Yesterday's quote left many people guessing, so here you go. "Without warning, the island suddenly appeared in the sky." This is from Lufia I, right in the very beginning of the story. I suspect most of you will be able to identify today's.

Q: Is Nobuo Uematsu doing the music for Final Fantasy 8? I hope he is, I really enjoyed the music he has made for the past Final Fantasies.

Jose Colon

Mike: Yep. There was some doubt as to whether Mr. Uematsu wanted to continue. He did eventually decide to continue with the latest Final Fantasy.

Q: My question comes from a discovery a few months ago. As you probably know, Sunsoft had the rights to re-release the Gameboy Final Fantasy games. First of all, what did this deal include? And why doesn't Sunsoft re-release the SNES RPGs? I mean, the demand for a new copy of Final Fantasy II (IVj) and Final Fantasy III (VIj) are incredible, and both Squaresoft and Nintendo would most likely profit from this. So why isn't it happening?

Mike: As I dig through our extensive archives, the actual details of the releases are vague. I know that the games released included Final Fantasy Legend, FF Legend II, FF Legend III, and FF Adventure. I doubt they released financial details to the public, so that is likely to be al the information there is on this.
   This is what I found about re-releases. From SquareSoft's FAQ:

Will you be releasing a compilation or collection of older games, like Final Fantasy 1-6 and Chrono Trigger, for the PlayStation¨ or PC?

No. Square of Japan currently does not have any plans to release these titles or a collection of titles for the PlayStation¨, Nintendo game consoles, or PC format in the U.S.

Q: I have a burning question. Do you feel that an RPG like Final Fantasy, Breath of Fire, or Dragon Quest would be happier on Playstation or Nintendo 64? I think the FMV that a CD allows is cool, but graphics-wise the N64 simply is better. The tech specs are generally better: 4 MB of RAM vs. 2MB, a 93 MHz, 64-bit processor vs. a 33 MHz, 32-bit processor.

And a final question. Why is it that a Playstation allows high-quality graphics, as seen in Final Fantasy VII-VIII and many other games, while a PC with 2 MB of RAM and a 33 MHz processor couldn't even run Windows, let alone any high-quality games?

Mike: I doubt most of the RPGs would notice a significant difference. The size is the largest concern, and while most of them will fit on the newer carts. As for the hardware specs, I have not seen my PSX slow down in any game, so I am not really convinced the extra power would make a difference.
   Overhead. You're not running Final Fantasy VII on a computer. You are running it inside of Windows 95/98. Therefore you have everything Windows already runs, plus the actual game. This makes the requirements a lot higher to play at a decent speed.

Q: Y'know the Midgar Zolom in Final Fantasy VII--the incredibly large snake that slithers around in a swamp-like area in the grasslands near the Chocobo Farm? Well, I've always wondered this...*if*, (and, this is theoretically possible, even if it would take thousands of hours)...*if* I leveled my characters up to level 99 by walking around outside of Midgar and endlessly fighting monsters, could I defeat the Midgar Zolom?? If I could, would this alter a few things?

Mike: I see a few flaws in this thought. First of all, if you have ever gone back to kill Midgar Zolom out of spite, you will notice there is always another one. The second flaw is you would only need to go to about level up partway before you could kill him. No need waiting until level 99, he's not that difficult. And finally you can, if you are lucky, learn Beta from him early in the game. With such a powerful spell, you can kill him before crossing the first time.

Q: 1) How many of the people working on this site have done work like this before, and where - i.e., what are your credentials?
   2) Have there ever been any 3D strategy rpgs (like FF Tactics) created for the SNES, and where would I get one?

Mike:1) Some of us have done pages before, and others did projects that help them with their current jobs. I helped create The World of Final Fantasy III with AndrewK. Erin has edited and authored many Pern stories for her fanzine clubs, making her a very good fanfic editor. Brian Glick used to host The Unofficial SquareSoft Music Page, and Noah is a music tracker, who knows a great deal about RPG music.
   2) Ogre Battle was originally released for the Super Nintendo. My suggestion would be to try a used game store, or try to find a re-release copy for the PSX. Good luck!