Release Date: December 17, 1988 (Japan) | Developer: Square | Platform: Famicom / NES (8-bit cartridge) | ROM Size: ~512 KiB ROM; password-based save | Playtime: Main story 25–35 hours, Main + extras ~40 hours, Completionist 50+ hours | Sales: 500K–700K (Japan), 1M+ worldwide (original + ports) | Critical Reception: 35/40 (Famitsu/Famicom Tsūshin, 1988), 75–80/100 (Modern retrospectives), 85/100 (PSP/Pixel Remaster with QoL updates) When most people talk about console wars, I get … historical. They’re…

Release Date: December 6, 1992 (Japan) | Developer: Square | Platform: Super Famicom/SNES (16-bit cartridge) | ROM Size: 8 Megabits (1 MB total ROM) | Playtime: Main story 30–35 hours, Main + extras ~50 hours, Completionist 100+ hours | Sales: 2.07M (Japan), 2.5M+ worldwide (original + ports) | Critical Reception: 34/40 (Famitsu, 1992), Metacritic 86/100 (Pixel Remaster), ~87/100 (GBA Advance) I didn’t get into retro gaming until I was forty years old. I had no…

Release Date: December 18, 1987 (Japan) / July 12, 1990 (NA) | Developer: Square | Platform: Famicom / NES (8-bit cartridge) | ROM Size: 384 KiB PRG-ROM + 256 KiB CHR-ROM (640 KiB total); password save system | Playtime: Main story 17–25 hours, Main + extras 30–40 hours, Completionist 50+ hours | Sales: 1.3M+ (Japan), 700K (NA/EU), 2M+ worldwide | Critical Reception: 32/40 (Famitsu, 1988), 8/10 (EGM/GamePro), Metacritic 85/100 (Pixel Remaster) — Nobody working on…