Final Fantasy was a 1990 release for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It had been released in 1987 in Japan for the Famicom.

It has since been released for an extremely wide range of platforms with the original graphics and remastered with a 2021 “Pixel Remaster” adding more detailed graphics, music, and quality of life features. The Pixel Remaster series stretched to include the first six Final Fantasy games originally released for the NES and SNES.

Watching a Friend Play

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I have some, limited, memories of a friend playing Final Fantasy when it was new. We would have both been around 13-14 and I think he was playing it primarily with a sibling or his father, so he mostly showed me progress or an occasional fight. I also had an issue of Nintendo Power that covered the game: I probably have a lot of memories of the game from that article which was a mini-strategy guide. I remember hearing about meeting one of the game’s first rare monsters, WarMech: A giant robot that looked like a chicken-legged walker out of Battletech and was part of this game’s occasional dives into more sci-fi themed activity. I think my friend even claimed to have encountered the incredibly rare double WarMech (Two of the incredibly dangerous monster at once) but that may have been one of the not-uncommon urban gaming legends of the early 90s. Alternatively I see some notes that the RNG in the game used a relatively small repeated list of random numbers, and it’s not unknown to encounter Warmech multiple times in a row despite the low chance of encountering the monster. It’s psosible I waas told about WarMech being enocuntered twice in a row, not twice in the same fight.

Logging some Hours

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I’d later get access to a copy. I think it may have been via another friend who just wasn’t into that kind of game, but I was able to play large swaths of the story. The NES was a poor platform for RPGs: I also had access to games like the SSI “Gold Box” D&D themed games that implemented a complex, if limited, version of the Dungeons & Dragons ruleset and used numbered paragraphs in the manual to add background text and details.

Much, Much Later

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Years later (Guessing 2015 based on receipts!) I’m a homeowner, theoretically an adult, with time off after the holidays. I ended up picking up the IOS port and played through it. This was the original port, not the more current remastered version, so identical graphics and gameplay to the original, combined with the unwieldy on-screen controls favored for the IOS ports.

One positive is this made me realize the value of portable game systems and games that can be set aside as needed. They allow enthusiasts like myself to get the game experience in, but at the same time to share space with spouses and such: To me, it’s much the same as reading a book while sitting with someone you care about.

A Simpler Story for A Simpler Time

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It’s a simple story sparsely told with limited text and scripted scenes, but establishes several tropes of the series.

Series Tropes

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As the first game in the series, there’s some concepts that became core to the game, althoguh the series is something of a ‘Ship of Theseus’ at this point as nearly every foundational idea has been modified or removed for one game in the sprawling series. Some major recurring ideas this game initiated include:

Elemental Crystals

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Crystals tied to the elements are a common theme of the series, especially in the sprite-based games. The idea would fade with the 3d games, but Final Fantasy IX has crystals (translated as jewels) as a major element. That game was promoted with a “Back to the Basics” theme in general, and is a return to a more fantasy-themed game world after a VII and VIII’s more science-fiction themed world.

Elemental Damage

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The crystals also inform game mechanics via the elemental ties, although I don’t remember the actual crystals in this game acting as more than plot tokens.

Airships (and other vehicles)

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While certainly not the first cRPG to feature player-controlled vehicles (Some games in the Ultima series had interesting conveyances) it felt like a core attribute of the series. This game has a ‘regular’ ship and an airship that the player can sue to explore the world.

Character Evolution

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While not as common as other tropes, the idea of characters changing and being promoted was already in the game at this time. Later games would make character jobs a mechanical gameplay element. As of this game it’s a milestone: Achieving a specific quest converts the player’s four characters from the basic classes to more advanced heroic versions.

Iconic Monsters

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In addition to the Elemental Fiends a few recurring monsters were brought into the series by this game. Of note several seem to have been filtered through the Dungeons & Dragons: One of note is the Sorceror, a recurring enemy in the series based off the “Mind Flayer” a creature from D&D lore.

There’s also color-coded dragons and a surprising range of mundane monsters. Unsurprising for the era is several pallete swap monsters, reusing preciosu sprite resources by changing the color scheme.

