A fond look at the past.
First of all the graphics are very good for it's time. They are cartooney, and have the similar style the older games would of had if they were made during this time FFIX came out, so honestly I feel any complaints about it's visual style is pretty laughable, considering what it's emulating. The character models are detailed quite well, and the spell animations are awesome. The FMV's are amazing, and almost up to par with FFX's. Final Fantasy IX feels that if it had a bit polish it would be a PS2 game. That's how good it is for it's time.
The story is decent, but nothing epic in proportions of the games later in the series, most notably it's inspiration. Sure it does have it's moments, and Final Fantasy IX did produce, in my opinion the best villain since Sephiroth and Kefka, but the story felt as if it paled in comparasion to the two best Final Fantasies before part VII. While it is written good, and the dialog is very enjoyable, it isn't as epic as IV or VI was, which is the games it seemed to try to emulate.
The story is not bad by any means though. It's solid. I just didn't feel partically blown away in any sense of the word. Sure Kuja is awesome, and his moments are the highlight of the game, but that's about it. The characters are solid enough and Zidane is a pretty cool hero, who seems to take after Locke Cole, but I felt it wasn't the series's best cast.
The game play is where the game seriously suffered. The combat is slow, even on the fastest setting. The way you learn spell upgrades is a decent idea but it takes forever to really utilize it. Though each character has their own strength and weakness. Sure this means there is barely any customization but it shows that each character has their own strength and weakness. The dungeons are pretty good though, but there are a few that just over stay their welcome. The boss fights are pretty awesome, and the challenge felt pretty solid. Though the random encounter rate was a bit high, but that's probably because of it's inspiration and games like it.
The music is excellent. It is probably the best soundtrack in years for the series, and even all RPG's ever. The soundtrack is that good you should buy it right now. It's arguably Uematsu's best work next to perhaps X or VI's.
So all and all. Final Fantasy IX is a great RPG. Sure the story doesn't raise and grounds, and doesn't have the 'wow' factor that IV, VI or even VII had. Though it makes up for it in it's villain. The combat is slow, but it isn't a bad RPG at all. In fact it shines. When half of the Final Fantasy games feel generic, IX shines. Sure it's not as good as some of the best of the series, but it is pretty great in it's own right.
Story: 7/10
Graphics: 10/10
Sound: 10/10
Gameplay: 6/10
Final Score: 8.5/10