Overview
- Also Known As
- Final Fantasy IV (Japan)
- Number of Players
- 1 (Single Player)
- Genre
- Release Date
Super Nintendo
- 23rd Nov 1991
- 19th Jul 1991
Wii (Wii Shop)
- 8th Mar 2010, 800 points
- 11th Jun 2010, 900 points
- 4th Aug 2009, 900 points
Wii U eShop
- 19th Feb 2014, ¥900
- Also Available On
- Series
- Tags
Reviews
Review Final Fantasy II (Virtual Console / Super Nintendo)
Still a timeless RPG classic.
While the game was the second numbered Final Fantasy when it was released in North America back in 1991, it's actually the fourth entry in the series due to the second and third 8-bit releases remaining in Japan at the time. It marked the series debut on Nintendo's 16-bit console and added quite a few new gameplay...
Screenshots 8
Final Fantasy II News
Poll Final Fantasy IV - Do You Prefer The Original Or The DS Remake?
Throwing down the gauntlet
The DS remake of Final Fantasy IV turns 15 today in North America - can you believe it? If the copious social media posts earlier this week about Nolan's The Dark Knight didn't make you feel old, then perhaps this will. Regardless, it still stands to this day as one of the most impressive remakes we've seen. Granted, the...
News Veteran Final Fantasy Devs Gather To Celebrate Franchise's 35th Anniversary
First three titles covered
The Final Fantasy franchise turns 35 this year and to celebrate, veteran developers of the series have gathered together to discuss their own personal history with its development. Interviewees include the 'Father of Final Fantasy', Hironobu Sakaguchi, Art Director Kazuo Shibuya, and Brand Manager Yoshinori Kitase. The...
Poll Box Art Brawl: Final Fantasy IV (DS)
You spoony bard!
Hello folks, and welcome to another edition of Box Art Brawl! Before we get cracking with this week's rumble, let's take a look at how the votes panned out last time. We took a look at Professor Layton and the Curious Village for the DS and, holy moly, it was actually a rather close call. North America won out with 48% of the vote,...
Feature Final Fantasy's 35-Year Legacy Of Innovation - How Square Evolved A Genre On The NES & SNES
A Prelude to all future RPGs
Final Fantasy is now 35 years old, and that feels a little bit weird to say. While not the first RPG series to ever grace a home console or even the first Japanese-developed RPG, Final Fantasy is, arguably, the JRPG. Everyone knows it, and everyone has played at least one. There’s a lot of debate about what Final...
News Fancy A Glimpse Of An Unpublished Final Fantasy Comic From The '90s?
"Four issues were outlined, two or three written. One and a half drawn..."
Comic book writer Kurt Busiek, whose impressive career includes runs on many familiar titles from Marvel and DC, has recently opened up on Twitter about a video game-related project he was involved with back in the early 1990s — a Final Fantasy comic. As Busiek points out,...
News Final Fantasy Composer Nobuo Uematsu Takes Indefinite Break Due To Health Problems
Hopes to return in the future
If you have ever played one of Square Enix's Final Fantasy games before, you will have probably heard Nobuo Uematsu's work. The famous Japanese composer, aged 59, is occasionally referred to as the "Beethoven" of video game music and has been working at Square since 1985. In the latest post on his Line blog page, Nobuo...
Video Take A Tour Of The Now Closed Final Fantasy "Memories of You" Museum
A Perfect Memory
From 22nd January to 28th February, Square-Enix hosted a special art and multimedia exhibition in Tokyo to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Final Fantasy game series. It isn’t the only way Square-Enix will celebrate these thirty glorious years, and this event follows the other big role-playing game series...
Random Someone Is Localising Final Fantasy IV Using Google Translate
"I want to hit it with my mother chocolate"
Modern gamers are quite fussy about how Japanese games - RPGs in particular - are localised. Back in the 16-bit era, translations were often hack-jobs riddled with errors, but more recently we've seen a rise in quality which is all down to the tireless efforts of localisation teams who seek to maintain the...
