Twenty years ago, a small little company called Square Soft capitalized on the success of Final Fantasy for the NES by releasing a sequel for its successor, the Super Nintendo. Final Fantasy II became an instant best-seller and opened the flood gates for a role-playing revolution, followed by such games as Final Fantasy III, Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger. Today, the RPG market is an even bigger juggernaut, but Square refuses to forget where it came from. With that, it released a modified version of Final Fantasy II for the PSP, sticking to its old-school guns while including a few token goodies to satisfy long-time fans.

In the game, players join a party of warriors as their town gets destroyed at the hands of a strange mystical force. After barely escaping with their lives (and narrowly escaping the grasp of robot-like knights), they vow to restore peace to the land with what little resources they have, even if it means exploring every dungeon to find the answer.

Square Enix clearly wants to pay tribute here, so they left a huge part of the game intact. A few extra dungeons were thrown in to keep the gameplay fresh, as players utilize a battle system that calls upon them to use everything they have in their arsenal. The battles grow stale over time, especially considering how frequently they occur during a dungeon crawl. Strategy still plays a big part, however, the right moves assure survival to the next fight.

Final Fantasy II's biggest asset lies in its presentation. The new introduction looks spellbinding, giving it a more dramatic lead-in than the original release. The rest of the adventure looks decidedly old-school, with little animated characters and drawn-out worlds that require exploration simply by walking around. The game doesn't overflow with visual effects but it still has touches here and there that make it feel right at home on the PSP. The game's audio sounds great, thanks to Nobuo Uematsu's fine craftsmanship.

Aside from new dungeons, the game also offers few extras. It lacks any kind of AdHoc-supported features or shocking new twists in the storyline. Players who beat this game to death on the Game Boy Advance or the SNES may find little reason to return to this version, unless they consider themselves hardcore collectors.

Regardless, Square Enix treated this chapter of its beloved franchise with dignity and respect. Final Fantasy II lacks the groundbreaking features that Final Fantasy III offer for the Nintendo DS, but it satisfies with its top-notch presentation and classic gameplay.

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