Back in 1987, there was a small Japanese software company called Square. At that time it was known for a nifty arcade game called Rad Racer, which had been a hit on Nintendo's cutting-edge NES console. Then the company released its first role-playing title, Final Fantasy. Role playing games were popular in the Land of the Rising Sun, but with the market dominated by the Dragon Quest series from Enix, nobody was expecting much. They couldn't have been more wrong.
The boffins at Square had packed an entire world on to a 2Mb NES cartridge. Players were transported to a mystical land where the powers of the four elements were bound and controlled by four crystal orbs. Unfortunately, the orbs were fading, and an evil darkness was spreading across the globe. Vicious pirates ruled the seas, evil creatures crept through the shadows and demons stirred in the depths of the earth. The ancient prophecy of Lukahn was coming to pass, and only the coming of the four heroes he foretold - known as the Light Warriors - could save the world from evil forces. When the mysterious Garland kidnapped the daughter of the King of Coneria (the dream city), four warriors were summoned to his court. Each young hero held a strange orb they had owned since childhood... Although primitive by today's standards, at the time of its release Final Fantasy was a revelation. The graphics were stunning, the music was incredible and it was awesome to play. Resplendent with a richly detailed plot, a clever game system, a vast gaming world, and hundreds of monsters, spells, weapons, armours and other special items, Final Fantasy was a big hit in Japan. The game system was different to the subsequent Final Fantasy titles. Rather than having fixed characters, the players chose from six classes - Fighter, Thief, Black Belt, or White, Red and Black Mages - to create a party of four heroes. This aside, many other elements of the game made it to future releases. It took three years for Final Fantasy to reach the US, but eventually it appeared in 1990 and enjoyed significant, if not incredible, success.