Nintendo Download 11th June 2010 (Europe)
Plenty of puzzling, some strategy and racing, and an import
Despite the release of Super Mario Galaxy 2 today, Nintendo of Europe isn't neglecting their download services. The Virtual Console gets a new one-off import game while WiiWare and DSiWare get a whole bunch of catchup titles, plus one completely new game. WiiWare: NEVES Plus: Pantheon of...
Nintendo Download 8th March 2010 (North America)
Markers, Dracula, Fantasy and Spanish this week
WiiWare: Max & the Magic Marker (1000pts – Press Play) – The novel platformer makes its North American debut today. We thought it was a very good addition to the platforming line-up on WiiWare, so if that kind of game floats your boat get your points ready! Dracula: Undead Awakening (1000pts...
About The Game
This is the fourth entry in the Final Fantasy series. It was known as Final Fantasy II internationally, because the second and third games were never released outside of Japan.
The military country of Baron is one of the strongest in the land, with a proud army and a majestic air force known as the Red Wings. But, while their armies are kind and loyal, the recent actions of the King are anything but. The young Captain of the Red Wings, Cecil, is ordered to steal a crystal from a village of innocent magicians, and when he questions the actions of his King, Cecil is immediately thrown out of the country and sent off to kill strange monsters. Little does he realize the price the King's actions will pay, and what the true secret of the crystals, and their powers, truly is...
This is the first Final Fantasy game that introduced the famous ATB (active-time battle) system: during the battles, you have a time indicator for each party member that tells you when this character is able to act. If it takes you too long to select a command for this character, the enemy will act without waiting for your turn. The game abandons the job system that was implemented in the first and the third game in favor of pre-set character classes (paladin, white mage, ninja, etc.) assigned to each party member.
Comments 87
Wow. I hope this does come out.
I have the DS and GBA versions so I'll pass on this.
The DS version rules. Thanks anyway.
my fav game of all time. such a fun game. i can't describe how awesome it was blasting through this as a kid when it came out
Funny how today I decided to play Final Fantasy Dawn of Souls and IV for the GBA only to find out today that the original versions are coming to the VC.
"was known as Final Fantasy II internationally" >_>
As far as i know it was only in USA.
But i might be a little wrong.
(Because im sure we didn't have that lame numeration in europe. BECAUSE WE DIDNT GET THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF GAMES ON THE FIRST PLACE > )
Yes, "Final Fantasy II for the SNES" was only released in America. Europe knew of it through game magazines only (and it was actually announced for release, then cancelled for some reason).
FF4 was never released as anything but FF4 anywhere but America.
Can't wait to download this. Hope it comes out soon.
My favorite FF game
#10: Yes because this was the second FF game in America but since then America have gotten all of them and adjusted itself to Japan's numbering scheme.
The remake is out for DS so that might be worth checking out if you never played this before.
Still one of the best FF games in my book.
finally, we have hopes of getting some of the meat and potatoes snes rpgs. maybe they'll actually bring out some of the quintet action-rpgs as well (soul blazer and such)
Finally, some decent RPGs. I can't wait for this one to come out.
Completed this one so I don't need to go back to it but it's a very good same reguarding that it's 18 years old .
With now three variations of this game which is best?
The original game is brilliant if you don't want to go through the slightly extended story of the GBA version and perhaps cheaper too?
I want to mention, for the sake of everyone's enjoyment, that it would be a CRIME if they brought over the Easy Type of the game which we were FORCED to play in the 90s, rather than the ACTUAL GAME that we finally got to play when they re-released it on the PlayStation. I suppose I already own this game 3 or 4 times over already, but I promise not to buy it if it's the easy type.
@kbdlock
The version you got in the USA on SNES is >>NOT<< the Easy Type.
It's based on Easy Type on some stuff but it's not the same.
(For example, Easy Type had the special abilities like "Dark Wave", "Pray" etc. and Zeromus had a difrent battle sprite.)
So please don't induce people to error
I played this on an emulator, and thought it was alright. It wasn't great, but the story was pretty interesting. I might get this if I can't find the GBA version.
