An unofficial Mega Drive / Genesis port of the RPG Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (otherwise known as Mystic Quest Legend in Europe and Final Fantasy USA: Mystic Quest in Japan) is currently in the works, from a couple of fan developers named NicoMegadrive and Laurent Crouzet.
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, as many of you will no doubt already know, was a Final Fantasy spin-off that Square developed for the SNES back in the early '90s, and was designed to introduce more North American players to the RPG genre. However, despite some fairly enthusiastic reviews from places like Electronic Gaming Monthly and Electronic Games, it ultimately went on to fail in its mission, earning a reputation in more recent years as one of the series's weaker entries, due to its simplicity compared to other games in the series.
Despite that, though, it still boasts a small legion of fans online — many of whom list the game's soundtrack from Ryuji Sasai and Yasuhiro Kawakami among its best qualities.
NicoMegadrive first started sharing footage of the new port back in May, referring to the game as "an easy and fun way to code a RPG with SGDK", but has since continued posting updates on the project's status, recently stating that they had completed the opening map Hill of Destiny and its events and will soon be moving on to the second area, Foresta.
NicoMegadrive is the programmer on the fanmade Mega Drive / Genesis port, while Crouzet is meanwhile working on rearranging the game's soundtrack for the Mega Drive / Genesis's YM2612 soundchip.
The plan right now is to continue working on the game, fixing bugs and completing the music, before releasing a playable ROM of the game's introduction.
You can hear some of the newly arranged music below:
[source x.com]
Comments 10
I know a lot of older games have that retro “this is actually pretty good” appeal, but Mystic Quest is a game I didn’t enjoy then nor now.
"A new fanmade port of the SNES RPG is currently being worked on"
something in a less passive voice, with WHO instead of WHAT as the subject, would be a lot more satisfying and enriching to read, imho ✌️
"NicoMegadrive and Laurent Crouzet are hard at work" maybe as an example ❤️
or "skilled fans are working on just that" if you didnt want to blast their names in the headline.
@jygsaw
beyond nostalgia or completionism, IDK why anyone including children would play mystic quest instead of one of the "real" FF games on SNES, unless its literally their first RPG and they dont know better.
EDIT - hey, look at that! ✌️ much better
@The_Nintend_Pedant @jygsaw
I bought a boxed complete copy two years ago for £45. I wanted the experience of playing through a SNES RPG without dropping £500 for a popular one.
Honestly, I liked it a lot. (I've already finished most of the other big SNES RPGs.)
I used the map and manual to work out where some secret missable items were. I played casually, maybe an hour every day or two. It was fun looking over the map anticipating future areas.
I had forgotten how nice SNES manuals were. Lots of colour and nice design. You don't even get manuals anymore! Sega's Euro manuals sucked. My Sony manuals are mostly b&w. Just nice to flick through this one and browse the many items.
It had special damage graphics for enemies mid-battle, which I don't recall FF6 having.
Music was nice.
Dungeons weren't stressful.
It could get a bit difficult - status ailments could wreck you fast!
It moved at a breezy pace. Every couple hours you'd swap your secondary character.
There wasn't a great need to grind.
It felt like a really upmarket NES JRPG but on SNES. Cute simple graphics.
I am a Mystic Quest apologist. Not amazing but chilled out fun. Six months later sold it for £45. No regrets or complaints.
7 / 10
EDIT: I can see why others wouldn't like it, but it satisfied a very specific itch I had. I just wanted a simple RPG run.
@Sketcz A lack of quality colour manuals now is a crime as well as inserts plus maps and other extras.
Open up a Switch 2 case today and literally there is nothing inside it apart from a plastic faux cartridge all for 80 dollars what a bargain!
This is meant to be progress?
Much more effort was placed on creating physical products in the not too recent past with mainstream games.
The music sounds cool, but it takes a lot of liberties, changing melodies and adding a double kick drum that wasn’t in the original. Not sure I dig that.
@Deuteros
The sad thing is the paper and inks are not even that expensive given the ratio of how much the overall game now costs.
Modern gaming has lost its way.
@The_Nintend_Pedant It was basically one of the only JRPG’s that were available period in PAL territories even more so early on.
(After using a converter for the main SNES JRPG’s. I went for a USA N64 but it didn’t have the JRPG’s I wanted so I didn’t end up with many games and importing everything was costly).
I freaking love Mystic Quest, and I am incredibly annoyed that Square-Enix has done nothing with it, Secret of Evermore, or Anachronox. I'm glad to see someone cares, at least. I'll definitely be following this project.
Also, to expand upon what @Sketcz said:
There is some emotional depth to the game. Think less than FFIV but more than A Link to the Past.
And on the subject of Zelda, the game also features light puzzle solving. You'll have to push blocks and use your sword on certain things to advance. (I don't believe any other Final Fantasy game has done this, but I haven't played anything beyond X-2 either.)
@KainXavier
High-five fellow MQ enthusiast! o/
There's also a degree of "platforming" - I liked how you could bounce between platforms over lava or water, and in some instances had to navigate a mini platforming maze. It wasn't particularly challenging, but it made the world seem more robust and interactive.
And good call with regards to emotional depth. It's definitely more than Zelda. Reading the interviews with Ted Woolsey on its creation gave me a deeper appreciation for it. He explained how they were specifically trying to make it as a means of encouraging US console owners to take a chance on more complex RPGs. So it has a lot of the RPG staples, but in a bite-sized chocolate box sort of set up.
Here's an interview with Woolsey where he talks a bit about MQ:
https://web.archive.org/web/20090904042649/https://hg101.kontek.net/localization/localization2.htm
I really like "Mystic quest", and honestly think most people who hate on it forget what the developers set out to do: Make "My first JRPG", and the game does a great job at that, but obviously it's not as complex as a mainline "Final fantasy"-game, because that's not what it was intended to be.
"Mystic Quest" got me to try more complex RPGs, at least i knew the basics at that point, so for me it succeeded at what it tried to do.
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