VGamingNews

Final Fantasy Adventure

4 February, 2025 - 9:16 pm by
About 8 mins to read
Reviewed on: Nintendo Switch

Drew has pledged to slowly but slowly churn his way through his sizeable stack of Nintendo Switch games for his ‘Beat the Backlog’ feature. Check out his main article to see what games he’s completed already!


Alright -real talk now- I never had any intention of buying or playing Final Fantasy Adventure. I picked up the game as part of the Collection of Mana, which I bought specifically to enjoy Trials of Mana, since I never got to play it when I was a kid. But, in the spirit of Beat the Backlog, when my random number generator picked out Collection of Mana as my next game, I felt it was only right to start at the beginning, rather than jump forward to the final game in the anthology.

The introduction to the game is surprisingly bleak, and things kick off as our hero escapes from a gladiatorial arena, amidst the death of his friend. Then, on the run from the Dark Lord, you bump into a maiden in need of help and escorting her to safety, you quickly become embroiled in a battle to save the world from tyrannous oppression, and realise your part in an ancient legend along the way. Yes, the story may be trope laden and simplistic, but it also contains a few impactful moments of loss that both caught me by surprise and made me glad I gave the game a chance. 

As the first spin off from the mainline Final Fantasy games, the combat style strays from the existing turn-based battles and into a much more action focussed style. There are a few traditional RPG elements that carry over (like upgradable character statistics that impact your output in battle), but the play style is much more like its successor, Secret of Mana, than what’s come before. Now you’re able to spam the attack button to kill enemies, as you might in a Zelda game, but there’s been a tactical element added, whereby waiting in between attacks allows your weapons to charge up, and unleashing special effects when you choose to attack with maximum energy. You can also utilise a variety of weapons outside of combat, helping you traverse the landscape and overcome obstacles. While simple, it’s fun to explore the world by lopping down trees with the axe or smashing through walls with the mace, and I loved seeing the origins of the chain-flail posts that let you leap over large gaps.


At a Glance

Date originally released:

28/06/1991

Date added to backlog:

29/12/2021

Positives

Negatives  

+ Excellent look back at the beginning of the Mana series

+ Some surprisingly story moments

+ Quick and easy RPG action

– Very standard fantasy plot that leans heavily on tropes

– Save often, defeat can come upon you quickly

– Dungeon music might drive you a little mad

Available on:


I was certainly intrigued to see what the first game in the Mana series was like, but I didn’t hold out too much hope of enjoying it, since I tend to find that games from the Game Boy era and earlier are either a little too simple or just astronomically difficult. I was pleasantly surprised with Final Fantasy Adventure though, which strikes a nice balance between laid back wanderings and tricky dungeons filled with tough enemies. It’s easy enough to breeze around the world map, wantonly slaying monsters, especially after learning Cure magic, but I found myself glad to be able to save anywhere, since top end enemies can finish you off in just a couple of hits. Things become a little repetitive, sure, but there’s a sense of exploration offered that makes a little rinse-and-repeating worthwhile.

The dungeons are where things probably feel most like Squaresoft were most in transition – the action-based battling might be leaning into a new style, but the sprawling maps and seemingly endless waves of enemies definitely have the feel of oldschool FInal Fantasy. There’s a few simple simultaneous button puzzles introduced, as well as AI controlled companion characters, both of which are ideas that would be expanded upon in the famously multiplayer Secret of Mana. I enjoyed the dungeon sequences for the challenge they posed, but the limited visuals and music meant that they all inevitably all felt the same and I probably more enjoyed the overworld exploration. Offering about 8-10 hours of playtime, I think Final Fantasy Adventure manages to hit the sweet spot, as the game reached its conclusion just when my interest was beginning to wane and I was ready for something new.

Like many games spawned in the Game Boy era and expanded into the SNES and beyond, a lot of Final Fantasy Adventure feels familiar from my time with later games in the timeline. Good portions of the story ended up being reused in Secret of Mana, as did many of the enemies and bosses. There’s zero complaints from me on this front though, as it’s cool seeing the ‘devolved’ versions of these sprites, which were impressively brought to life back on Nintendo’s green screened handheld. Series staples like rabbites, sahagin and killer bees are all instantly recognisable, as are some of my favourite bosses, like the Mantis Ant and the Vampire. It will never cease to amaze me how expressive and unique pixel artists managed to be, working with just a few colours and a meagre 2MB of memory!

Speaking of impressive work with limited technology – there are some excellent entries in the soundtrack as well, which is wonderfully arranged by Kenji, Itō. The overworld and boss themes are incredibly catchy and each purveys a great sense of adventure, and the music behind the pivotal plot points are scored with sombre melodies seriously overachieve considering the tools available. Mainline Final Fantasy fans will be happy to hear that Nobuo Uematsu’s Chocobo theme crosses over into the spin off too, offering the perfect soundtrack to all your bird-riding adventures! They’re not all bangers though, as I found myself pretty quickly growing tired of the dungeon music, having to mute my Switch as the endless warbling got on my nerves. 

Final Fantasy Adventure makes for a fascinating retrospective into the Mana series of games, and still has plenty to offer almost 35 years after its initial release. Despite its well worn plot elements, there are some impressive moments of depth in the storytelling that I would never expect from a Game Boy game. It’s great fun to see the debut appearances of so many beloved enemies, offering you the chance to trace a direct line from their humble, green toned beginnings to the vibrant standard bearers they would become. Is it the best title in the series? No. But it is the one that started it all, and fans can take a lot of joy in seeing how it all began.


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Score
6