This and FF Tactics are the only FF games I've played. I'm not big on FF but I really enjoyed both of those games
You... spoony bard!
1, 4 and 6 are the only FF's that hold my interest.
@ WyvernKnight64
Try VI (6) thats another very good one.
@ stinssd
You win at the internet sir! YOU WON!
I've tested 4, 5,and 6 through emulators and 4 holded my interest for awhile. I was gonna play them all in order but my computer that had them all broke.
The original SNES box and graphics I had for this game all said FF IV. Are the in-game graphics really going to say FF II? Why would they not change it all over to IV?
The Virtual Console versions are simply ports, occasionaly with a few miscelanious tweaks. Square Enix would have to change quite a bit of the game's code to make it all say Final Fantasy IV.
The original "Final Fantasy II," I hated the translation so badly (the dialogue) it ruined the game for me at the time. Does anybody have a nostalgic soft-spot for it? I don't think I do.
FFIV in Chronicles (PS) was much better and I suddenly liked the game, a LOT, and probably the most essential version to me. FFIV Advance's translation was arguably better still, overall, though the engine was different and not completely better than the previous two versions. Then the DS version rewrote much of the dialogue altogether, but in ways that made good sense. As a remake, it's not really meant to REPLACE the old games at all (again, there are differences in story and gameplay) so going for an old-school version is worthwhile.
I'm not sure why someone would go for the SNES version, though. Probably the most disposable of the four--what's more, it's the "easy-type" version of the game for pansy westerners. What does everybody else think?
^ My favorite FF4 is the GBA version, the European version that is (Lame Slowdowns and bugs corrected).
It's 16-bit, good translation with good extras.
I agree that the SNES version is by far the least prefferable of all of the versions.
Of course, when it comes out for virtual console, there will be the adventage of it only being $8.00. Even if it is the worst version, it's still a great price for this game.
At #22 I have played FF6 and the game is great. The music far surpasses FF4 and the story is awesome. I am still trying to figure how to permanately keep Shadow. Him and Sabin are my favorite characters in the game.
i don´t think this one will come out. they just jeleased it for ds (for 40€/$)
i never was really into FF's, but i will now go and experience it by getting this FFIV and the wiiware FFIV, and play them in that order to know the whole story
first know nothing, then see the whole 2 stories in a row
if they only release it soon
I hated FFIV. It was such a disappointment. I loved FFVII, of course, and FFX was pretty good too. But FFIV was just annoying and they tried too hard to be epic, and have an amazing story and it just ended up being disappointing. Everyone in this game dies, and then in the end...they actually didn't--what!?
^
Telah dies... >_>
...And whats the problem with that? if you hate it just for some little flaws.
oh boy if i were like that, i would hate SO MUCH the other Final Fantasys you mentioned, wich i actually kinda like them.
@ Kurachi
In case FFIV does not come out on VC outside of japan (Still we have a good shot however) check out the DS remake its mostly the same with but with a facelift
Oh and minor storyline changes
afraid that i dont own DS myself, and i dont really like it either
well, its on the coming soon list, so who knows
i bet they will release it, i see no reason why not
ps. DS isnt my thing, since i cant control my strength very well, i always thought i'd go through the screen with that stick, lol
anyway, once it is released, i would first buy the VC one, after that the WW one, which would make more sense, since i dont know FFIV (snes) and wont be completed in few mins, i wanna follow the story
but thx for the info VenomTheEvil
I got the DS, SNES, and PS1 version of this game.
Do I need it again?
Sure why not!
@VenomTheEvil
The DS remake also features an increased difficulty, which is prefferable if you don't like the easier version on the SNES.
@ ProfEasy: You don't think SE are gonna release this even though they announced it themselves? Oo
Why does it say Final Fantasy 2 in the screen shot?
