Famicom Pirate Monday #4
Yes, yes. I know that it is Wednesday. I started taking some night classes this week (Statistics for Economics- arrggghh) so I am a bit late. It won’t happen again I swear! To make up for it, on this edition of Famicom Pirate Monday I am showcasing one of my raddest Famicom pirates; a complete in box copy of Final Fantasy X-2.
Yes, those crazy Chinese programmers have done it again. A complete original RPG based on a franchise that has not seen official 8-bit glory for nearly two decades. I had to have this gem, me being a vocal supporter of the greatness of Square’s more technically sound original Final Fantasy X-2 for the PS2 and also because I am a pirate nut.
The game itself is actually pretty decent, even though I have no idea what anyone is saying. Part of the introduction “cut scene” takes place on an airship, and there is a character who looks a lot like Brother, so I am guessing that it follows the same story, if even in the vaguest sense.
The graphics have been drastically improved over that of the infamous Final Fantasy 7 Chinese pirate, and the game also plays much better. That being said, in the two hours I have spent feeling my way around the world of 8-bit Spira I have concluded that the game is HARD AS HELL. The battles are long and the enemies quite powerful, but there is more balance because you do start the game with a wide array of healing and attack magic. You can, through a series of events I completely stumbled upon, add a fifth member to your party that is present in battle. One flaw I have found is this weird glitch where the curser darts around the menu during battles occasionally, but I got so used to it I didn’t even notice it after about 20 minutes.
I have no idea who created this treasure. Waixing Science and Technology would be a usual suspect, seen as how they are responsible for numerous Chinese original Famicom games, however the cart and packaging are void of there logo, name and characteristic design flourishes. The packaging is very little help, however I was able to uncover the production date, mainly because “2009″ is about the only non-Chinese text on the back of the box. Also, check out this character who makes a cameo in the instruction manual:
Yes sir, that’s none other than Lightning from the upcoming Final Fantasy 13. Silly pirates, you’ve done got your video game girls all mixed up… but that’s okay, I forgive you.
