Final Fantasy IV Inspired by F1 Racing, Star Wars

[Tom Goldman]

Final Fantasy IV Inspired by F1 Racing, Star Wars

Something more surprising is how F1 racing inspired Final Fantasy IV's Active Time Battle system, as the two seem completely unrelated. Active Time Battle gave each character a speed and had them act within a certain amount of time depending on their chosen action. Tokita reveals: "The planner [of Final Fantasy IV], Hiroyuki Itoh, who directed Final Fantasy XII [http://www.amazon.com/Final-Fantasy-XII-Playstation-2/dp/B000F5IH2I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302986046&sr=8-1], was watching a Formula One race, and he saw all the cars surpass each other. From this, we thought of an interesting idea where character speed would differ depending on the type of character it was. That's where the initial idea [for Active Time Battle] came from."

The characters were theoretically doing their own laps like an F1 car at different speeds. Active Time Battle was used in multiple future versions of Final Fantasy after Final Fantasy IV, so if it weren't for race cars, we may have been playing the series in a completely different way. That's definitely not something I ever thought would ever be true.

Final Fantasy IV: Complete Collection will be available for the PSP on April 19, 2011.

Source: 1up [http://www.1up.com/features/final-fantasy-iv-creator-conversation]

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[Quiet Stranger]

I really need to play this, I think out of all the FFs I haven't played (or have played....) I really need to play four and two.

 

[Brad Shepard]

I really need to play this, I think out of all the FFs I haven't played (or have played....) I really need to play four and two.

Just a tip, grind your ass off in 4, just trust me on this one.

 

[-Seraph-]

The ATB system being inspired by F1 made me laugh, I never expected such a thing to be inspired by a sport such as F1. The star wars inspiration is pretty obvious with Golbez and all, but then again there have always been bits of Star Wars sprinkled throughout the series given how big of a SW fan Hiranobu Sakaguchi was.

Can't wait to get my hands on the PSP version in the coming days, I love me some pretty 2D spites. Also love how you got the option to use the SNES music, which I still found had better sound quality than the DS remake. And it comes with Dissidia DLC, classic Sprite Cecil FTW!!

 

[snip snip 4ever]

So Golbez is Darth Vader? ... makes sense

 

[samsonguy920]

This just in, FF dev points out something we already knew! News at 11!

HAHAHA, but anyway: I would think this is part of what makes Final Fantasy appealing to all the fans, is all the cliches it uses from other genres and stories.
I would be concerned that since they just now admit it themselves, it seems inevitable that it is going to get mucked up to try something different.

 

[-Dragmire-]

Racing... didn't think it was very popular in Japan though I'll admit I'm ignorant on the subject.

 

[Gindil]

I just realized...

I've never played this one...

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

I'll pick it up over the summer. Got a ton of other PSP RPGs to plow through first.

 

[WanderingFool]

F1 racing inspired the ATB system? Thats something I was unaware of. Hmm, cool. Doesnt make me like turn-based systems anymore than before, but still interesting.

 

[Lord Devius]

This version is well worth the money. I'm playing it right now. (Japanese version has English text as its primary language, oddly enough. It's great. )

 

[Ellen of Kitten]

Final Fantasy IV: Complete Collection will be available for the PSP on April 19, 2011.

I will be patiently awaiting my iOS version. I so far have FF1, FF2, and Secret of Mana. I want FF4 and FF6 to follow.

Ah Squaresoft. How we miss you.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

...race cars.

*wanders off down the street*

...race cars?

*goes around the corner*

[small]...race cars![/small]

Well, it's a good thing that Mr. Itoh is a racing fan. The ATB system really shook things up back in the day.

 

[RaikuFA]

looking forward to this. that and the inevitable 5 and 6 remakes for the 3ds

 

[ValentineUK]

I really wish that they had left the game 2-D in Final Fantasy IV DS. I wasn't too keen on the new 3-D take on it and how they tried to give all the characters voices. The new 3-D look worked in Final Fantasy III DS but I really think they should have left IV alone.

 

[-Seraph-]

I really wish that they had left the game 2-D in Final Fantasy IV DS. I wasn't too keen on the new 3-D take on it and how they tried to give all the characters voices. The new 3-D look worked in Final Fantasy III DS but I really think they should have left IV alone.

Yea the 3D look for FF4DS was passable, but damn it was still rather fugly. The DS just did not have powerful enough hardware for something like that and it was rather hard on the eyes at times.

Glad they went back to the 2D sprites, although I wouldn't mind a remake with Dissidia/Kingdom Hearts style visuals. That style proved to be very appealing and fitting for these classic FF games.

 

[greyghost81]

That Formula One bit is pretty wild. I wouldn't have guessed such a thing would have made such an effect on developing Active Time Battle.

 

[FinalHeart95]

Final Fantasy IV is great, simply great. I have the original SNES version too, so get to grind less than with the DS version, but it still has its moments (Zeromus stands as the most difficult final boss in Final Fantasy, at least to me). Also, one of the few FFs where the final boss is actually MORE difficult than all of the optional ones.

Probably my favorite in the series, although FFVII introduced me to it.

 

[tehroc]

Final Fantasy IV is great, simply great. I have the original SNES version too, so get to grind less than with the DS version, but it still has its moments (Zeromus stands as the most difficult final boss in Final Fantasy, at least to me). Also, one of the few FFs where the final boss is actually MORE difficult than all of the optional ones.

Probably my favorite in the series, although FFVII introduced me to it.

I found Zeromus to be very easy. Protip: SNES Zeromus only responds to spells you cast. You can physical attack him without any retaliation.

 

[bismarck55]

I really need to play this, I think out of all the FFs I haven't played (or have played....) I really need to play four and two.

Just a tip, grind your ass off in 4, just trust me on this one.

That's ridiculous. FF4 was the first FF specifically balanced to require no grinding whatsoever. as long as you don't flee from encounters you can run straight through to the end without ever stopping to grind for EXP or even Gil.

I don't even understand how someone could come to the conclusion that it's advisable to "grind your ass off" for bloody FF4 of all games! JRPGs already have a bad rap for things like required grinding, and have to contend with this site's veritable army of japan bashers, then you go and probably turn even more people off the game with your misinformation.

But then, maybe you're just being disingenuous.

Geez.