I have always liked RPGs a lot. They are always fun to play, the music is cool, the graphics are neat, and they all have good stories. Final Fantasy II for the Super Nintendo is my favorite Final Fantasy game, and I will tell you why...

Graphics (96%): These graphics are exceptional! Sure, maybe what modern RPG creators make in graphics are godlike compared to these graphics, but you have to realize one thing: this game was released in 1991!! There are nice and bright colors, the towns are nice-looking, and destroyed castles look like destroyed castles! The people look good out of battle (as placeholders that is...). They are small and kind of represent what the characters really look like. But during battle, this changes. The characters are larger with better sprites. The enemies look awesome! During battle, you see the characters' weapons when they attack. Spells are seen (and these spells are nifty) in battle. The overworld map looks great, exactly what a world map should look like. Though an RPG must have graphics good enough to see where you are going, the graphics in this game, though like the original Final Fantasy for NES, are well-done.

Sound/Music (99.9%): Ah, this was the time when Nobuo Uematsu (Squaresoft's composer) had great ideas. The music makes you want to put the game on pause and just listen to the music. There are tracks that give you an epic feeling, and there are also sad songs. But the character themes are awesome (God, I love Cecil's main music!). The battle music makes you want to have a great fight, and the boss music is extremely good. "Dread", the music played when fighting the Elements, is an OK track. This game has the best final boss music ever in the Final Fantasy series! There is only one track I don't like: the town music (If the town music was not so corny, I would have given this department a 100%). The sound effects sound great, unfortunately, I cannot really say anything else about them. All in all, sound and music are great in this game.

Story (100%) : I love this story... a lot. If you read my Final Fantasy VIII review, you will know that I LOVE war stories in RPGs, and this game is a great war story. The game starts with Cecil, the captain of the Red Wings (an air armada of the Baron kingdom), going to Mysidia to steal the Crystal of Water. After doing this, Cecil gives the crystal to the king. Before leaving, Cecil questions why his squad has to steal from the innocent, and the king expels Cecil from his position. Kain, a dragoon in Baron and Cecil's best friend, tries to defend Cecil, and he is also expelled. They are assigned to do something, and their quest begins. Then a string of events happen which involve a ninja, a white and black wizard, a sage, a bard, and many others to help Cecil and Kain bring justice to King Baron and the world.

Gameplay (100%): This is the greatest gameplay Final Fantasy in the series. First off, you are always Cecil since he is the main character. You cannot make up your own party, but you can have up to 5 members (Bladerunner, party of 5… nifty!). Each character has his or her own skill or skills and job. For example, Kain, being a dragoon, can jump into the air to land a more powerful attack. Rosa, a white wizard, can use white magic, and so on. The magic system is simple. There is White and Black magic. White magic is recovery and status effect magic, and Black magic is offensive magic. As you gain levels, magic users learn more powerful spells. There is one character who can use white and black magic and summons! This was one of the first games to feature summoning monsters. There was Chocobo, Shiva, Leviathan, and others.

There are many types of vehicles including an airship, a hovercraft, chocobos, and a SPACESHIP. There are 4 types of chocobos: one lets you ride around, one lets you fly, one stores your items, and one restores your MP. All of them play an important role in the game.

Battles in this game are fun! This was the first game to feature the 'Active Time Battle' system. This means that the enemies keep attacking you, even if you are looking in a menu for an item or a spell. The battles are still turn-based, moreso than the later games in the series. There is no time bar to indicate if it is your turn, and the characters attack depending on their agility. This is what I like. The battles are fun and fast. Plus these battles are almost impossible; this is one VERY important feature in the Final Fantasy series that the later games did not include. The battles are never boring. The only spell that can kill all enemies in one hit is Meteor (WHOA!!!!! No Ultima! Yes!), but it takes a long time to cast and uses 99 MP.

Though this game is pretty linear, there are lots of side quests near the end of the game. These include finding special items, weapons, and summons. There are a lot of secrets in every town and area; secret passages are shown as blue lines in the walls. There is one chest in the game that gives somewhere around 1,000,000 GP!! What I like about the gameplay in this game is that there is no particular system (i.e. Materia, Junction, Esper, Job). Down to the dirt, I love this game truly for the gameplay.

Replay Value (100%): This game is fun!! I am currently playing this game for the 3rd time. With so many side quests and the hard difficulty, I will probably be playing this a lot more!

Value (100%): Is this game worth it? YES!!!!! I got this game for $40 from someone in Nebraska. I think I was pretty lucky for this since Funcoland has the game for $55. If you can find it any cheaper, GET IT!

Gripes (2): This is not an official section of reviews, but I wanted to say this. The only reason I do not like the game is because it is the EASY VERSION OF FINAL FANTASY IV, Japan's version of Final Fantasy II. There is swearing, a better storyline, better abilities, even harder challenge, and more sidequests in the hard version. I just wished that this version could have been released with Final Fantasy Anthology Still, this is a great game!

Overall (100%): Great game! You must get this game! I am not being the average person who likes it just because of the name Final Fantasy, but this is truly the BEST Final Fantasy ever.