@Alexei123: It's the fourth Final Fantasy game, but only the second released in the US.
gosh, it takes kinda long eh, i never got into FF's, but this would be a nice start
so i hope they will release it soon
tbh i think this will be the best non-auto attacking monsters FF, at least i'll buy this one before thinking about FF1
they need to hurry up and release this I don't want to play after years until I buy and beat this
i heard there's an option to turn on/off the auto attacking for ff's
same here ganondwarf16, i wanna follow the story from the start
i could use an emulator, but that'll spoil the fun, since i prefer TV and console, not emu and rom
also, i dont wanna see on emu first, then redo on console
i like to hear the chocobo music too heard on youtube, now wanna hear ingame, lol
Does After Years have a good link to FF IV or does it make it easier for newcomers to get into? Would like to know before I buy that .
at least its in japan now
cant wait for it getting to europe
The whole reason that this isn't out is because it would dominate sales of FF4: TAY. Think about it; who would buy The After Years if this game was available at the exact same price?
well, after years is after this one, so we have more of this game if we get it all
people like me, or who think like me (at least about this), wont buy FF: AY before played this one
and will buy AY cuz i wanan see more story from this game's characters
both are FFIV, and have same chars, but arent same games
its a lil like buying SMB and then SMB lost levels, same games, but different levels
... ok wasnt good example, but people do it
if SoM would get 2nd version on WiiWare, i'd buy that one too, but i doubt they do that, cuz it s simply an example
so i wait for this VC one, and once i played and completed this, i buy wiiware FFIV
let this one get here fast ("here" is anywhere on VC) so i can play an rpg i never played before
i'm kinda in the mood for new rpgs, and oldies are better... mostly
I feel the same as #47. I have been looking at FFIV "After Years", but since one of the best thing about a FF game is the story, I would like the entire background story first.
But until it comes out in europe, "Phantasy Star IV" will hopefully be a god replacement
@MrPinGuy and Curt: thanks for your opinions. By the way I think you're right about that "easy-type" being a myth. I hardly noticed a difference in difficulty when trying the other versions (it's pretty tough, although probably the shortest FF). I feel like warning some people who'll find themselves wondering why people like this game. I mean, if you're psyched about "The After Years" then you care about this game's story. If you care about the story, avoid the butchered translation in the SNES version that makes it downright laughable if not painful.
The story is actually pretty good. Final Fantasy IV is definitely the "bread and butter" Final Fantasy for a few reasons. For one thing, it has the polished fantasy adventure story/adventure nailed this time (after the first three games), in all of that genre's quirks, intrigues, archetypes done mostly right and the "anything goes" nature of the genre--and yet far from generic, and even rather inspired. It was also the first time that the story affected the gameplay this much--the story caused characters to get switched out of your party so much and so often that you're really forced to FEEL the story in the gameplay for the first time. One point toward the beginning, for instance, has you stuck with a good weapons user and three magic users for a time! The battles were balanced appropriately for the party set-up, although it's a gameplay purist's nightmare.
FFIV is a pretty significant game because of that--where a story impacted the gameplay so much, as far as RPGs go. After this the series started truly blending sci-fi (more "rational" approaches) into the mix, so FFIV is a real sweet spot for tradition meeting inspiration.
It definitely has the cheesy fantasy in there a little bit--the same sort that made people think "Star Wars" with this one--quite a share of cliches, but boldness in that department was for later games . . .
To be REALLY picky, I think the PS version is my fav, still, also because the GBA doesn't quite crank out the same great sound as the SNES (I wouldn't even touch FFVI: Advance because of that) and the music is absolutely classic. Although I'm interested in that note about the slowdown being fixed in the Euro version of FFIV Advance. I can't decide if the slightly different graphics in that version are an improvement (blasted GBA, wasn't really worse or better than the SNES--just different).
Its been ESRB rated now. So maybe november or december. My guess anyway.
According to the ESRB this game will retain the Final Fantasy II title
NA will probably see this one in January or February.
I'm guessing November.
Hopefully soon, and hopefully Final Fantasy III (VI) will come to the VC as well.
I think I'll get this just to have an excuse to restart this game - I am so f'ing lost in my previous save, it's not even funny!
