Final Fantasy VI Advance (Game Boy Advance) review "Who knew a GBA remake could out-perform its PlayStation counterpart?"

It's weird for me to say that the Game Boy Advance version of any game is way better than its PlayStation port. However, Final Fantasy VI saw a rough translation to Sony's platform that turned the game into a nightmare of loading screens and lag. No, the campaign didn't change, but all the same, revisiting familiar (albeit glorious) territory more slowly than before is not exactly enticing. So when Square pumped out a portable version that promised to be swifter than the previous release, I was all over it.

Final Fantasy VI Advance may not be as technically stunning as its older SNES sibling, but the game holds its own quite well. It still sports gorgeous 2D visuals and a lovely 16-bit soundtrack, although some of its music is notably dialed back. For instance, the track that plays during special boss encounters, entitled “The Fierce Battle,” is noticeably of lower sound quality than before. However, it's not as if the track went from orgasmic to ear-bleed. It still hits decently enough that you won't want to throw your GBA out a window, especially not when the rest of the content on offer remains golden...

The experience proves to be more or less the same as its original issue, albeit without the exploit that allows you to kill bosses by casting the spells Vanish and Doom. You still command a certain green-haired woman with a sketchy past as she and her handlers sneak into a town and destroy the guards. This prelude opens her up to a face turn after a man removes the device controlling her thoughts, allowing her to slip out of the burg in the presence of a thief treasure hunter with an equally sketchy past.

The two of them venture to various places, enlisting the help of a king and his train-suplexing brother as they join a resistance movement against an evil empire bent on world domination. It all comes across as your standard Final Fantasy content until you reach a fork in the road...

VI gives each of its plot beats their own distinct identity. At one point, the storyline divides into three scenarios where you watch as the party you've established thus far travels to the introductory city, Narshe. A trio remains on a raft, battling arbitrary creatures that spawn, from your usual aquatic life to flying menaces. The thief, named Locke, tries to gain some intel and sneaks past a key base established by the empire. Meanwhile, one of your crew falls off the previously discussed raft and finds his way back to his friends, all while making two or three more connections. He adds the sword-wielding former retainer Cyan and the literal wild child Gau to his ranks, with the option to join up with a ninja named Shadow and some random ghosts.

All of these characters have one thing in common: sordid pasts. They've all got some kind of emotional hangup, be it not having much of a childhood because they were exploited to commit war crimes (Terra), they lost their entire kingdom and family to an act of terrorism (Cyan), or they simply never met their father because he was nutty and reclusive (Gau). However, these folks aren't about to take on the task of figuring out who they are. Instead, they've got an empire to topple, not realizing that their own lives will eventually get in the way of their progress one way or another...

VI gives you a huge world to explore with plenty of side quests and hidden goodies to uncover. What's more is combat remains smooth throughout, as the campaign mostly pits you against woodland creatures and mythical beasts you can easily knock out with your own abilities. Folks like Sabin pull off maneuvers like those seen in fighting games and “Dragon Ball Z,” while his brother Edgar purchases various tools for violent purposes. You can spray whole adversarial parties with poison, or even chop monsters to bits with a chainsaw.

However, things become even simpler about a quarter of the way through the proceedings, when an old man gives you crystal shards called “magicites.” These items allow you to teach spells to any character in your company (with the exception being a yeti you optionally recruit late in the tale), so basically everyone can be whatever class they are, plus a red mage. Yes, Edgar can saw enemies to pieces while slinging a cure spell. Setzer, a traveling gambler, destroys the opposition with his killer slot machine, but can also call forth bolts of lightning or the fabled Ultima spell. Even Relm, who uses foes' skills against them by painting temporary doppelgangers, can stop your targets or speed up her allies with time magic.

The whole affair seems to blow by quickly, with your party venturing to some neat locations and creative dungeons, like a factory and a burning building where a fire elemental waits as the area boss. Things build to a boil that sees you flying onto a continent in the sky after battling the entire imperial air force, only so you can watch as the world goes straight to hell in a hand basket.

And that's where things change for our friends...

Without a fully established society to save and the world in ruins, the protagonists now have to face their greatest challenge: their own emotions. How do you cope with such a debilitating loss as this one? Well, you search the world for you friends and find new ways to cope with defeat. This time, though, the portable edition offers a handful of new side quests that hook you up with events that see you gaining four new espers that weren't offered in previous versions: Leviathan, Gigantuar, Gilgamesh, and Diabolos. And hell, one of those encounters occurs underwater, finally allowing you to secure a special dance for the character Mog if you missed it before the world fell into ruin.

And yes, you even search two new dungeons this time around, making the all around package more worth the while than before.

More than anything, though, this iteration of Square's classic runs smoothly. I know that sounds like a weird thing to praise, but you don't know how much streamlined gameplay matters until you've played a slowed-down re-release like the one provided in Final Fantasy Anthology. The PlayStation edition left such a bad taste in my mouth that I almost didn't bother getting this one, and I thus would've missed out on not only a more playable port of one of my favorite games, but also some worthwhile fresh content rife with new challenges and nifty items.

If you're so late to the Final Fantasy VI party that you can't secure an SNES version of it, Advance works wonderfully as a stand-in. Granted, its down-scaled music is its only drawback, but all of its unique content and swift mechanics make up for a less satisfying soundtrack.

Staff review by Joseph Shaffer (December 31, 2023) Rumor has it that Joe is not actually a man, but a machine that likes video games, horror movies, and long walks on the beach. His/Its first contribution to HonestGamers was a review of Breath of Fire III.