Final Fantasy IV is a game that, like Final Fantasy VI, has been released in the US under two names: Final Fantasy II on the SNES and Final Fantasy Iv in the PSX game Final Fantasy Chronicles. While still a good game in it's own right, this first Final Fantasy on the SNES happens to earn the right of the worst of the 3...

Story: 10
This is where Final Fantasy IV shines. Unlike it's follower, FFV, this has a nicely detailed story. The game, however, is very linear, and follows this story like mad, but the story is very nice, and almost makes up for the linearness of the game. From the moral debate within Cecil about what to do about the king to his unrequited love for Rosa, this game has an excellent story.

Gameplay: 7.5
This was the first game that broke away from the "Everyone lines up, input commands, and whomever has the better Speed stat goes first" mold of the first three Final Fantasy games and introduces a rudimentary version of the Real Time Battle system. Sadly, this game doesn't have the ATB time bars that shows you when your character is about to attack... Battles like the Giant Wall battle are nail-biters, where you sit, watching a giant wall slowly encroach upon your characters, and you wait VERY UNPATIENTLY for your characters turns to come up... Also, you can't give up your turn, which means that if you don't need curing yet, but your White Mage comes up first, you're stuck... ^^;

Replayability: 7
As I said before, the linearality of Final Fantasy IV gets on your nerves after a time... I have only played through it three times, as I know what is about to happen every time something is about to happen. The third time I played it I only played it because I found a ROM that was translated with the original translation, not the horrible Woosley-spawned crap... This is a game that is wonderful the first time, and perhaps a LONG time after a playthrough, but not multiple times in a short timespan.

Sound: 10
As this was the early days of the SNES, the technology wasn't up to the level of FFV and FFVI, but the sound was still very well done. Nobuo's awesome skills for music reach out of the SNES and touch you, and the sounds that accompany his music are excellently done. This is one area that a Final Fantasy game never fails to shine in.

Graphics: 6
Not much can be expected of such an old game, but the graphics still ask for justice done to them. I can imagine in my mind this game totally redone in the style of FFX, with awe-inspiring graphics(Especially Adult Rydia.... Mmmmm....), but the graphics that come are somewhat sad... Most everything is very pixelated, and seems very 8-bit, even though it's on a 16-bit system. But, you can't have everything, eh?

Fun Factor: 9.5
I am trepidatious about giving this game a 10 in this catagory because of the amount of frustration that can be earned from it. There are several instances in the game that you will want to take your SNES(or computer) and fling it out the freaking window because you've lost on the 270th attempt to kill a boss, and he's STILL thrashing you. There are several humorous instances in the game, however, like Tellah's "spoony bard" speech, and these garner this game a 9.5 in this catagory...

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