• Every review you read repeats the same complaint about how this game is ‘short’, which is true, but that does not mean it’s easy. Yeah there are very few levels but if you don’t know what you’re doing, it can get brutal. There are platforming sequences which are very frustrating.
• The things about it which are easy are (1) most of the bosses, including the final boss and (2) the extremely generous continue system. Basically the amount of lives you have doesn’t matter that much. Once a level is complete, it is complete even if you run out of lives.
• There is a boss gauntlet at the end like lots of other games from this time, but they give you health and magic powerups between each one???
• I really love this graphical style, and might put Hook on the list since it’s made by the same people?
• Same goes for the soundtrack. It is really disappointing how boring the ending screen is, considering that everything else looks and sounds incredible.
• The controls take some getting used to, and aren’t really as fluid as everyone says. It can be a huge pain when you stick to a wall and didn’t intend to.

• Though this disc contains remasters of the first two Final Fantasy games, the goal was only to complete the first one. I don’t know if I’ll ever come back for the second one. FF1 is probably my favorite in the whole series.
• I am not an expert on all the different remasters of the original NES games; the criteria I was selecting for was:
  • As close as possible to the NES original, but with bug fixes.
  • I don’t want the game to be any “easier” or need it to “appeal to modern players” or anything, I just wanted the spells to work.
  • No romhacks of the original. There will never be a romhack in this section of the site. Real games only.
• From my research, it seemed this remake was about as close as you can get to the original, with bug fixes and graphics updates only, and hasn’t been molested in any other horrible way (like switching to an “MP” system for spells or something)
• All that being said, this is the first time I have beat any version of the original Final Fantasy. Over the years, I’ve probably started this game 10-15 times, and never bothered to finish it.
• It does feel good to have sat down and pushed through ALL the boring parts to accomplish showing the ending screen.
• I made a pathway through the game which never really required me to do any grinding (maybe a little bit in the early game) so thankfully it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.
• Though I don’t think any sound or graphical upgrades are needed, they are very welcome. Especially playing this using an original controller and an emulator, with the sound coming through really nice headphones. It is very immersive.
• Because this version is almost completely unmolested, you can even use the manual or strategy guide for the original game and everything makes sense. I never checked what is in the manual for this specific version.
• Everything about this game holds up today. If you really like RPG’s, there’s nothing in here which would confuse or annoy you. As a bonus, this one has a legitimately coherent story line, unlike almost every other Final Fantasy!

Final Team:

Knight, Master, Red Wizard, Black Wizard

• Gets to count as “retro” because it is very damn close to the GameCube original. Not much different than playing Final Fantasy I on the PlayStation
• It’s just like you remember it, but in HD. For the first time, I think I “got” what people used to talk about when they recount seeing Mario in HD for the first time. This was my version of that; I love Metroid and love this game.
• For not having played this game in 15 years or so, I was shocked at how much I remembered.
• Everything about it is amazing. Everyone knows it. There’s not much else to say. I am just so glad this port exists at all.

• It remains absolutely ridiculous just how much Konami had the juice back in these days. Even their games no one has heard of are awesome.
• Actually I guess people have heard of it now. Like everyone else, I played this because of Game Center CX.
• I used the Nebulous Translations version, which I think is built on the RPGe original.
• Weirdly, after patching my ROM file, it would not run in NESTopia. It did, however, run on the Analogue Pocket where I played it. I think this is the first time I’ve seen a legitimate, objective benefit to the FPGA in the Pocket.
• Like many NES games, the key to success here is taking the time to get powered up early. I hadn’t done that at first, and I kept dying. So I reset my file completely, started over, farmed the easy levels to get my sword strength and money up, and had a much easier time.
• These kind of games almost always fall apart on balance and are either way too hard in the beginning, way too easy by the end, or both (looking at you, Kid Icarus). Getsu Fuuma Den does NOT suffer from this. Even after you’ve collected everything and have the ultimate weapon, the trip to the final boss is fun, and the final boss fight itself is a challenge.
• I was once again surprised by a very forgiving Continue system. You get 3 lives per continue, each Continue restores all extra lives which could be found in levels (so you can go back and get them every time if you want), and when you get Game Over, the only thing you lose is half your money. You don’t have to go hunting for items or power up your sword again.
• Yet again the music is stuck in my head. To no one’s surprise, it’s great.

• Shares some similarities with Legend of Zelda, in the sense that it’s really interesting to see which parts of the Metal Gear series have been here since the beginning. It’s probably more than you think: Cardboard boxes, cigarettes, a tank as a boss, etc. Even the plot line is roughly the same as Metal Gear Solid on the Playstation
• That said, if you don’t have a guide, this game is a SLOG. I’m not sure it would be worth playing except as an artifact of history. Equipping different card keys constantly is very annoying, the game constantly makes references to “Building X,” where X is a number, despite the fact that none of these buildings are ever labeled. There’s no map, you can’t know where you are, and the hints you would get have been really destroyed by the bad translation.
• Unlike a lot of NES games, the manual doesn’t really help any of this at all. Using a strategy guide is definitely the way to go.
• Accountability Corner: For the first time ever on one of these reviews, I have used a save state. After killing Coward Duck, I accidentally killed one of the 3 hostages, which took my star ranking from 4 to 3. I don’t know how to recover from this, so I assumed my game was in an unwinnable state. I rewound and went back to before the Coward Duck fight. I always hate to do that, but for this reason, this run was not entirely legitimate. I think I paid enough punishment for this, as after the Duck fight, I immediately died and had a TON of backtracking to do, but I didn’t save state my way out of that one. I suffered the failure just like you’d have to do on original hardware.
• A lot of the backtracking, especially when you die, is really punishing, but I did all of it, every time. I even walked all the way back to the only place in the game that has Missiles (building 1) when I was very near the end of the game because I had run out. There are many elements like this, which I think were purposely designed to make the game feel longer than it is.

