Versions and Re-releases
Square released the game December 1989 in Japan as Makai Toushi Sa·Ga and included a map for the four major worlds in the game; a revised version followed shortly after. Square translated it to English in March 1990, and planned to release it in North America with new artwork as The Great Warrior Saga. Square retitled it The Final Fantasy Legend before releasing it on September 30, 1990 to tie into the popularity of the Final Fantasy video game. Developers made slight modifications for this version, such as removing the game's credits and adjusting the longevity of certain weapons. Changes to the text were also made, including the omission of some of Ryu-O's riddles, removal of mention about self-sacrifice and a hint of the Tower's true purpose. Notably, the exchange between the player's party and the Creator, where the latter reveals that he created Asura simply out of boredom, is altered. In 1998, Sunsoft acquired the license to the Game Boy "Final Fantasy" games, re-releasing them in North America the same year. Despite advertising compatibility with Nintendo's Game Boy Color handheld, the re-released version featured no enhancements.
Square announced in September 2001 a re-release of The Final Fantasy Legend for Bandai's WonderSwan Color unit; the Japan-exclusive port debuted March 2002 under the Japanese title. Toshiyuki Itahana redrew the concept art and graphics, and Square added animated cutscenes. Developers also enabled players to see in advance what a monster would transform into before eating meat left behind after battle. The port allowed playthrough of the intact original Game Boy version. Among other changes and additions were gameplay tweaks, a bestiary, and an added feature that allowed players to automatically target an enemy for attack in combat.
As of January 30, 2007, Square Enix had renewed their trademark on the Japanese name for the game, and at Square Enix's 2007 Tokyo Game Show in September made a mobile phone port of the Wonderswan version available for play. Square released the game for download in late 2008 for Japanese i-mode, EZweb compatible phones, and Yahoo! Mobile compatible phones. The port removed the bestiary mode and original Game Boy version of the game, and condensed some of the in-game cutscenes. It added Chinese language support and extra shops with new equipment throughout the quest.
Read more about this topic: The Final Fantasy Legend
Famous quotes containing the word versions:
“The assumption must be that those who can see value only in tradition, or versions of it, deny man’s ability to adapt to changing circumstances.”
—Stephen Bayley (b. 1951)