SNES Timeline - Part 6: Final Fantasy IV, and Some Other Stuff

Games in this post:

-Final Fantasy IV-
-Legend of the Mystical Ninja-
-Battle Dodgeball-
-U.N. Squadron-

So here we are, the release of one of my favorite games. Prepare to have nostalgia poured out all over the screen. It's too bad, really. There are a couple other good games this time around. I actually enjoyed all four of these games, even the Japan only one that I couldn't understand. Please enjoy this wall of text courtesy of my memories of 20 years ago.

Final Fantasy IV - Number it however you want, it's still amazing

Genre: RPG
Developer: Square
Publisher: Square
Released:
7/19/1991 (JP)
11/23/1991 (US)

Age is Just a Number

I remember being so upset when I found out what I was referring to as Final Fantasy 2 was actually the fourth game. This was even after 6 was released as 3, so it was years that happily passed with me thinking I'd played through everything that Final Fantasy had to offer. It was devastating to my young gamer self to find that at that point I had missed half of the series and had no way to play the earlier games. In case someone doesn't know, Final Fantasy IV was released in the US as Final Fantasy II. It had some minor features removed, and some themes were censored for the young US gamer ears. To make things more confusing, There was another version released in Japan called EasyType. It has a lot of similarities to the US version so people tend to think FF II US is base on it, but that's not actually the case. Since then the game has been ported more than any other in the series, and has even had the After Years story line created to expand on what happened to the characters. If you've never played this game, I'll try and explain why it's so highly regarded.

Story is Half the Battle

You find a lot of articles about story in games. It has to be exciting. It has to have unexpected twists. It has to have a good atmosphere. In my very unprofessional opinion you can split a game into fourths. Story, Gameplay, Technical, and Character. Some might try and lump story and character together, but look at the example of Mario. That series rides solely on the memorable characters and solid gameplay. If you play Mario expecting an exciting story, you're gonna have a bad time. Final Fantasy IV's characters are so memorable because they all have their own themes going on in the game. Love, trust, loyalty, courage, redemption, sacrifice, and others are all there through a cast of characters that was very large for its time. I could devote an entire post just to the characters and their stories, which I might do at some point.
Let me take a moment though to defend the bard Edward. He takes a lot of flak and is always on the bottom of lists of least favorite characters. The Clouds and Aurons of the series just steal the spotlight. I think his character fits perfectly in the party though. Here you have a young prince who has no military training. He's lost everything to Baron, and in most RPGs the protagonist would get a quest to go and do something. But Edward fights. He's so bad at combat that one of his abilities is to hide, but he still fights. It's interesting to see him discover his own worth by forcing himself to find courage he didn't know was there. Edward was never intended to be helpful to the party in combat. He was there to help the other characters grow and grow himself. And this was an RPG in 1991, where characters were mostly vehicles to push what little story was there forward, and the characters you got to play were usually super hero types.

Not Action, but Active RPG

One last thing before I force myself to move on. Final Fantasy IV was the game to start the Active Time Battle system, which is still used in variations by current RPGs. The simple change of having each character have their own time gauge changed the way JRPGs were played. It was exciting to hope Rosa's turn would come around in time to heal someone before the next attack, rather than having to wait until the next round started.

I suppose I should do the normal stuff too. The graphics and enemy sprites were varied and colorful. The music was incredible. If you look back through the past posts, The quality of this game was on a nearly unmatched level, even if you aren't an RPG fan. It is available on the Virtual Console and you can check it out here.

More info, and buying options:

My Grade: A+
Worth Playing: Absolutely

Legend of the Mystical Ninja - A hidden gem wrapped in Japanese quirkiness

Genre: Adventure
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Released:
7/19/1991 (JP)
February, 1992(US)

Releasing the same day as Final Fantasy IV in Japan, It's hard to imagine this game doing very well, at least at first. The game stars Goemon, a popular character in Japan but mostly unknown in the states. Those in the US who picked it up though were in for a pleasant surprise as this is a solid action adventure title. I imagine most people picked it up based on the Konami logo. This was a time where Konami automatically meant a quality game. Mystical Ninja is a one or two player adventure game with a mixture of screen to screen adventure sections mixed with side scrolling platformer sections. The game certainly doesn't take itself too seriously. The characters and enemies are pretty goofy. There's even a group of ninja cats. The graphics are nice and colorful, and the action is solid and challenging. It's on the Virtual Console, and worth checking out if you're looking for an action-adventure game to play.

More info, and buying options:

My Grade: B
Worth Playing: Yes

Battle Dodgeball - Throw, get hit, throw, get hit, throw...

Genre: Sports
Developer: Banpresto
Publisher: Banpresto
Released:
7/20/1991 (JP)

My favorite part of this little project might be finding out things I didn't know about the Super Nintendo/Super Famicom. For example, Gundam and Ultraman were staples of the early SNES more than any other character. This time they and others are for some reason in a giant sci-fi dodgeball tournament. I was able to pick a team and then get a game started. You run to the line, jump or don't, and throw. You do damage to an opponent until they are knocked out. after a match you get experience that you can allocate to your team. It's all in Japanese but I assume it's stat's you'd expect to see like speed, strength, etc. I'm painting a fairly boring picture here but the odd thing is that it's actually pretty fun. Before I knew it a half hour had gone by and I'd beaten all the teams. I'm not sure what the result is since it just starts back over again. It would have been interesting to have seen a similar game in the states where your Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles played dodgeball against the Transformers.

More info, and buying options:

My Grade: B
Worth Playing: Yes, but again it's in Japanese.

U.N. Squadron - Wait, where are the aliens?

Genre: Shooter
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Released:
7/26/1991 (JP)
Sept. 1991 (US)

We've covered a few scrolling shooters so far, but this one not only does a good job of setting itself apart, but also highlights some of the reasons space shooters are more successful. Called Area 88 in Japan, you can actually choose from a few different pilots and then choose from a map what levels to tackle, with the occasional branching path. You get money after the levels that can be used to purchase secondary weapons or *gasp* additional planes. The biggest difference in the other planes is what secondary weapons they can use, so it's more an issue of picking the weapon you like best and then picking a plane that uses it. From a gameplay perspective it's a solid game. The levels are varied and the bosses are challenging. The real world setting is a nice change of pace, but it's also the source of the game's only disappointments. The main weapon is very boring, and doesn't get much better. Sure, crazy weapons wouldn't have fit in with the setting, but some variety would have been a great addition. The other issue is that the enemies are pretty bland and you don't really see anything new after a couple of levels. Overall it was still a good effort from Capcom.

More info, and buying options:

My Grade: B
Worth Playing: If you like the genre and want a different setting.

So obviously games from our youth can hold a special spot in our memories. When we run across one of your own favorites, let your nostalgia run free in the comments, even if it's to rant at me for giving your favorite game a C. God bless and thanks for reading.