The game is15 years old, but the amazing soundtrack and epic storytelling still hold up.
Players assume the role of Cecil, a Dark Knight and captain of the Red Wings, the strongest army in the entire world. King Baron has ordered Cecil and his men to search the world over for the magical cystals, killing anyone that would oppose the Kingdom of Baron. Feeling much remorse for his actions, Cecil questions the intentions of his king but ends up getting removed from his post. The King sends Cecil and his best friend Kain to the town of Mysidia with a package. Upon arriving in town, the package releases a wave of monsters, killing all but one of the town's residents. Tired of being a pawn, Cecil vows to fight against Baron. Little does he know that the wrongs being done in Baron are only a small portion of a much more sinister plot.
FFIV's story is one of the key reasons the game is so good. The plot is very well-written and is a heafty blend of love, courage, betrayal and good vs. evil. Bringing strength to an already brilliant story is the dynamic cast of characters. During the first few hours of the game, Cecil is a character you'll have the deepest of smypathy for but by the time you reach the game's end, you'll have nothing but the highest of admirations for him. Cid's wreckless and never-say-die attitude make him arguably the best Cid out of all the Final Fantasy games. Kain screws up far too many times, but you still can't help but like the guy. The character's actions affect the story on such a large scale that it is kinda hard to give away too much about them, but rest assured, the cast of FFIV are some of the most amazing characters in any RPG.
As far as gameplay goes, FFIV is one of the most ballanced FF games. There's no Materia or Draw system to be found here. FFIV is pure old-school, turn based combat. Rydia is an excellent user of black magic and summoning but sucks as a physical fighter. Edge can weild two ninja weapons in both hands but has low defense. Rosa specializes in defensive and recover magic. FFIV was the first game to use a five member party system. You'll rotate party members quite often and each member brings something different to the table.
It should be noted that FFIV Advance is the original, unedited Japanese version of FFIV. The SNES version of the game that first released back in 1992 was serverly watered down, poorly translated, and had some of the monsters taken out. The FFIV Advance version, also know as the "hard type" has a better translated story, all the monsters included, and is overall a more challenging game. Not that the SNES version of FFIV was terrible. Far from it. However, the unedited version of FFIV is infinitly better.
Square-Enix has touched up the visuals for FFIV Advance. The game doesn't look that different from the 16-bit version but the extra coat of paint makes FFIV Advance look more like the ports of FF I & II: Dawn of Souls. The Golden Sun games definitly look better but FFIV's visuals are still passable and don't make the story or experience any less enthralling.
Some Nobuo Uematsu's best musical works can be found in FFIV Advance. Even compared to some of the past few FF games, FFIV's soundtrack is breathtaking. There's a track that hits every emotion and each one plays at just the right moment. "The Final Battle" is still one of the best songs to be played in the history of final confrontations. When you complete the game, you'll unlock the Music Player mode in the game's Extra menu. If you haven't done so, you might want to invest in a set of high quality headphones. The music is that awesome.
Unfortunately there are some smears that mar FFIV Advance's near-perfect quality. There is some slowdown during the selection of commands and when characters carry out their actions during battles. There's also a tiny bit of slowdown when flying airships across the world map. Finally, theres a glitch that allows some members in your party to take another turn immidiately after they've already had their turn. It would have been nice if these wrinkles were ironed out, but it really doesn't dampen an otherwise phenominal RPG.
New features include random dungeons that open after you've finished the game, a quick save feature that deletes the file once you resume play, new character portraits that appear during conversations, the ability to take different party members (Cid, Yang, Edward) to the game's final area and a few name changes to some of the items and magic spells.
Final Fantasy IV Advance is a game that must be played by novices and veteran players alike. Novices can see what they've been missing all these years and veterans can experience the journey all over again. It isn't the longest RPG around. Without going on side quests, you're looking at a 25 hour or less game. That being said, those will be some of the best hours you've ever poured into a RPG. Slight cases of slowdown and a glitch in battles aren't nearly enough to keep this game down.