Product Description

Hot on the heels of Final Fantasy IV Advance, Final Fantasy VI Advance will soon be available to handheld gamers. However, this is more than a simple port—every aspect of the game has been reviewed and enhanced. Additionally, a host of brand-new elements have been seamlessly merged with the original game, providing unexpected surprises for longtime fans. With new dungeons, new job classes, and other exciting features, both old-school players and newcomers can enjoy this genre-defining Final Fantasy title in a portable format!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2145 in Video Games
• Brand: Nintendo
• Released on: 2007-02-05
• ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+
• Platform: Game Boy Advance
• Subtitled in: German, English, French, Italian, Spanish
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00" h x 5.00" w x 5.00" l, .18 pounds

Features

• With Edgar's tools, Terra's magic, Sabin's fists and the skills of a dozen additional characters, the Returners need only your help to seize victory from the Empire
• Summon the power of the espers, magical creatures enslaved by the Empire. Never-before-seen espers like Leviathan, Cactuar and Gilgamesh will lend their strength to you as you explore the all-new Dragon's Den dungeon
• Just because the adventure ends doesn't mean the action has to - Study your foes with the Bestiary, and then face them all in continuous battle in Soul Shrine, or relive your favorite songs in the bonus music player
• Featuring improved graphics, a new translation, and a remixed soundtrack, Final Fantasy VI Advance is the definitive version of this classic RPG title

Customer Reviews

A Decent Port of a Fantastic Game
As a fan of the original "localized" version of Final Fantasy VI (named Final Fantasy III to keep with the American Final Fantasy numbering scheme), I have long awaited a portable release of this game. I can say, with certainty, that Final Fantasy VI is and always has been one of the best (if not the best) games in the series. While I'm overall very pleased with this re-release, there are a few caveats to the port that fans of the original might notice.

To speak of the game itself, it is a masterpiece.

The story is captivating, keeping the player interested to the very end. The plot involves many of the traditional Final Fantasy themes (balances of natural forces, quests for power, a floating continent), but weaves them in subtly without being overbearing.

The characters are very memorable and grow as the story progresses. Each of the protagonists has their own quirks and weaknesses, and many of them have to overcome their personal demons in order to face the final challenge of the game. In addition, Final Fantasy VI provides a quirky antagonist. While the Final Fantasy predecessors all served up vague, devil-like antagonists with little personality other than to state that they are the source of evil, Kefka is quirky. His dialogue is written with a sense of humor where necessary, and his back story provides further impetus for the protagonists. Kefka is the first Final Fantasy villain that fans truly love to hate. Also, the gameplay is fun and varied. The esper system (used to learn magic in the game) is powerful and customizable, yet still simple enough for everyone to pick up and understand. The addition of a special armor / accessory class (relics) provides a simple way for players to know what equipment will cause what effects. The dungeons are challenging but not frustratingly long or inaccessible.

With all that said, this port of the game is decent enough but does have its drawbacks.

The graphics are just as beautiful as in the Super Nintendo / Famicom version and don't suffer a significant slowdown as with the Final Fantasy IV advance remake. The sharper screen of a Nintendo DS best showcases the visual beauty of this game, and those playing on an older Gameboy Advance or even SP might miss some detail.

The soundtrack to this game is one of Uematsu's masterpieces, and the port does a decent job of recreating the experience with the Game Boy's limited hardware. The music has been slightly remixed to fit in the fewer channels that the portable system allows. While many of the tracks have been "jazzed up" to cover the lack of extra instrumentation, the transferred soundtrack is still a slight downgrade from the original. While new fans of the game are not likely to notice, old schoolers who played the original incarnation will stand to be slightly disappointed.

Lastly, the game has been retranslated and relocalized, overwriting some of the heavily criticized decisions made by original translator Ted Woolsey. In many aspects, this serves to help the game. The vagueness that came from Woolsey's Western-interpretation of the plot has been somewhat cleared up. In addition, some of the character interactions that would have once seemed vague and misleading now show clear direction. Not all of the changes are for the better, however. The new translation also censors a few of the games scenes, seemingly for brutality (ie, Celes's incarceration). Also, and this will probably only affect those familiar with the original, the new translation has changed the lyrics of "Aria di Mezzo Carattere." While the new translation better fits with the music, the Aria is considered one of the most memorable moments in the series, and the difference is likely to irritate old fans.

Final Fantasy is a brilliant series with many brilliant games, but in my opinion, the true beginning of Final Fantasy as a dynasty is here. The game is more grown-up in many aspects than those before it and still shines as brightly as some of those that have come after. While this is an imperfect port of the original, porting a game always requires some sacrifices. The developers made decent choices, given the options that they had.

Whether you're an old fan back to reminisce or new to the series, Final Fantasy VI Advance will provide hours of intrigue and fun.

A great version of the best FF game of them all
I loved FF6 when it was released on the Super Nintendo. Despite a lot of bugs (some of which I actually gre fond of), the game was incredibly impressive, over-topping the previous FF entries (and, IMHO, over-topping subsequent entries as well).

I then purchased the PS version, and while I still loved the game, the presentation was lacking (incredibly long load times really marred the game).

Thus, fast-forward to the cartridge version of FF6, which is fantastic. Forget the surface additions, such as a bestiary, additional levels and espers, and a remixed soundtrack - the selling point here is a return to the game you knew and loved as a teenager. FF6 has the goods, and I'm glad non-PS owners can once again enjoy this classic. What more needs to be said?

Good game, honors the original in a portable format, but not without flaws.
As a previous reviewer stated, if you enjoyed the SNES version, you'll enjoy playing this one. However, it does leave some things to be desired.

The dialogue has changed, and as a result, Kefka isn't as funny. Kefka's funny-ness was one of the things that made the SNES version great! Who would have thought that a character could be the ultimate evil villain and the comic relief all in one? That didn't quite happen here.

The other thing that irked me was the final battle music, although there were musical snags that bugged me in all of the GBA remakes. (And I'm a musician, so I would notice this) During the final battle, the music was programmed such that even when you beat one stage of the crawling tower, the music kept playing until it reached the end of the section and _then_ started the new section, so that it felt like you were hearing one continuous piece of music. Not here. In this case, when you finish one section, the music immediately switches. It would be analagous to if the conductor, in the middle of a repeating section of music, just suddenly had his orchestra jump to the next one.

Finally, the bonus features got rather confusing, like when I was trying to figure out how to get Gilgamesh to appear in the Coliseum. And don't get me started about the Dragon's Den!

So yeah, I bought it, I enjoyed it, I don't regret that I did, and there were some things I didn't like about it. Not all that uncommon, I suppose. But if you really want to see what FF6 was about, play the SNES version.