Final Fantasy VII (Famicom)

Final Fantasy VII Advent Children  (Chinese: 最终幻想7) is a China-exclusive unofficial, unlicensed remake of the 1997 console role playing game of the same name originally developed by Square for the PlayStation. The remake was developed and published by the Chinese company Shenzhen Nanjing Technology for the Famicom. The cartridge itself lends the game more notability, structurally different than most NES cartridges.

Gameplay
The game features an adaptation of the Materia system of the original Final Fantasy VII. The items and magic spells are those of the original game, although a number of them have been omitted.

The game features elements akin to the original, such as a three-member party structure. However, due to the Famicom's restricted hardware, the remake is entirely 2D, unlike the original Final Fantasy VII. The story was faithfully reproduced in very minute detail however some later cutscenes are condensed. Despite this the game plays through the entirety of the original game's story, including the final battle. Special compensation was done for Cloud Strife's sprite, using a 16x24 sprite instead of the usual 16x16.

Due to the size of the game, many elements were dropped. Yuffie Kisaragi and Vincent Valentine are no longer present in the game. Nor are summons or limit breaks, and some entire areas have been removed, and you're never granted a usable airship in the game, though some vehicles do remain including chocobos.

Materia and subsequent spellcasting are handled somewhat differently. Each character brings one materia into the party when they join, and said materia levels up to a maximum level of nine with usage. Once the materia have earned enough points, characters can take them to one of the game's magic shops, and get the spell itself related to the materia leveled up as well (each character's weapon follows the same principle, to be taken to the game's Weapon Shops to be leveled up). Additionally while characters can swap materia amongst themselves, unequipped materia can also be used mid battle to do things such as heal party members, which is valuable given the number of boss battles in some latter areas and the limited types of healing items.

Armor too has been revamped in the game. It now affects vitality, which will in turn affect the amount of life gained when leveling up. However the game's strongest armor will severely impact a character's fighting ability negatively, even though they can absorb large amounts of damage.

Development
Final Fantasy VII was originally developed by Square (now Square Enix) and released worldwide in 1997 for the PlayStation. At an unknown date, Shenzhen Nanjing Technology developed an unauthorized remake of the game, for the Famicom. As the box and name both make reference to Final Fantasy: Advent Children, this places the release window somewhere between 2005 and before November 18, 2007, when the earliest information about the cartridge first appeared online.

The cartridge itself is yellow, featuring a label on the front that reads "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children" and the serial number NJ063. The board for the cartridge is unique: unlike most Famicon boards, the board has one two megabyte program rom without any character roms. Because of this, character graphics are strewn across the rom in various banks, as one would see in Super Nintendo or Sega Genesis games. It only features one eight kilobyte battery-backed SaveRAM, giving it just enough room for the game's single save slot. The game additionally uses it's own 16x16 several hundred character font.

Although the game is not a ROM hack, many of its sprites are borrowed from other Final Fantasy games, including some SNES titles with the graphics scaled down in quality for the famicon to handle. The engine itself however is completely coded originally, and not based off Final Fantasy III's, which the game's appearance would lead one to believe.

Reception
While the game has received praise for covering the entire story within the game, it's been noted to be extremely difficult, with an inconsistent battle rate and a habit of fights that take quite a while to complete. A lack of healing options and slow rate of item level ups hinder things a bit more, with Cinnamon.com's article on the game to state "play it — but cheat." The game has also drawn some comparisons regarding look and handling to Final Fantasy III (see Development).

However, interest has been shown regarding an eventual English patch now that the game has been dumped. and Kotaku's article on the game cited it as "an achievement I have no hesitation in labelling Herculean" and "...a triumph of the human spirit." Boing Boing Gadgets followed with their own article on the game, calling the game "more than just a knock-off—it's an act of true skill and commitment by an unknown team of Chinese coders."

Square Enix has yet to make any statement regarding the game. Nintendo of America when asked cited that because the cartridge was made in China and for the Famicom, any inquiry should be directed to their Japanese branch and that NoA's response is currently "no comment." Nintendo of Japan has not made any statement at this time.