From Jonathan's Reference Pages
As a kid, I was both amused and confused by the television advertisments for Final Fantasy VII. Amused, because this game series had apparently broken its label of "final" six times already, yet confused - if this game was popular enough to warrant such a long-running series, how come I'd never heard of the previous six? Furthermore, nobody I talked to had heard of Final Fantasy four through six.
It turns out that several not only were Final Fantasy games were released only in Japan, but several of the Final Fantasy games released had their name changed for the English-language release. Two of the Final Fantasy NES/SNES games were renumbered, while the Final Fantasy gameboy games weren't even part of the Final Fantasy series in Japan to begin with. Here's the full list.
Final Fantasy was released in Japan for the NES (which in Japan is known as the Famicom). It's said that the reason for the name Final Fantasy was that Squaresoft's games just weren't getting popular back then, they believed Final Fantasy would be their final game. It was unexpectedly popular, warranting and English-language release and a number of sequels.
Final Fantasy II and III were later released in Japan for the Famicom (NES), but were never officially translated to English. These are totally different to the SNES games released in America as Final Fantasy II/III (see below). More recently, fans have since translated the ROMs into English. Screenshots: Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy III.
Final Fantasy I and II were later re-released together on the Playstation as Final Fantasy Origins.
Final Fantasy IV was the first Final Fantasy game released for the SNES (known in Japan as the Super Famicom). To suit both veteran Final Fantasy fans as well as new players, two versions of the game were released: Final Fantasy IV Easytype, and Final Fantasy IV Hardtype, with Easytype appealing to newbies and Hardtype appealing to fans who liked a challenge. Easytype was released as Final Fantasy II in the US.
Final Fantasy V is possibly the best game of the series, and was one of the most popular in Japan, yet for some unfathomable reason it wasn't given an English release. FF5 sees. Instead, we got...
Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest, a simpler game which is nowhere near as enjoyable as FF5. Contrary to some suggestions, it is a "true" Final Fantasy game, being released in Japan under the name Final Fantasy USA. Screenshots: here.
Final Fantasy VI competes with FFV as the best Final Fantasy game in many peoples' opinions, and was released in the US as Final Fantasy III. FF6 is the one featuring Kefka, Terra, Locke and the Magitek Armor, and is a pretty spiffy game all-round. Later, this game was given a PSX release, where it was given its correct name (Final Fantasy VI) as well as some spiffy new FMVs.
In the US, Final Fantasy IV was rereleased on the on the Playstation along with Chrono Trigger as Final Fantasy Chronicles, while Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI were released together as Final Fantasy Anthology. However, in the UK, Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy V were released as Final Fantasy Anthology, while Final Fantasy VI was released seperately, with a free demo of Final Fantasy X.
None of the Gameboy releases of Final Fantasy were actually true Final Fantasy games - that is, they were not named "Final Fantasy" when first released in Japan. Final Fantasy Adventure was actually Seiken Densetsu, while Final Fantasy Legend 1-3 was actually the first three games of the SaGa series. Technically, this means that they weren't real Final Fantasy games, merely having the Final Fantasy game added to it for the English language release in order to benefit from the Final Fantasy series' popularity.
Interestingly, according to this website, Romancing SaGa 1-3 on the SNES was actually SaGa 4-6 in Japan, while the Playstation's Saga Frontier was Japan's SaGa 7.
Final Fantasy VII onward retained the correct Japanese numbering system.
If you fell asleep halfway through, here's a condensed of it.
Final Fantasy I and II were re-released as Final Fantasy Origins on the Playstation. Click here to buy it in the UK, or here to buy from the US.
Final Fantasy III was never released, but a version of it has been translated into English by fans of the series. You may be able to find it downloadable online, playable by a NES emulator such as NESticle. Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest and the Final Fantasy Gameboy games are no longer on sale, but if you find ROMs of them somewhere online, they are playable via a SNES emulator such as ZSNES or a Gameboy emulator such as NO$GMB.
If you're in America, you can buy Final Fantasy IV as Final Fantasy Chronicles, and both Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI as Final Fantasy Anthology.
If you're in the UK, you can buy Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy V as Final Fantasy Anthology, and also Final Fantasy VI. I highly recommend buying both 5 and 6, as they are among the finest games in the series.
27th February 2004
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