Old School RPGs

Breath of Fire was Released in 1994 by Capcom and Squaresoft on the SNES and received decent critical acclaim. While it's plot and basic gameplay were both quite simple, it had several elements that made the game very interesting and set it apart from other RPGs available at that time. Certain characters had special abilities on the world map, for instance the party couldn't walk through the forest without a certain character being in the from of the party. One character could dig holes in the ground in order to uncover new paths. The main character, Ryu, eventually develops the ability to transform into different forms of dragons, the most powerful being fairly difficult to find, however when used right, it reveals a new final battle and ending of the game. Also, one character, Karn, could 'fuse' with another character. Although the character Karn fuses with is removed from battle, Karn becomes significantly stronger. Another thing that set Breath of Fire apart from other RPGs is the ability to swap out characters during battle, allowing the player to customize the right party for each situation. Final Fantasy didn't add in-battle character swapping until 2001 with Final Fantasy X.

While Breath of Fire doesn't hold a candle to Final Fantasy VI (released as Final Fantasy III in the US) it's still a game well worth playing. Certain features like the flea market encountered late in the game are horribly addicting, and the game is never too hard or too easy, but maintains a fair level of difficulty throughout.

In 2001, Nintendo re-released Breath of Fire for the Game Boy Advance. The game is essentially unchanged, but features new illustrated cutscenes and some adjustment of the difficulty. I have yet to try it on the GBA, but I intend to buy it when I actually have money.

Overall I'd give the game a score of 8/10. I remember the music as being decent, although nothing quite up to the quality of Final Fantasy, and the graphics were on par for that era of the SNES. The gameplay is simple but fun, and the story is decent and moves along at a good pace. While I'd suggest Final Fantasy VI or Chrono Trigger over Breath of Fire any day, if you've played both of those and want to try something new, give Breath of Fire a try.

Breath of Fire 2 was released in the US in 1995 by Capcom.  Like the Final Fantasy series, this sequel bears little plot resemblance to it's predecessor, merely keeping many of the same game play elements.  The fishing system, which was extremely shallow in the first game, is made much more complex (and useful) in this entry.  Each character in this game has a unique ability that is used outside of battle, from hunting in places to get food, to rolling on the world map avoiding enemy encounters, to being able to fly.  The plot in this game, while often very slow moving, is much deeper and more interesting than the first, which is a very welcome change.

In this game, the player is able to combine elemental spirits with their characters, sometimes giving them subtle powers, sometimes transforming those characters into strange, yet wonderful powerhouse creatures that cause destruction to enemies.  The main character again has the ability to gain dragon transformations to rain destruction upon the tougher opponents in the game.  Also, as in the first game, there are multiple endings, 3 this time.

This was one of the best RPGs on the SNES, and now that it's been rereleased on the GBA, it's worth picking up for the experience.  The music is pretty good, the game play is simple and fairly fun, and the plot is great.