Final Fantasy II

Final Fantasy II is the second installment in the Final Fantasy Series. It is notable for being one of the first story-intensive RPGs released for a console system, and for being the first game in the series to feature many elements that would later become staples of the Final Fantasy franchise, including chocobos and a character by the name of Cid. It was also unique for eliminating the traditional experience-based advancement system, instead favoring a system wherein the statistics of playable characters increased according either to how much they were required, or how much they used. In other words, a character who frequently cast magic spells would have their proficiency at casting increase faster than a character who specialized in physical attacks.
Although abandoned by subsequent installments in the series, a similar system was adopted by the SaGa series, also produced by Square. As a side-note, this game was actually designed by Akitoshi Kawazu, who later designed the SaGa series, rather than Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of the series. Because of the popularity of the series in America during the '90s, Final Fantasy II was one of the first games to undergo fan translation, in this case by NeoDemiforce. Final Fantasy II was originally scored by Nobuo Uematsu, and it was Uematsu's seventeenth work of video game music. The game's music was arranged by Tsuyoshi Sekito for the WonderSwan Color, PlayStation, Game Boy Advance and PlayStation Portable remakes.

Final Fantasy I and II

PlayStation Portable

Final Fantasy I and II were released separately on Sony PlayStation Portable. They were complete remakes of both versions with more revised storylines and better graphics thanks to the PlayStation Portable's capabilities. Final Fantasy I and II were released on the 20th Anniversary of the Final Fantasy series, along with Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions which also bears the 20th Anniversary logo.

iPhone
Ports of the PlayStation Portable versions of Final Fantasy I and II were released as downloadable apps on the iPhone App Store.

Blackberry
Ports of the PlayStation Portable versions of Final Fantasy I were released as a downloadable app on the BlackBerry App World.

Final Fantasy I and II Changes and Additions-Game Boy Advance

A battle against a Soul of Chaos boss in the GBA version. This one is Shinryuu from Final Fantasy V

Both games were faithful in content to the original NES versions, and the package, while graphically similar to the WonderSwan Color adaptation of the first game, also contains the Bestiary feature, which allowed the player to view images and statistics of enemies that they had defeated in both games, and which first featured in the PlayStation package.
However, the package lacked the ability to choose between easy and normal games as was available in Final Fantasy Origins, although not in the original. Many reviewers complained that the first game appeared to default to "easy", making the heroes level-up much more easily and rendering enemies much easier to defeat, especially in comparison with the NES original. Many items were cheaper, the party began with more money, and defeating enemies brought greater rewards. Others praised the reduced difficulty level, saying that the high difficulty level (especially in comparison to later titles) was its primary weakness. In Final Fantasy II, magic degrading as physical strength grew and vice versa was removed; unlike the changes to Final Fantasy I however this was generally better received among players. Another thing that was added to both games is the ability to save the game at any point out of battle, and later resume from that same point, while the originals only allowed this under certain conditions. This was not a feature in Final Fantasy Origins or the original versions of the games.
Final Fantasy I also featured four extra dungeons known as the "Soul of Chaos" dungeons. These dungeons are accessible by restoring power to the Crystals by defeating each of the Elemental Fiends; the death of each Fiend unlocks a dungeon terminating in a selection of four bosses each from Final Fantasy III, IV, V, and VI.
Final Fantasy II featured a completely original feature found in none of the previous remakes. Once completed, a bonus storyline entitled Soul of Rebirth would be accessible to the player, featuring a number of characters who had been killed off during the course of the main story. The game only features four areas and most of the time will be spent training up for a second encounter with the last boss. An Ultima tome can be achieved but it requires the killing of the extremely powerful Ultima Weapon.
Additionally, the airship parts in both use Mode 7.

Final Fantasy I and II Changes and Additions-PlayStation

The PlayStation versions of the game were most similar to the WonderSwan Color remakes that were produced separately in 2000 and 2001, respectively. Other than minor changes to take advantage of Sony's superior hardware, such as a higher screen resolution which meant that the graphics in the PlayStation version were slightly more detailed, and the remixed soundtracks, the PlayStation versions were basically identical to the earlier WonderSwan versions. Both games have added CGI FMV cut scenes, and added content. It also includes art galleries of Yoshitaka Amano's illustrations.
As for the tomb at Elfheim (or Elf Land on the NES version), the tomb reads "Here lies Erdrick" on the American NES version of Final Fantasy I, a reference to the Dragon Warrior game. It reads "May Link rest in peace," on the American Final Fantasy Origins (reference to the hero of the Legend of Zelda series). It reads "May Erdrick rest in peace," on the PAL Final Fantasy Origins version. (Interestingly, the text referencing Link was only slightly changed in Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn Of Souls, even though that version was made for a Nintendo system. In the Dawn of Souls and PSP versions, it reads "Here lies Link.")
While the original version of Final Fantasy I has only one save slot and the WonderSwan Color version has only eight, the Final Fantasy Origins and PlayStation Portable versions have as many save slots as the player has available through PlayStation memory cards. The GBA version only has three save slots.
The Origins version has been released on the PSN Store in Japan.

