NES Final Fantasy 1 (Restored+RB Select) NES ROM

[RageBurner]

TBA

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• Final Fantasy 1 (Restored+RB Select) NES ROM
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[RageBurner]

I disagree, but everyone's tastes are different.
Edit: Maybe FF renaissance would spice up battles for you.

 

[Graw]

I'm especially fond of the Dynamic Action patch (retargets attacks, as in later games),

Auto retargeting is one of the things I dislike about all the FF1 remakes that came out after the ps1 version. FF1's combat is pretty basic without a ton of strategic depth to it. Being forced to think about how much damage you're doing and to consider which enemy to target is one of the very few strategic decision you actually get to make in FF1's combat unless you're playing as a weird party or doing some kind of challenge or something. Last time I played FF1 I played the pixel remaster and ended up just using auto battle for most of the game after the marsh cave. Even on some of the bosses. I didn't really have to think or try or anything. The game basically played itself. I think the series made the right choice going to the auto retarget system in later games but FF1 is so basic it almost needs it just to make the battles interesting.

 

[revck]

I hope you enjoy it. Like I said before, the RB select version has added patches on top of Restored that improves the experience to what I consider to be the best the original NES game can be. I'm especially fond of the Dynamic Action patch (retargets attacks, as in later games), and Poquelin's better sprites for Monk and later post promo classes.

I tried it and it looks really gorgeous, unbeliveable as a NES game. Honestly I'd say that it's a breeze because it has snappy mechanics that click quite well (sharing for those like me that experienced the SNES version), thank you!

 

[NotReallyHere]

Tapping into a perceived audience doesn't mean it's not condescending or insulting from a societal art appreciation standpoint.

Oh, dear. I feel like I'm back in college

I do feel both pieces of cover art are accurate in their own ways. The game does feature axes, swords, orbs, and a floating castle - all of which are reflected in the US artwork. It also features elaborate pieces of armor, dragons, and a princess - which are shown in the Japanese artwork.

I was merely looking at the pieces from the perspective of what they directly present to me, and whether or not those elements were present in the game, itself. And on that front, I think they both succeed

Too bad neither one shows a party of characters! The Japanese art would lead me to believe that the game is more or less a Dragon Quest clone, with a single warrior setting out to rescue a gal. As the party system would be a series staple, it does seem to be an odd decision to have the cover art feature only a single character.

In that respect, this one is better than them both

 

[StopTheCatastrophe]

Counterpoint:

American Marketing Team: "Let's appeal to our known Fantasy audience: D&D players! Maybe make the cover look like some sort of TSR sourcebook? Let's show well-used weapons, heavily worn from ages of combat. Set those as a backdrop behind a mysterious crystal ball, showing a floating castle and what appears to be a space station. Really drive home the mix of fantasy and sci-fi that can be found within the game."

Japanese Marketing Team: "Make it look like your standard 'slay the dragon and rescue the princess' game."



While I like both pieces of art for their own reasons, I think they do an equally fair job of accurately describing the game within while also somewhat missing the point at the same time. Hard to say which one is really better or worse, in that regard.

One thing I do really appreciate, though? They're both so, so different from each other. That's something we've really lost over the years, with standardized box art for all regions now being the norm. Love them or hate them, it's nice to look back at an era when each region had their own distinct style of cover art.

That's more agreeing with my point than a counterpoint: one uses raw inanimate violent objects thought to rotely tap into existing simplistic cliches or crowds (Big Metal Weapons + Hey D&D People...We Think, and a magic orb) and the other uses ornate art with complex lines and color palette and the assumption of visual literacy and appreciation and with no assumption that violent objects are the main appeal.

Tapping into a perceived audience doesn't mean it's not condescending or insulting from a societal art appreciation standpoint. Likewise the American box art for various other RPG's copied Fantasy book covers that were 'realistic' and terrified of doing the art or illustration that the Japanese covers did. The fact that they copied book covers and thought they would therefore get purchases by somebody doesn't have any bearing on my argument that the Japanese covers are more artful and reflect more artistic appreciation (either real or perceived). That's the classic, "But...your criticism is wrong, because... they did it because they thought it would make money!" fallacy.

Also I don't think it's true that they do an equally fair job of accurately describing the game. The whole point of the game is the sense of adventure in landscapes, the characters, the scenarios and (NES era) dialog, towns, then there's the stats and levelling. Now the Japanese art doesn't much reflect a lot of that, but tossing two inanimate violent objects on stage and saying that represents The Game, nope. You're looking at NES tile landscapes and characters walking around the whole time, not at an axe and sword. If anything it makes it look like a Conan game or Magic Sword where a big violent guy would have a sword out constantly, which is not what Final Fantasy is.

