Easily one of the best games in the series. I give Final Fantasy VI Advance 9.5 Maniacal Laughs out of 10
If you've played any of the other Final Fantasy games for the Game Boy Advance, the first thing that you'll notice is the improved graphics. The character sprites in particular are vastly improved, showing more detail and expression on each of the main character's clothes and faces. The towns and dungeons in the game have improved as well, but it's not nearly as drastic as the changes made to the character sprites. The enemy sprites are well drawn and the spell and attack effects are entertaining to watch. There are even moments throughout the game where the camera enters a sort of 3D/behind the character view. These sequences (which happen most commonly while flying in the airship) are well made and fun to look at, but I found that it made it harder to distinguish where I was on the map. In the end the '3D' segments are a tradeoff; they aren't as easy to navigate as the previous Final Fantasys' airships, but it is prettier to look at and more fun to fool around with.
The sound in Final Fantasy VI Advance is another feature that soars above the previous games in the series. The soundtrack for this game has a huge variety of tracks from those that are dark and foreboding to those that are light-hearted and fun. Uematsu has composed several gorgeous tracks from the Main Theme (Also known as Terra's Theme) to an in-game opera. The opera in itself is one of the most beautiful series of songs I've ever heard in a video game. Sadly none of the versions of this game have the capability of using real singers, so the vocals are rendered on a synth board. Each of the main characters has their own theme song, and all of them are perfectly fitting to the people they are supposed to represent. The only bad thing about the music in this game is that it's coming out of GBA or DS speakers, so if you really want to get the full effect of the music you should play this game with headphones. Aside from the music, all of the other sound effects are pretty well done, from the sound of rushing water to the sound of a character swinging a sword. Overall, the sound does a great job of making the game even more immersive.
The game play in Final Fantasy VI Advance sticks with the tried and true Final Fantasy formula (random battles, dungeon exploration, etc), but it builds on this formula in some significant ways. In Final Fantasy VI you don't spend as much time customizing your characters as you do customizing your party as a whole. Every one of the 14 playable characters (that's a lot of characters when compared to most RPG's) has a special ability that they can use in battle. For Example, Edgar has the ability to use tools which can inflict damage as well as several status effects like blind, confuse, or even instant death. Sabin has the ability to perform strong punch attacks when you enter a series of commands correctly, and Celes has the ability to absorb magic spells and gain MP. All of the different character abilities add another layer of strategy to the usual formula, making you think about whom to have in your party as well as what should be equipped and what magic should be learned. Another change in this game is how you acquire magic. Throughout the game you will find Magicite. Magicite is essentially a stone that contains the power of a Summon (known as Espers) which you can use in battle. You can only equip one summon to a character at a time but as they remain equipped you will gradually gain AP (ability points) towards spells that you can permanently learn. This allows you more customization to give spells to whoever you see fit.
Another interesting gameplay element is the 'Relic' system. Basically, this system allows you to equip two extra items to each character known as relics. These relics can do anything from boosting your character's stats to giving them new abilities such as the 'Jump' command. It's a great way to customize your party and allows for more strategy in battle.
One of the most intriguing things about this game is how it adds twists to make the usual game play more interesting. There are points in the game where your party will be split into multiple groups and you will have to switch between them to solve puzzles and defend points of interest from your enemy. There are also other mini-game like segments throughout the game such as the Opera Scene (where you must memorize lines and repeat them within a limited amount of time) and the negotiation mini game where you must please both your allies and your enemies based on answers you choose. All of the mini-games that take place succeed at breaking up the action while still contributing to the story and the world as a whole.
Even with all the good things that Final Fantasy VI does with its gameplay and presentation, the thing that makes this game stand out the most above all the previous games is the story. The story begins with a couple of often used clichés; you start out controlling an amnesia ridden girl named Terra who joins a rebel faction to take down a mighty empire. How this game begins turns out to be rather misleading however, because as you progress through the game you begin to realize that there really IS no main character. All of the characters in the game have distinct personalities and motives, and they are fleshed out to a degree that isn't often seen even in the games made today. There are points in the game where you begin to wonder if Terra is the main character at all, or if the true protagonist is Celes, or Cyan. The characters are presented so well that it is easy to become emotionally attached to all of them. Instead of the characters playing a long winded game of follow the leader (like in most RPGs) you can easily assemble a party of any four characters and truly believe that they would fight this struggle alone, even if Terra had never been involved. Don't misinterpret what I'm trying to say, Terra is an important character and is a highly interesting protagonist; the point I'm trying to make is that all of the other characters are so well developed that you can't help but be interested in each and every one of them.
Even with all the main characters being so well developed, there is one in particular that steals the show: Kefka the sadistic clown/court mage. The main antagonist of the game is the most maniacal and evil bastard you will ever meet in a game. He makes the Joker from the Dark Knight look like a hero. It doesn't take long to realize that Kefka is the real enemy, not the Empire, and thank god for it. Kefka will simultaneously entertain you and enrage you, making you want to push forward through the story even more.
My only few complaints about the game are fairly minor. Kefka is absent from almost the whole second half of the game, making you forget how much you want him dead. There is a point in the game where you will lose all of your party members except for one, and you will have to find them all again (this point in the game caused me to quit playing twice, but please, push through it and you won't regret it), and with a bit of strategic level planning you can make yourself practically invincible, making the game lack challenge towards the end. With these minor flaws, the game still shines as a masterpiece, easily making it one of the best in the series, if not one of the best RPGs ever made. I give Final Fantasy VI 9.5 Maniacal Laughs out of 10. This game is just begging for a 3D remake, and I hope that Square delivers.