Final Fantasy Oldies Coming to the GBA/DS

[Heretic Machine]

Kotaku reports that Final Fantasy VI, III, and V are all coming to various Nintendo portables.

Square Enix Bombs Portables with Final Fantasy Games (http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/final-fantasy/index.php#square-enix-bombs-portables-with-final-fantasy-games-129256)

Final Fantasy 3, Final Fantasy 5 and Final Fantasy 6 are all making their way to Nintendo handhelds in the future. With no announced release dates, FF5 and FF6 will be straight ports to the GameBoy hardware (micro or advance), whereas Square Enix is doing something different altogether with Final Fantasy 3. FF3 is being rebuilt for the Nintendo DS in 3D and should release in 2006. The fanboys at Penny Arcade are going nuts over some long range digital cam shots of FF3. Thanks to Matt for the scoop.
Finally, the fan favorite FFVI is coming to portables! This is the day I've been waiting for since buying a GBA.

[Abednigo]

Excellent!

But why can't they do more with 6? That's the fan favorite. And 3 is the one that hasn't been released here yet right? I know 1 and 2 were for GBA, and 4, 5 and 6 for the PS1.

[Xerxes]

Yeah not to mention FF IV is going to gba sp before any of those... O_o

http://www.gamespot.com/gba/rpg/finalfantasyiv/index.html

[PantherModern]

It's about time.

[Tricky Thumb]

Good, it's about time they did something that people actually wanted them to do. It's all leading up to their incredibly surprising announcement of a FFVII remake.

If they 'wink' one more time about a possible remake I'm pretty sure that could be considered a mental defficiency.

[TrackZero]

Yeah not to mention FF IV is going to gba sp before any of those... O_o

http://www.gamespot.com/gba/rpg/finalfantasyiv/index.html

Yeah, that was my first thought. I'm happy FF IV is getting more of a remake, fresh coat of paint and what have you.

[Sazime]

This is what the Nintendo portable should be about. Remaking and re-releasing classics. That would keep me buying games anyway.

[outontheporch]

Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap

[Rirath]

Wouldn't this be harshly critized if it was "yet another" remake for the PSP?
At any rate, it should have been FFVI that was remade in 3D.

I'm guessing a lot of people who know FFVI as FFIII in the US are going to spaz over the wrong thing.
V and VI are straight up ports. Meh.

[Heretic Machine]

Honestly, I'm cool with a straight up port. A lot of what I enjoyed about FFVI was the visual style, and I'm afraid if they tried to do the same thing in 3D they would fail.

[Abdiel]

Any possibility we've got some confusion here, and the DS game is being numbered by its original american release? That would mean that the remake is the American FFIII, i.e. FFVI.

It would make more sense to me, anyway.

[Heretic Machine]

No, I doubt that very much Abdiel. Square has been very careful to keep their numbers straight since FFVII.

[NoName]

Bah, have none of you played FF3j? It was a pretty good game, especially considering it was the first RPG with a class system. I'm excited at least!

Sadly I have no hope that the "official" translation system will be any good. The starting class (basically a null class) was called the "Onion Knight" ^__^

/Oldschool FF Fanboy

[Kalash]

You know, I haven't owned a handheld since the original gameboy, you know the one that was shaped, and had the same heft as a beige brick? But this may be the news that drags my sorry ass back to the handheld.

[outontheporch]

Wouldn't this be harshly critized if it was "yet another" remake for the PSP?
At any rate, it should have been FFVI that was remade in 3D.

I'm guessing a lot of people who know FFVI as FFIII in the US are going to spaz over the wrong thing.
V and VI are straight up ports. Meh.

I think is makes more sense to make a game into 3d that no one's played before. ff6 in 3d would make my colon shoot out of my rear and into my cereal, though.

check this ff3 screen from the penny arcade guys http://people.ucsc.edu/~mquery/pics/ff3_ds_1.jpg

[grimjoe]

i hope the only thing the change to 3d is the world map. The "Mode-7" graphics of the snes was good then but it still hurt my eyes after awhile. A slicker map is all i would want changed

[Groo]

check this ff3 screen from the penny arcade guys http://people.ucsc.edu/~mquery/pics/ff3_ds_1.jpg

Is it just me, or does that look like Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles?

[rainbowblack]

thank god since the psp emulators cant run FFVI at full speed

i might be tempted to buy one....maaaaaaybe

or i could always go into the closet and dust off the ol snes

[YoungAlCapone]

Looks like I am finally going to get a chance to play FF6, well at least to actually play it.

[Abednigo]

or i could always go into the closet and dust off the ol snes

I just sold my original SNES FF3 with the original Nintendo guide (and box and all inserts) on Ebay with Secret of Mana for $110. :D I have FF3 (6) on the PS1 and the cartridge sat in my closet for years.

[MagicAlex]

Is it just me, or does that look like Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles?

Dear god I hope not. I've been waiting for Square to release FF3 in the U.S. for years because I think it's the best of the three NES games. It'd be like a cruel practical joke if they fucked it up now. On the other hand, having played the original on an emulator several times, I'd say it definitely needed some revamping before they rerelease it. Now that Square has used the Job System in a couple games they can take some of their experience back to the original Job System.

[yellowoystercult]

I've been playing FFVI for ten years now, and I probably have what some would refer to as an "unhealthy relationship" with the game.

Here's hoping that I live to see the day that they remake it instead of just rereleasing it.

