, Interesting)

      by MMaestro ( 585010 )
      Are you as confused as I am?

      No. Given the insane game market at the time of the NES, I'm not surprised. We get the NES but shun the Sega Master System, Japan goes gaga of Dragon Quest and America laughs thinking its just a fad, Japan embrace video games openly, America blacklists them as 'only for children'.

      This sorta thing also happened to the Dragon Warrior series. America only recieved I - IV, and then jumped to VII. Wheres V and VI? Thank god Nintendo didn't form a habit of naming the Fire Emblem serie

  • port/remakes show a complete lack of originality (Score:4, Insightful)

    by radimvice ( 762083 ) on Friday April 09, 2004 @03:13PM (#8818678) Homepage
    How many times are videogame companies going to expect people to dish out money for the same exact games? These 'technological update' port/remakes are completely against the progressive nature of technology because they depend on the suppression of our rights to play games that we have already purchased. Instead of allowing people to continue to play classic games they have already paid for on new hardware (via official emulators and hardware ROM extractors and the like), they rely on the short life-cycle of console systems to sell us the same games again in a new packaging. While they do update the technological presentation, they don't make any significant changes, or even create superficially different levels and challenges to make the games any different the second (PSX), third (WSC), fourth (GBA) time around. It's even more revolting than sequelitis. If they -must- remake, instead of making a re-re-re-release of FF1-2, why don't they remake FF3 for once and use the opportunity to localize the only Final Fantasy still officially missing in the US? While it's proven to be more successful to re-release classic games on new hardware than to actually develop new games, it also shows that the monolithic Square can't come up with any better games than their last-ditch effort twenty years ago when they were a two-bit videogame company on the verge of bankruptcy (which, oh the irony, is what the 'Final' in FF actually stood for at the time).
    • so? I've been looking for an excuse to buy a GBA, assuming this comes to Europe fairly quicky, this will probably be the reason I do. I've never owned or played FFI/II, but I kept intending to buy Origins for the PSX, now I'm thinking I'll hold off and get this instead.
      Square at a profit-based company don't forget, and they make good games. Isn't it better that they release good games and occasionally go off and re-release them for profit that not make good games at all?

      Also, hopefully this will improve re
      • Also, hopefully this will improve relations between Square and Nintendo, having Squares support for the Gamecube 2 (or whatever it is) will really help Nintendo.

        Not if Square keeps making throwaway games like Crystal Chronicles for it. Face it, the only reason Square is producing for the GC is so they can produce for the GBA.

        Rob

    • Re:port/remakes show a complete lack of originalit (Score:5, Insightful)

      by analog_line ( 465182 ) on Friday April 09, 2004 @04:42PM (#8819856)
      How many times are videogame companies going to expect people to dish out money for the same exact games?

      Probably as long as those games ported from older systems continue to be among the biggest selling GBA games. Hell, that's why I got a GBA, to be able to play all the older classic games without needing to deal with ROMs. Fully half, at least, of my GBA collection is remade SNES/NES games.
      • My GBA collection is only two games so this is pretty meaningless (well, not THAT meaningless) but I have exactly two games: Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and Super Dodge Ball (Advance? I forget.) FFTA is a remake of a Playstation game, which is amusing. Super Dodge Ball is an ancient arcade game which has been ported to or remade for basically every video game platform to come out since.
    • a re-re-re-release of FF1-2,.....

      Where all of the swords have been digitally replaced with Walkie Talkies, and black mages have been replaced with teddy bears....
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • The only thing I believe that still needs to be explained to this gentleman, is that in case you haven't noticed, it's getting harder and harder to find original NES hardware/software. Plus I've always wanted to play FFI on a portable system. I for one don't mind all the remakes, it's not like they're remaking a game from last year now is it?

      Kleedrac
    • By this argument, classic movies should not be released in new formats. Why should we have to buy Casablanca AGAIN just to get it on DVD? Agreed, the turnover on console tech is much faster, but in this case at least it's from a non-mobile (NES/PSX) to a portable platform. (GBA)

      Obviously, theres a market for these ports, or else they wouldn't be made, and having a choice of what platform to buy the game for is kinda nice. I'm sick of buying new consoles just for one or two games I know I want to play.

  • Why? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by sn2k ( 749579 ) on Friday April 09, 2004 @04:52PM (#8820005)
    The first screenshots of the remakes also indicate that the original Final Fantasy will have a different magic system. Instead of the Dungeons & Dragons-style spell level system from the original game, it seems to use the magic point system from later games in the series.

    This seams like a weird thing to do. The original magic system was not confusing, just different then the current one. I think doing this would completly reshape how magic is used in the first final fantasy. Since there was not an actual picture of the screenshot, I am wondering if perhaps they saw a picture of final fantasy II which did have the MP magic system. I hope so because I would hate it if a major gameplay feature was altered.
    • For the same reason they changed the battle engine in FF Origins: Whiny players. I'd say this will be an optional change like that was, though.

      Rob
    • However if they options from FFO are any indication, the only thing that couldn't be shut off to revert to the original goodness was the improved graphics and cutscenes! If they do implement an MP system I wouldn't mind seeing it, as long as it's an option when you start a new game and not "always on" like the new graphics! Hell I've beat FFI so many times I'd enjoy playing it again like this ... mebbe with an all mage party!! :)

      Kleedrac

    • Re:Why? (Score:3, Interesting)

      by CashCarSTAR ( 548853 )
      Because the FF1 magic system kind of suckd.

      Ok, it really sucked.

      Some levels would be left without any good spells to use, especially with White magic, and there would not be enough points with the 9 max to use cure spells for white. It really limited the options you could use.

      The Easy mode on FF Orgins fixed it a bit, breaking the 9 a level limit, making White mages a lot more valuable, and the game a lot more enjoyable. An optional MP based system would be a nice thing to try as well.

      • Re:Why? (Score:1, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Many of us who were used to a MP systems in other RPGs of the time (Might & Magic on the Apple II for me) found the magic system of the first Final Fantasy to be part of the challenge, not a misfeature. Spell management is significantly different, as you explain, and I found myself conserving high-level spells for bosses much more than I would in an MP-based game (where MP can usually be refilled with items at any point during travel or battle).

        One other thing that I actually liked was being forced to
        • Many of us who were used to a MP systems in other RPGs of the time (Might & Magic on the Apple II for me) found the magic system of the first Final Fantasy to be part of the challenge, not a misfeature.

          Same thing with the "Ineffective" battle engine, which (as I said earlier) was only optional in FF Origins. Battles in FF1 actually required some strategy because your characters couldn't change attacks mid-turn; compare to one of the middle FFs, where you could easily win most fights just by pressing
      • If anything I like the original FF Magic system as it emulated the D&D Magic system. This can do nothing but add to the strategy, and shouldn't make White Mages useless.

        Kleedrac

  • Woo-hoo! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by josh glaser ( 748297 ) on Friday April 09, 2004 @08:15PM (#8821807)
    This is so cool. I mean, new dungeons! I'm almost glad I haven't boughten Origins yet (although I'll probably end up buying them both - I get stupidly irrational when it comes to Square games). Now, if only they'd continue the trend and bring out CT, SMRPG, and, more importantly, FFIII.

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