A Welcomed Second Coming
For those who haven't played the game previously, FFIV tells the story of Cecil, a Dark Knight in the service of the nation of Baron. A captain in the Red Wings, a fleet of airships in the service of the kingdom, Cecil is charged with taking the Crystal of Water from the neighboring city of Mysidia. What unfolds there will lead to a series of events that threatens the entire planet, and all who inhabit it, and -- literally -- changes the course of Cecil's destiny forever.
This is where Final Fantasy IV Advance really shines. Back in its heyday, Final Fantasy IV (released in the United States on the Super Nintendo as Final Fantasy II for continuity's sake, as the first Final Fantasy on the NES was the only one previously sold in the US) was revolutionary for its emphasis on its story, rather than focusing on dungeon crawling or mindless number crunching of statistics. FFIV's story, which today might not seem so original or cutting-edge, was what kept you playing, as you waited to see what would happen to Cecil and his companions as they progress on their story.
However, in some ways, this isn't the same game that some played back when it was originally released. Many considered that game too easy, and some parts of it were removed completely, to make it more 'palatable' for American audiences. Also, both an 'Easy' and 'Hard' version were sold in Japan, for some reason. Thankfully, this is a faithful reproduction of the 'Hard' version offered in Japan, and its translation has been cleaned up from the previous FFIV, offered along with Chrono Trigger as part of Final Fantasy Chronicles for the PSX. Also missing are the infernal loading times that FFC forced players to sit through, which is almost worth the entire price of admission by default.
Also included are some new parts of the game focused on the end-game portions, which help to add replayability. Originally, the final party was set in stone, as you finished the game with Cecil and four other companions. Now, an additional five characters are available to help defeat the final boss, and all but Cecil can be switched out at will. They also follow along with your level progression, in order to avoid having to force them to 'catch up.' Unfortunately, you always have to return to Mysidia in order to switch characters, but this is a minor complaint, at best.
There are also two new dungeons -- a 'Cave of Trials,' where the five 'new' characters have more powerful weapons to fight for, and the 'Lunar Ruins,' which are only accessable after defeating the final boss. The Ruins also house special "challenges" for each characters, which are a nice touch, with variety and some unexpected additional story elements. However, the difficulty in some of these might have players gritting their teeth in frustration, and I wouldn't have known I "failed" one at all were it not for an F.A.Q. file I read after the fact.
In addition to these, both a Bestiary feature (which lists every enemy you manage to defeat), and a Music Player (accessable after beating the game) are more minor add-ons, but are welcome nonetheless. You might find yourself drawn to checking your Bestiary often, in a Pokemon-esque drive to "catch 'em all." And, if you enjoy the music of the game -- one of its greatest features -- the Music Player can entertain you as long as you like.
Unfortunately, not everything in this game is golden the second time around. Combat can have some serious slowdown issues, as a player has to decide between choosing 'Active' mode -- where enemies attack regardless of your actions -- or 'Wait' mode, where the enemies pause while you make your choices of spells, attacks, or what-have-you. When in Active mode, the game slows down to a sluggish pace, as if the system has trouble with allowing an enemy to make its attack while you move your cursor simultaneously. Also, a strange glitch occurs if you hold down your confirmation button, where your characters can often attack two or three times in a row, regardless of the position the attack bar is at (which ordinarily has to fill up before allowing another turn). Sometimes, boss characters only got to attack once or twice before they were defeated while I played in Wait mode.
The sound, too, takes a beating. The songs have been giving a fine-tuning with FFIV Advance, and some tunes (the battle songs, in particular) will dare you not to start tapping your toes or hum along as they progress. However, several songs have suffered due to either the limitations of the hardware, or some other circumstance. Two songs in particular -- King Giott's theme, and 'Mystic Mysidia' -- vastly pale in comparison to their SNES predecessors, which begs the question of just why all the songs needed such 'tweaking' in the first place. It boggles the mind that technology more then a decade later can't offer the same experience SNES players got, as both songs and sound effects sometimes suffer for it. Again, this is a minor complaint, but as the music plays such a vital role in the storytelling, it can be distracting, at times.
Finally, and saddest of all, it must be stated that these graphics ARE vastly inferior to the eye-popping, jaw-dropping visuals of today, which may push some people away. As the original came out back in 1992, they were superior in their time, with the quasi-3D flying effects, and detailed enemy sprites, but there are even some GBA games today that can outperform FFIV Advance, pixel-for-pixel. However, with 3D graphics being pushed so hard on today's platforms, FFIV Advance holds a certain charm to it, opening a window to Yesteryear when graphics and gameplay played Second Fiddle to the story they had to tell.
This is 'Old School Gaming' at its finest, and anyone with a GBA of ANY kind should pick it up, or be forced to play it at least once. As someone who's been playing the same game over and over for almost fourteen years now, I can guarantee that it's worth every penny you pay for it. Go get it.
Now.