I remember this used to be my favorite because of the story, but after playing all the other Final Fantasies, I think it's actually one of my least favorite - the gameplay doesn't really hold up, and while the story is still one of the best FF stories, that's still not staying much. I just don't really play these games for their story anymore. I still want to get this and play it again just to finish it, and maybe it'll change my mind by the end of it, but I'm keeping my expectations very, very low.
I don't like this game very well.
i played 1st part on emulator, but now i wont continue it on emulator, i'll wait for the real release on VC i'd like to play it whole on my wii
i cant friken wait
Blast. It's out in Japan - why won't they release it in the US already? Argh!
Such a great game!
you americans are lucky, you wont need to wait for a hanabi festival to let it get on your VC, europe does have to wait for 1, and be lucky to get it that hanabi, or else wait for the next
i'd like to buy it as soon as it gets on the VC, and i will
When is the release date in America???
I need my FF2 (AKA FF4) fix NOW!!!
Can I have a release date for the release date?
we dont know, we just have to wait and see
nintendo loves to surprise us, in america it could get on the VC anytime, but in europe we have to be lucky at the hanabi festivals
final fantasy 2 sweet
@62: We hardly ever get any release dates for VC games. Its too bad really. I want Final Fantasy 4 so bad. Never got to play the SNES version (Same goes for 6 which I hope to appear on the VC someday). I've played the GBA, PSX and DS versions but never got to play the original release.
release it allready grrrr >
If this ever comes to the European Wii Shop,
I hope Square Enix edits the title screen and gives this game it's true title!
Woohoo! It's finally out!!
Finally! Now, let's get FF6 (FF3) and AD&D Pool Of Radiance on here!
Completely pointless. Get the better DS version instead.
@SKTTR - I'm sure you will just get the American version. I actually kinda thought they would change it to IV though, that way people would know that the WiiWare game The After Years is a continuation of the story.
I wonder if all the people who said they were passing on The After Years until SNES FFII was released just so they could play the games in order are still going to get this game.
@GamerFromJump: It's not completely pointless, I do not own a DS, therefore I will get to enjoy this version.
@GamerFromJump - If I was sitting next to you, I would slap you upside your head!....LOL.... But I can see how people that never grew up with it and never played the original 16 bit classic would think that. I have also played the DS version and it was good,but......it was not the original!...I encourage anyone that likes Final Fantasy to buy this game. It is only 8 bucks on the VC. Try to buy cart. for the SNES for 8 bucks!
nice to see it's here, but i saw it might not come next hanabi
GZ for NA
Ah, the second localized console Final Fantasy title [Final Fantasy Legend for the Game Boy Pocket not counting, even though it came in 1989; and this game in 1991]. Can't wait to play the SNES original.
While Final Fantasy Legend is related to the FF series, it's not really a Final Fantasy game, but a SaGa game. It got the Final Fantasy title slapped on it in America to sell more copies, but that doesn't mean anything.
So true, Adamant.
There was also this Final Fantasy Adventure released for the Game Boy Pocket. It's related to the Final Fantasy series, but it's really the start of the Seiken Densetsu series of games (Secret of Mana being Seiken Densetsu 2).
Got it. Liking it so far, though the battle system is too slow. Hope Square releases 6, which is quite a bit faster.
Found out you can increase the battle speed in the "Custom" menu, so the game's moving along much more smoothly now. Lovin' it.
Must admit I don't really like the old FF games
it seems it wont get on our VC this hanabi
we have to wait for next hanabi... maybe :S
Is this game supposed to be released? I can't find it in both Wii Ware and Virtual Console's Shop Channel. Wasn't this game released for the European audience?
(quote)it seems it wont get on our VC this hanabi
we have to wait for next hanabi... maybe :S(/quote)
When is the next hanabi festival coming? Later in april? Maybe May?
no idea when next hanabi is, i asked people, but noone really knows
we'll see, and i hope really that this one gets here then
We don't need one. We're getting it this week. Still 900 points but its outside of Hanabi.
yay, got it
havent played yet, but will soon
@deggs by far my favorite rpg also. sound track is amazing
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