 

[RageBurner]

I've played only the SNES version in my experience, how's the NES one? Really intrigued by the amount of content here, and FF1 is quite timeless and worth another playthrough!

I hope you enjoy it. Like I said before, the RB select version has added patches on top of Restored that improves the experience to what I consider to be the best the original NES game can be. I'm especially fond of the Dynamic Action patch (retargets attacks, as in later games), and Poquelin's better sprites for Monk and later post promo classes.

 

[revck]

I've played only the SNES version in my experience, how's the NES one? Really intrigued by the amount of content here, and FF1 is quite timeless and worth another playthrough!

 

[Tzelanit]

Looks lovely. I like Manall's for a refreshed experience, but this is really nice for those times where I want something closer to the intended experience, but with a little polish.

 

[bey0ndbutt3r]

this is my number one favorite rpg to play on smartphone, especially with savestate and fastforward!

 

[RageBurner]

So..... not restoring anything from the Japanese as the name would imply, but a ton of superficial "quality of life" changes.

Superficial? not at all. Read the logs inside the archive. Almost every bug was fixed, the random number generator was improved, you can buy in bulk... to each their own, but superficial it is not.

If you want Japanese content restoration, look for Chicken Knife's patches.

 

[blossom357]

So..... not restoring anything from the Japanese as the name would imply, but a ton of superficial "quality of life" changes.

 

[RageBurner]

Does this add anything to the game, or just improve upon it? Because frankly there are a fuckton of hacks and I'd like something that adds a bit of spice. I think I remember one or two that allow you to use different character classes.

You'll want to try Manall's FF1 for that. Both variants of this are bugfixes, QoL and graphical improvements to the vanilla experience.

The freshest experience with new classes is arguably Final Fantasy Renaissance.

 

[NotReallyHere]

Japanese box art marketers: "People have the intelligence and aesthetic awareness to respect art. Put good art on the box. It's also more evocative of an adventure in an intriguing fantasy world."

American box art marketers: "Put a big metal weapon on it."

Post automatically merged: Nov 1, 2025

Counterpoint:

American Marketing Team: "Let's appeal to our known Fantasy audience: D&D players! Maybe make the cover look like some sort of TSR sourcebook? Let's show well-used weapons, heavily worn from ages of combat. Set those as a backdrop behind a mysterious crystal ball, showing a floating castle and what appears to be a space station. Really drive home the mix of fantasy and sci-fi that can be found within the game."

Japanese Marketing Team: "Make it look like your standard 'slay the dragon and rescue the princess' game."



While I like both pieces of art for their own reasons, I think they do an equally fair job of accurately describing the game within while also somewhat missing the point at the same time. Hard to say which one is really better or worse, in that regard.

One thing I do really appreciate, though? They're both so, so different from each other. That's something we've really lost over the years, with standardized box art for all regions now being the norm. Love them or hate them, it's nice to look back at an era when each region had their own distinct style of cover art.

 

[Verdaguer0]

Uf hace años que lo jugue por ultima vez, si, por que no? Lo jugaré una vez mas. Gracias por compartir

 

[HextarVigar]

Does this add anything to the game, or just improve upon it? Because frankly there are a fuckton of hacks and I'd like something that adds a bit of spice. I think I remember one or two that allow you to use different character classes.

 

[StopTheCatastrophe]

Japanese box art marketers: "People have the intelligence and aesthetic awareness to respect art. Put good art on the box. It's also more evocative of an adventure in an intriguing fantasy world."

American box art marketers: "Put a big metal weapon on it."

Post automatically merged: Nov 1, 2025

 

[Nelson2001 Nelson2001]

Now beyond being a simple restoration of this game, It also has the quality of life, improvements and even bug fixes for the game as shown in the game description, feels like a better version than the original game and thank you very much for sharing.

 

[beholdvisibleaura]

Thanks for this. :)

 

[Hahahavana]

I for one am excited to try Rageburner's finest vintage. Thanks for the curation!

 

[RageBurner]

I hope you guys will have fun with this one. Try the RB Select variant for the best experience!

Edit: a bit of trivia. The last two screenshots (the ones using Poquelin's lovely promoted sprites for the Black Belt/Karateka or whatever you want to call it) are from my own playthrough.

As a proof of concept I wanted to check if all the improvements from Restored and the patches I combined would make it a viable party and it very much does; it was a fun run, and honestly I can't imagine playing FF1 any other way but with Restored plus extras.