Better late than never

 January 24th, 2002 - For the first time on any console, the Super NES classic, Final Fantasy VI, is receiving a European release. The PlayStation One remake of the game, still regarded by many as the peak of the Final Fantasy series, will be unleashed on PAL territories in March.

Suspicions were first aroused when "Final Fantasy Anthology" mysteriously popped up on Electronics Boutique's release schedule, slated for an early March debut. Final Fantasy Anthology, of course, was the US repackaging of FFV and FFVI for Sony's PlayStation, released back in 1999, and featuring updates over the SNES versions, such as CG intro and ending FMVs as well as a "bonus mode" for FFVI. Gamers were confused by this, as, in a manner so typical of them, Square Europe had failed to officially announce any such plans. Speculation also grew as to whether the European version of FFA would also include the PlayStation conversion of FFIV, released to American audiences last year as part of Final Fantasy Chronicles.

However, all eventually became clear yesterday when Square Europe actually updated their website to announce that "Final Fantasy Anthology" would in fact be a standalone edition of Final Fantasy VI, the last FF game to be released for Nintendo's Super NES way back in 1994. This will be the first time Europe has seen this game released officially; Final Fantasy VII being the first FF title to have made the jump across the Atlantic from US shores just over four years ago.

The graphics may be a bit crusty by today's high standards...	... but FFVI has killer gameplay, and a fantastic plot.

Of course, most die-hard European Final Fantasy fans will have already played FFVI by now, either on a SNES emulator or through importing an original American console version. When you also take into account FFVI's dated 16-bit sprite-based graphics, it's difficult to imagine exactly who, in a games market favouring flashy eye-candy over solid gameplay, will be buying this offering from Square's European branch. This is where the Final Fantasy X demo comes in.

Recently released in the States, Final Fantasy X on the PlayStation2 is still criminally some six months away from a PAL release - the latest estimate as to when Europe will be seeing the latest produce from Square's cash cow being July. To ease some of the frustration at least, March will see FFVI released for the PlayStation One with an accompanying "exclusive 2 level demo" of FFX. Let's hope they make it clear on the packaging that the FFX demo will only be playable on a PlayStation2.

So what should we make of all this? Most people would have assumed by now that the earlier Final Fantasies were never going to see the light of day outside the Japanese and US markets. Do Square Europe finally intend to get their act together and release more Square games in this territory? Will we finally see other classics, presumed never to be released in Europe, such as Xenogears and the Chrono series? Or will we only get rushed conversions of old games every time there's an opportunity to make people pay £30 for a demo? Only time will tell, but I wouldn't let your hopes get too high.