Final Fantasy I and II Changes and Additions-Famicom

As Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II had originally been released for the Nintendo Entertainment System, very few changes were rendered from the original releases in the compilation version: a typographical error was corrected in Final Fantasy and two monster designs were subtly altered in Final Fantasy II. The first game basically borrows almost all of the graphical changes made to the English version (most notably the monsters "Beholder" and "Medusa", which use the altered sprite in subsequent remakes).

Final Fantasy I and II

Final Fantasy I•II is a compilation of two Square Co. console role-playing games for the Nintendo Family Computer: Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II. As both games had originally appeared on the Famicom, there were few substantial changes between the originals and the compilation versions. Final Fantasy I–II was the last cartridge Square released for the Famicom, in early 1994, and was released in a limited edition box including various bonuses, such as maps and hint books. The compilation was never officially released outside of Japan.
PlayStation versions of the two games were released in Japan in 2002 by Square. Each game was either sold separately, or combined in the form of the Final Fantasy I & II Premium Package (ファイナルファンタジーI・II プレミアムパッケージ), a special edition collection which included both games as well as three collector's figurines. This collection, without the special packaging and figurines, was next published as Final Fantasy Origins in Europe by Infogrames in 2003. Later in the same year, the two games were combined onto one disc and released in North America by Square Enix under the same name. It was the first time either game had been officially released in Europe, and the first time Final Fantasy II had been officially released in North America.
The PlayStation remakes were later put onto the same cartridge when they were ported to the Game Boy Advance as Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls (known as Final Fantasy I + II Advance (ファイナルファンタジーI・IIアドバンス) in Japan). The port featured similar graphics / sound to the PlayStation version (though slightly inferior due to the Game Boy Advance's capabilities). The Game Boy Advance version of Final Fantasy contains four extra dungeons featuring bosses from later Final Fantasy titles, plus a few gameplay tweaks (including an MP system and easier difficulty setting). This version of Final Fantasy II included an extra side-story after finishing the game but the overall gameplay was not altered from the PlayStation version.

Final Fantasy (video game) Reception and Legacy

Final Fantasy has been well-received by critics and commercially successful; the original release sold 400,000 copies. As of March 31, 2003, the game, including all re-releases at the time, had shipped 1.99 million copies worldwide, with 1.21 million of those copies being shipped in Japan and 780,000 abroad. As of November 19, 2007, the PlayStation Portable version has shipped 140,000 copies. In March 2006, Final Fantasy appeared in the Japanese magazine Famitsu's Top 100 games list, where readers voted it the 63rd best game of all time. GameFAQs users made a similar list in 2005, which ranked Final Fantasy at 76th. It was rated the 49th best game made on a Nintendo system in Nintendo Power's Top 200 Games list. In August 2008, Nintendo Power ranked it the 19th best Nintendo Entertainment System video game, praising it for setting up the basics of console role-playing games along with Dragon Warrior, and citing examples such as epic stories, leveling up, random battles, and character classes. Editors at IGN ranked Final Fantasy the 11th-best game on the console, calling the game's class system diverse, and praising its convenient use of vehicles as a means of traveling across the world map.
Final Fantasy was one of the most influential early console role-playing games, and played a major role in legitimizing and popularizing the genre. According to IGN's Matt Casamassina, Final Fantasy's storyline had a deeper and more engaging story than the original Dragon Quest (known as Dragon Warrior in North America). Many modern critics have pointed out that the game is poorly paced by contemporary standards, and involves much more time wandering in search of random battle encounters to raise their experience levels and money than it does exploring and solving puzzles. Other reviewers find the level-building and exploration portions of the game as the most amusing ones. The game is also considered by many as the weakest and most difficult installment of the series.
The subsequent versions of Final Fantasy have garnered mostly favorable reviews from the media. Peer Schneider of IGN enjoyed the WonderSwan Color version, praising its graphical improvements, especially the environments, characters, and monsters. Final Fantasy Origins was generally well-received; GamePro said the music was "fantastic", and that the graphics had a "suitably retro cuteness to them". Reviews for Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls were generally positive, with Jeremy Dunham of IGN giving particular praise to the improved English translation, saying it was better than any previous version of the game. The PlayStation Portable version was not as critically successful as the previous releases; GameSpot's Kevin VanOrd cited the visuals as its strongest enhancement, but stated that the additional random enemy encounters and updated graphics did not add much value.
The theme song that plays when the player characters first cross the bridge from Coneria has become the recurring theme music of the series, and has been featured in most numbered Final Fantasy titles except Final Fantasy II and Final Fantasy XIII. Final Fantasy was also the basis for the series finale of a video game-themed cartoon series Captain N: The Game Master entitled The Fractured Fantasy of Captain N. 8-Bit Theater, a sprite-based webcomic created by Brian Clevinger parodying the game, has become very popular in the gaming community since it started in March 2001.
Warrior of Light, based on Yoshitaka Amano's design of the lead character, and Garland are the respective hero and villain representing Final Fantasy in Dissidia: Final Fantasy. Warrior of Light is voiced by Toshihiko Seki in the Japanese version and Grant George in the English version, while Garland is voiced by Kenji Utsumi in the Japanese version and Christopher Sabat in the English version.