Look and Feel

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While simpler and more constrained than the later games, the “look” of the series is established in a form that would be developed through the sprite games and a bit beyond. There’s distinct ‘windoid’ elements used to separate user interface elements even though they’re not really ‘windows’ in the accepted UI sense.

NES as a Platform

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Despite its accomplishments, the Nintendo Entertainment System was not a powerful computer. Infamously the classic Super Mario Bros. game fits in something like 40k of total storage. I’ve seen the following numbers for the Famicon/NES Final Fantasy games:

(Fun fact: Final Fantasy I and II literally use less storage combined than the third game!)

The pattern loosely continues through the NES and SNES eras, with a massive jump as gaming enters the PlayStation era. Later games would add more art such as character portraits and additional icons. This even included player-configurable color schemes for the UI! With the added power of the SNES it really does feel like a simple GUI system optimized for the controller. The newest I’ve found info on, Final Fantasy XVI, is over 90 Gigabytes of storage!

But back to the NES: The system had limitations beyond the cost of storage. Ignoring some slight differences between the Japanese and International versions, the expectation was two controllers with a d-pad, two main buttons, and two secondary buttons. This imposes limitations: The game uses a very simple interface compared to computer-based RPGs like SSI’s 1989 Curse of the Azure Bonds which could expect a keyboard.

“Exploration” uses a simple tile-based system that would be refined through the next five sequels and countless games that used this as a model. The status and combat interfaces use simple menus with minimal depth.

Importantly, it works. While intimidating for some, the interface is effective and clean. Exploration is fun and there’s room for pleasant surprises like hidden items around the various maps. The system generally makes it clear what a player’s choices will cause to happen.

Combat is a a screen layout the player will get used to quickly:

• A ‘windoid’ showing up to nine monster sprites in a grid.
• A ‘windoid’ showing the characters providing space for limited animation and a brief view of status.
• Separate overlapping blocks for each character showing their current Hit Points.
• Multiple additional elements created to show menu selections, targeting, and explain the combat as it it played out.

It’s simplistic but effective. Some games on less restricted platforms had tactical combat, but Final Fantasy has the virtue of being relatively easy to pick up and play. A major advantage is that it would have been much easier to wander around a bit and play a fight or two before leaving for school compared to the PC equivalent that took much longer to boot and get to a playable state.

But Storytelling…

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This is an early effort, so storytelling is minimal compared to later games. My Final Fantasy IV review is heavy on the cinematic feel of that game, but this game hews closer to the Dragon Quest model of being a relatively simple plot that allows the player to build their party for it. There’s no clever character swaps. Dialog is minimal and much less character driven, more “Go here next.”

Unfortunately the original version has no real nudges or reminders as to the next goal. If you step away from the game you can forget the place or be left wandering.

There’s no real “puzzles” in the sense we expect from later games, just combat challenges. The developers really hadn’t delved into the later game’s “puzzle fights” and there was probably no way the game could accommodate ‘minigames’ as later releases did, but the lack of these does not detract from the core of the game.

(Final Fantasy I does have a mini-game hidden in it: An easter egg of sorts is a way to find a ‘sliding number’ puzzle. It’s totally unrelated to the plot so really just an easter egg. It’s a ‘sliding tile’ puzzle where a 4x4 grid has the numbers 1-15 and an ’empty’ space randomly within it and the player must move pieces around via the empty space to put it back in order. It has no game effect other than, depending on the version of the game, a prize that ranges from embarrassingly small to moderately useful.)

Is it good?

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Considered in 2025 recommending playing the original Final Fantasy is tough. From memory the ports can be played through relatively quickly if someone is willing to consult the internet for advice at times. As I mention above there’s no real “quest log” equivalent, something I hope the Pixel Remasters have remedied. They’re available on the Apple Arcade service for anyone interested.

I’d intended this to be a quick review since I had no real interest in re-playing the original: Obviously that got a little out of hand. I’d say it’s a good game with a definite place in history, but just not as replay-friendly as others. If I am able to find time for Final Fantasy II and Final Fantasy III (By the original reckoning) it will be interesting to see how they iterated on the formula despite being restricted to similar hardware. If I’m able to get to playing those I will probably use the Game Boy Advanced ports.