Er, maybe trying to beat the game with four white mages ain't such a hot idea.

All across the world in the late 1980's, NES and Famicom players who had beaten Final Fantasy or were somewhere in the middle and just wanted to satisfy their curiosity fired up their consoles and went to the character-select screen. Scrolling through the six available characters in each of the four slots, they settled on four white mages - the most vulnerable of the classes. Running off into the forest, they would come across a band of imps and suddenly sit up in their couches or on their floors as they realized they were about to get a royal butt-kicking.

Eventually, the more hardy adventurers would go on to beat FF with the low-damage crew, and a few would even claim to succeed with one lone white mage! A decade-and-a-half later, there aren't nearly as many people (for good reason) that would play through the first installment in the legendary series once, let alone twice, let alone with four mages of any color.

Today there are role-playing games, many of which owe a heavy debt to Final Fantasy, that take the player on wild, emotional rides through a variety of landscapes. The traditional quasi-medieval setting still has a big grip on the market, but the genre has busted out in all directions. The Final Fantasy series itself has been polished and re-polished into something truly spectacular, with some fans rabidly awaiting each new release even as they form tightly knit fan groups to discuss and fawn over the titles.

Before FF VIII came along and stirred the pot a bit, the series was made up of quintessential traditional RPGs. The world was in turmoil and it was up to a group of adventurers to travel via land, sea, and air in a quest to set things right. Between the random encounters with roving bands of monsters (who you never saw coming) and all the side quests you could undertake, the games lasted dozens of hours each. Your party consisted of several super-deformed humans and anthropomorphic beasts who fought animals and demons for experience and money, slept in inns to regain health, and flew around in airships (the acquisition of which always signaled that you were roughly halfway through the game).

The first two games in the series are coming to the PlayStation later this month with a new coat of paint. Of course, the underlying story and engine are Square-strong, though they are not nearly as effective as later installments. Still, the epic feel, the mini quests, the character upgrades, and the enchanting airships are all in there. FF II even features the first appearance of Chocobos, giant birds you can ride across the overworld to avoid enemy encounters.

The enhancements are mostly graphical, bringing the games to 32-bit standards. A CG movie kicks off each of the games in style, and Square even went in and fleshed out some of the events in the story to appeal to today's more demanding player. Also as a nod to the modern RPGer, the developers have put in some gallery extras to reward extended play. You can access the galleries from inside the game and use them to learn about the monsters in detail and even keep track of the number and types of treasures you've found. A couple of the galleries feature special artwork by famed FF artist Yoshitaka Amano, which is always good. (I hear the European release comes with a set of Amano cards, but I haven't heard about that being true for North America.) The music has been remade by composer Nobuo Uematsu, so it's even easier to play for hours on end without reaching for the stereo remote.

The only modern concession some might find questionable is the introduction of the "Memo File." This allows you to perform a quick save at any point. These are not permanent like regular saves, but do help you fret a whole lot less about going into a major battle. Quick saves like these are godsends on handheld systems, since it is brutal to play for thirty minutes without access to a save point then suddenly have the batteries die or have your boss walk in on you and your GBA (ahem). On a PSX game, however, it just feels like a way to make the game much easier (there is already an "Easy Mode.") Of course, it can be tough for those with a big Pile of Shame (backlog of games) to justify spending an immense amount of time on Final Fantasy I, so maybe it's for the better. You could always ignore it.

Final Fantasy completists, Square fans, and anyone who likes a good old-fashioned rumble against overwhelming evil, your game is only a few days away.

· · · Nick