• I think this is the first Vic Tokai game I’ve finished? They’re all very weird little games. This seems to be one of the easier ones (Golgo 13 I remember being brutal)
• The game does an OK job at “teaching you how to play.” For example, early on, you learn that it’s GOOD to abuse the “Shop” system, as some parts of the game even require it.
• That’s a good thing, as our main character is very weak as-is. You definitely want to be using power-ups from the shop. Unlocking the “Teleport” hermit power early on is also a huge advantage, as that’s what lets you easily get HUGE amounts of money (between the hidden gold mine and the shop where you sell your gold)
• I didn’t care for the controls at first but that’s possibly because I had just come off Kid Icarus. The controls on this game aren’t that bad once you get used to them, just make sure to never overestimate your jump distance. Eventually you’ll be using jetpacks to get everywhere anyway.
• One annoying thing which is never really fixed by the items is the fact that enemies seem to have tiny little hitboxes, whereas your character has a MASSIVE one. It was very frustrating how many times I’d duck under an enemy thinking there’s no way I’m gonna get hit, and still got hurt.
• The music is good (a couple of these songs are still stuck in my head) but there’s just not enough of it. Whoever composed this, they should have let them run wild and do several more songs.
• The visuals, especially some of the color palette choices, are incredible. Every route is unique and some are especially memorable (it’ll be a long time before I forget how pretty Route 10 looks). I also really like the “80’s anime” art style.
• No battery saves on this one, but the password system is good! It saves the exact spot you were in when you retrieved it. You can even use it to, e.g. save right before a tough boss and get as many tries at it as you want.
• The continue system is harsh but fair. There are no extra lives. When you die, you get Game Over and are sent back to the last place you were on the overworld map. All of your items are intact, but you lose part of your Force. There does not seem to be a limit to how many Game Overs you can get.

• This is another one of those games where it seems like the creators knew that a lot of the levels are really, really annoying, and you’re going to die a lot, and therefore the game is required to have an awesome soundtrack. As many times as I got fed up with certain levels, the music kept me going.
• The WORST of the design decisions (Eggplant Wizard, the enemies that steal your items) are made up for by really, really good platforming.
• That said, this game has TERRIBLE balance. The first world is the hardest by a long shot. But, if you power yourself up correctly in those early stages, the rest of the stages get easier, and the game is actually a lot of fun.
• I found that the key to success was making sure to rack up 50k points in world 1-1. There’s no timer in this game, but the process of doing that takes FOREVER. It’s definitely worthwhile though.
• For such a simplistic game, the story is very coherent. There are 3 worlds (plus the final boss fight). World 1 is an escape from Hell, which is why you’re constantly climbing up. World 2 is on Earth and is a side scroller. World 3, you’re in the sky, climbing up again. Each world feels unique and entirely its’ own.
• Overall I see the flaws in this game and understand why people would have no patience for it, but if you can spend the time it takes to get through those first few levels the right way, the payoff is really good.

• I have played through this several times before, but this was the first time since beginning this little catalog of games beaten, so the result of this run is what’s posted.
• Didn’t go for 103%, so obviously got the bad ending and a bad spot on the leaderboards
• These games are famous for so much, probably not a lot new to say. I think the music on this one is almost as good as DKC2. Especially the later “factory” style levels, which at times are genuinely high-tension and scary.
• The levels themselves I think are the hardest in the series, but this iteration of K.Rool as the final boss is the easiest. I struggled much more with the last few levels leading up to K.Rool than I did with K.Rool himself
• The trade chain with the Bears is too simplistic and too irrelevant. They could have cut that entire aspect of this game, it does nothing at all. Would have been nice to feel rewarded for talking to them all, like completing a trade chain in Zelda.

• This game is truly incredible, and one of the best games I’ve played on any platform in a long time. It seems like Konami were experts at developing for the GBA at this point, since this is the third entry in the series
• There is literally nothing to complain about. Everything is perfect. Especially, as always, the music.
• I haven’t played enough Castlevania games to know where this one sits difficulty-wise, but it’s definitely harder than SotN and easier than the original on NES.
• Not entirely sure how they pulled this off, but it really seems like even though there’s a “leveling” system, it’s not easy to just grind your way out of your problems. Plenty of bosses are still really hard (the “Death” fight is really, really brutal)
• Replay value on this is huge, and I just might do it. After getting the “good” ending (pictured) once, you have the option to play in “Julius Mode,” which allows you to go through the entire game again, this time as a Belmont. (the first run through is a character who is played Alucard-style, where you’re collecting powers and equipping items and such)
• There is also a ‘Pokemon-like’ element to this game where you’re incentivized to collect as many enemy souls (thus absorbing their power) as possible. There’s even a reward for getting all of them.