The Bouncer is another collaboration between DreamFactory and Squaresoft. It was heavily anticipated during the early days of the PlayStation 2 due to the high quality of previous DreamFactory/Square collaborations and impressive early footage. However the game was scaled back during development and the final product failed to match the vision. It is not a bad game, it is just short and bare.
Today, Square Enix announced the western release of Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX. The collection includes HD re-releases of both Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, previously exclusive to Japan, and Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, previously not released in PAL regions. Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX also features the Nintendo DS’s Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, in non-playable form, adapted into a cinematic retelling the story of the game over a span of 2 hours and 50 minutes.
Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX includes additional content, enhanced gameplay and trophy support. Expect to see Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX available for PlayStation 3 in North America, Europe and other PAL territories later this year.
Source: Square Enix
In celebration of today’s anniversary – Final Fantasy‘s 25th, in fact – we bring to you another of the Final Fantasy VII ads. The CGI heavy advertising campaign in conjunction with a price drop and effective relaunch of the PlayStation in some territories saw the then-ailing system become the leading home console.
Widely heralded as one of the finest RPGs of all time, Chrono Trigger is an adventure that takes place across the fabric of time, with memorable characters, fantastic graphics, an excellent battle system and one of the greatest soundtracks ever composed.
Secret of Evermore is a somewhat unfairly maligned later SNES release from Squaresoft. The name got a lot of people’s hopes built up, with a lot of them foolishly thinking that it was a sequel to Secret of Mana. When it was revealed that Secret of Evemore was developed for the United States market, obsessive fans automatically assumed the game deprived them of the sequel to Secret of Mana, Seiken Densetsu 3 and declared it terrible, regardless of its actual quality. It’s a common misconception – the reality was that Secret of Evermore was developed by a newly assembled Squaresoft team based in the United States.
Square-Enix revealed today that they would be releasing a compilation of Final Fantasy games in celebration of the series’ 25th anniversary this December.
Dubbed the Final Fantasy Ultimate Box, the set, which costs a princely 35,000 yen (about $AU440), contains every mainline Final Fantasy release to date. This is a PlayStation centric set, so you won’t be seeing Super Famicom cartridge releases.
The game breakdown is
- Final Fantasy (PlayStation)
- Final Fantasy II (PlayStation)
- Final Fantasy III (PSP)
- Final Fantasy IV (PlayStation)
- Final Fantasy V (PlayStation)
- Final Fantasy VI (PlayStation)
- Final Fantasy VII: International (PlayStation)
- Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation)
- Final Fantasy IX (PlayStation)
- Final Fantasy X (PlayStation 2)
- Final Fantasy XI (PlayStation 2)
- Final Fantasy XII (PlayStation 2)
- Final Fantasy XIII (PlayStation 3)
We’re told that the set also includes the art book FF25 Crystal Art Works, the FF25 soundtrack, art cards and more. Each of the 13 games will have new disc art drawn by Yoshitaka Amano. The set is due to release on December 18, 2012.
Lost Levels founder, Gamasutra news director and video game historian Frank Cifaldi has decided to part with one of his prized possessions – a one-of-a-kind prototype of the planned-but-ultimately-cancelled US release of Final Fantasy II for the NES.
Of course, you’d want to have a bit of free cash around before you consider it – the asking price is a cool $US50,000 (though offers are welcomed).
The NES release of Final Fantasy II was scrapped after Squaresoft decided to move onto the Super Nintendo and localise Final Fantasy IV (which hit the US as Final Fantasy II, starting some naming confusion for several years). This particular prototype comes from the Winter 1991 CES, where the game was shown off.
Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest is a sometimes unfairly maligned side story in the series, designed mainly for a western audience. We received it here as Mystic Quest Legend, while it was taken back to Japan under the name Final Fantasy USA.
Parasite Eve II is the follow up to the popular Square developed horror/RPG. The second game got a wider release, perhaps owing to it being a lot more akin to Resident Evil than its predecessor. The Parasite Eve video games serve as sequels to the Japanese novel of the same name.
A scan from next week’s issue of Jump has confirmed the rumours that Final Fantasy III is (finally) seeing a PSP release.
Final Fantasy III was originally released on the Famicom in 1990, and saw its first release outside of Japan in the form of a 2006 Nintendo DS remake which also made it’s way onto iOS and Android devices many years later.
Unlike the Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II remakes which graced the PSP, the Final Fantasy III DS remake wasn’t a mere graphical update but a complete visual overhaul featuring redesigned 3D character models. The scans (provided below) indicate that Final Fantasy III for PSP is a port of this Nintendo DS remake, and will include content from the iOS version and the option of playing with the original Famicom soundtrack.
Final Fantasy III for PSP is set for release on September 20 in Japan, and will be available in both digital and physical forms.
Source: VG24/7
