Finally, Nintendo and Square bring Final Fantasy back to a Nintendo console! Final Fantasy is no ordinary Final Fantasy, however. This is a remake of the Playstation version that plays like a mix ofstrategy/rpg. Set in the modern little snowy town of Ivalice, a young man by the name of Marche has just moved in and befriends two outcasts: a small boy by the name of Mewt and a fiery white-haired girl, Ritz (no cracker jokes, please!). After an afternoon of checking out Mewt's Final Fantasy book (wink, wink), Marche awakes in a world filled with the fabulous creatures of Final Fantasy, in the place ofIvalice.

The cartridge may be small, but this is one of the deepest games available for theGBA. The good part is that the game eases the player into the style of play when Marche and his two friends engage some schoolyard bullies in a game of throwing snowballs. Not only will your characters level up like a traditional RPG, but there are five different species and an plethora of job classes in which your clan members can join. Each job and species has their merits and that's where the big decision-making comes in. To get the full experience, you'll want to toy with all types of combinations, as different jobs raise different stats with different species. It is rather daunting, and it would have been nice if I wouldn't have had to consult a guide to figure out that you have to master a certain number of abilities before obtaining new ones. Then again, that's all in the fun of exploring. The game makes that sense easy, as there are plenty of side-missions to partake in, without keeping you off-course of the main mission of getting Marche back home. This involves destroying a number of crystals that keep the Final Fantasy world of Ivalice "alive", much to Prince Mewt's chagrin. The addition of roaming opposing clans is nice early on when you need experience, but they can turn into an annoyance when you're trying to travel from one goal to the next and once again, one randomly pops up in your path. At least this battle time doesn't detract from the in-game time (based on days passed from travel).

As the Gameboy Advance has grown, we've seen better and better graphics, and Tactics is a great example of that. The designs of the towns and scenery is beautiful, and the animations are smooth and beautiful. It's surprising Square could fit all it in, as there are distinct animations for every move, job, and ability, including those for enemies. From whence I started the game up, the game has had me wondering if this would have even been possible on the oldSNES. Complimenting the beautiful visuals are the sounds. You'll want to get some headsets or find a place where you can turn up the volume, because you'll be cackling along with the Grim Reaper as Doomtakes hold on your enemy. The background music is quaint and bouncy, but tends to get irritating after playing for a long time. Too bad, because it nice music, just not for a game of this length. Otherwise, for a game of numbers and stats, it's a great game to look at, even for the the short little dialogues.

That story, being pretty solid and well-written, doesn't get in the way. That's a good thing, because this is all about perfecting your team and making it into a lean, mean, killing machine. This isn't about thosefancy-schmancy story-loaded RPGs of old Final Fantasy's. This is a strategy game! This fact will keep you coming back to complete all three hundred missions. Despite the size and intricacy, the developers tried to make it easy to pick up and put back down for a short session. Too bad, though, because although you can save mid-battle, the battles can take anywhere from fifteen to thirty minutes. Maybe I'm just a slow gamer, but with the frequency of clan battles, I'd like to get through those easy battles a little more quickly. This is definitely a game for a longroad trip. Oh, and I would like to add that you can play it with one hand if you own an SP. Yeah, cool, ain't it?

Overall, Square-Enix has brought us a very solid and deep strategy game for the gameboy under the Final Fantasy license. Those that are used to the traditional titles may not find what they are looking for, but they will be missing out on a great game. This one's a keeper.