Do we know if the GBA rerelease'll have any extras like Dawn of Souls did?

[TheEpicOfTyler]

FFVI is the greatest RPG ever created.

[dr_wily]

i think that screen is secret of mana.. boss fight

im glad they keep pumping them out.. best games of all time

i scored ff3 cartridge at a pawn shop for 4 bucks a couple years ago.. do i need 2 copies? maybe.

what kills me is that i got rid of that huge earthbound box and cant find the guide. i only have the cartridge now.. the full set is worth a fortune on ebay.

[dr_wily]

<golbez theme song>

ok im done

[humanliteshow]

I would be happier with a Chrono Trigger port. But I guess FF6 will have to do... ;)

[nonchalance]

Bah, have none of you played FF3j? It was a pretty good game, especially considering it was the first RPG with a class system.

Not to rain on your parade, but D&D?

[Kagger]

I played FF4 on the ps1...do you think its worth buying again?

[Nessus]

FFVI is my favorite RPG ever and one of my all time favorite games.

I'm really interested to see what they do with FFIII. I hope they just bring the story up to date to the level of the SNES ones.

[Spigot]

Well, I'm happy. I keep firing up FFVI on my SNES and never getting very far in it. I had gotten to the World of Ruin waaaay back in the day but that was on my buddy's system :(

I find that lately I've been able to put the time into my GBA RPG's a lot easier than I have with the ones on my other consoles or, heaven forbid, my PC. Probably due to my being on the road a lot more lately.

[Spigot]

I would be happier with a Chrono Trigger port. But I guess FF6 will have to do... ;)
You beat me to it. One day they'll wise up and release it. I keep trying to play my PS1 version and it's just not that good when you have to wait for the CD to load every freakin' menu.

Sigh.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

Wouldn't this be harshly critized if it was "yet another" remake for the PSP?


The big difference being that the PSP keeps getting all these games that are in stores RIGHT NOW for other systems, whereas these Final Fantasy titles haven't been available in stores for years, and some of them never came out here, ever.

I don't particularly care for Final Fantasy, but trying to troll and compare these to the PSP's numerous Playstation 2 ports is silly.

[Kyle Jones]

There are some awesome looking titles in those magazines! I'm planning on getting Animal Crossing - Wild World (awesome name!) for sure, and probably will pick up a few of these other unique titles!

God bless Nintendo for being so creative.

[Pumped'Up]

good for you DS/GBA owners.

PSP owners already have been able to play FF 1-6 for the past many months. YAY.

[Heretic Machine]

PSP owners already have been able to play FF 1-6 for the past many months. YAY.

*cough* The GBA has had SNES emulators for years and they work on the DS *cough*

[MagicAlex]

So can everyone who owns a computer. That's not the point.

[Heretic Machine]

I agree Magic... But I was just pointing out that the DS can play these games already, just as well as the PSP (possibly better because of longer development times on the emulators). Official releases are 10x better.

[Kagger]

whereas these Final Fantasy titles haven't been available in stores for years, and some of them never came out here, ever.


Actually...you can still buy Final Fantasy Chronicles, which has FFIV, and Final Fantasy Anthology, which has FFV and FFVI, in stores today...

FFIII no...but I'm excited for all of them

[nonchalance]

I don't particularly care for Final Fantasy, but trying to troll and compare these to the PSP's numerous Playstation 2 ports is silly.

No, it's not. They're pretty much the same thing.
Both are basic ports of console to handheld, cheap low-risk investments.


The difference, if there is one, is in the rest of the lineup - PSP's port percentage is particularly pre-eminent.
The DS has a lot more original properties and standalone sequels.

[Spigot]

Actually...you can still buy Final Fantasy Chronicles, which has FFIV, and Final Fantasy Anthology, which has FFV and FFVI, in stores today...

FFIII no...but I'm excited for all of them

The problem with these versions is that the emulator they use for the PS1 hardware is slow at best with regards to menu changes, etc. It's great to have these games in a format that you can play on the current generation of consoles (PS2, to be exact) but the speed of the cartridges just can't be beat... at least not with whatever they're using to emulate the games.

I find that the speedy cartridge emulation on the GBA coupled with its portability is what really sells this set to me. If I could play FFVI at my in-laws when I'm stuck there, I'd be in heaven.

[DriveALW]

You beat me to it. One day they'll wise up and release it. I keep trying to play my PS1 version and it's just not that good when you have to wait for the CD to load every freakin' menu.

Sigh.

I've found on PS2 those load times from the pS1 game were much reduced. However, I assume you probably *are* using your PS2 to play at this point, so... probably disregard?

[DriveALW]

*cough* The GBA has had SNES emulators for years and they work on the DS *cough*


Plus, the *official* releases for the GBA and DS actually run on the systems they're intended to, without crashing them and shutting them down.

*CoughMaddenCough*

(so far)

[Spigot]

I've found on PS2 those load times from the pS1 game were much reduced. However, I assume you probably *are* using your PS2 to play at this point, so... probably disregard?

Aye. Regardless of the settings of the PS1 portion of the PS2, it still runs a wee bit too sluggy for me. Eventually I'll just break down and play through CT multiple times on my PS2 because I'll be sick of waiting for the cartridge to fall back into my lap again (my SNES was stolen along with my CT waaaay back in the 90's) but I still miss the speed of the cartridge.

[mister_slim]

Square seems to remembered their money tree.