The SNES was an amazing system back in the day. Games like Super Mario World, Link to the Past and Super Metroid were all massive hits, and they're still seen as some of the best games ever made. But the genre that people think about as the SNES' premier offering was the RPG, and Square delivered one of the best early on in the system's life. Final Fantasy IV (well, it was known as Final Fantasy II at the time) was a huge step up from the previous entries, delivering a role-playing experience that was unmatched. Now, seventeen years on, Square-Enix is attempting to repeat the success it had with last year's amazing 3D DS remake of Final Fantasy III. Is this the definitive version of a game that has been remade as many times as its name says so?

Compared to the paper-thin stories of the first three Final Fantasy games, FF IV is a revelation, bringing drama and emotion to the series for the first time. The journey of Dark Knight Cecil and his quest for salvation still holds up today, with well-conceived, interesting characters. Cecil has a large number of companions, including the wise mage Tellah and the feisty summoner Rydia, each of them sharing complex relationships. The story has its fair share of plot twists too; even people who have already played through the other remakes can enjoy the prose here. The dialogue has only received minor changes this time around, which is fine when you look at the quality of the GBA game's translation. The plot will keep you hooked, while still making you feel for the characters it centres around. The story was definitely one of the highlights of the game back then - and it still is now.

While Final Fantasy III on DS worked more effectively with the stylus, FF IV is the complete opposite. Square-Enix has chosen to allow limited touch screen control for movement out of battle, but nothing else. The main screen has been changed to the top screen this time around, a great change for those who depended on the buttons to play FF 'properly'. This means however that no battles or menus can be navigated using the stylus, which means that the d-pad and buttons have become the only control method worth thinking about. There are minigames that involve the touch screen, but these are only optional additions to the main adventure. That's not to say that the game doesn't use both screens though.

A game of many firsts, Final Fantasy IV also introduced the Active Time Battle system to the RPG franchise, which meant for more frantic, fast-paced battles. This is handled excellently on the DS, with the HP, MP and ATB gauges of your party displayed on the bottom screen, rather than cluttering up the action on top. This makes the battles much more enjoyable, as you can appreciate the visuals much more, while still having information laid out clearly at all times. The abilities you can use in battle depend on the ones you have assigned in the Ability menu, allowing you to customise each of your warriors' command sets for the given battle. These include some all-new commands, known as Augments, which come in the form of items at first, bestowing an ability upon the carrier. This is used sparingly throughout the game, which means that your decision over who gets the augment is very important. Classic Final Fantasy abilities come up in this system, from the potion sapping Auto-Potion to the extremely useful Counter. This is a great addition to the game, allowing for much more involvement in your party's development.

It has been heavily talked about how this Final Fantasy IV on DS is the original Japanese difficulty level, rather than the dumbed down Western version. This may be the case, but rather than make you long for an Easy mode, it's nice to have an RPG that is a real challenge throughout. It may not hit you at first, but even FF IV veterans will die repeatedly in certain dungeons and on select bosses. This isn't because the game is broken though, which makes the difficulty a problem in most games - FF IV is hard from design; it's meant to obliterate you. The game requires a lot of grinding, but unlike FF III last year, which only gave you a newer harder dungeon after a session of grinding, there is always a reason to stay in that dungeon for a few more minutes. Whether that is a few items for completing the map on the bottom screen or just an opportunity to seek out some new flashy armour for the party, you always have a reason to keep levelling. There's even a Quick Battle option that lets you assign abilities for your party to continuously use, very helpful when levelling. This mentality makes the whole experience much more enjoyable and it won't be until you beat the dungeon at hand that you realise you levelled up for two hours to do it. The difficulty only makes FF IV even better this time round, an achievement for a game these days.

Once again, Square-Enix has outdone itself on the technical front, making another game that pushes the DS's limits both visually and aurally. The improvement over FF III is surprisingly large; the 3D character models feature much greater detail and look more sophisticated. Cecil's armour is just brilliant, a small detail that brings FF IV into a league of its own in terms of visual quality. In battle, the enemies and spells have also had a facelift; never has a toad looked so good on a Nintendo handheld! The environments are much more expansive and unique this time round too; each dungeon has a different feel to it, helped by the also excellent musical score.

Revitalising memorable themes from the original, the pieces here are all worth a listen, with each surpassing the usual quality for DS sound. There's even voice acting this time round too! After trying this out with Crystal Chronicles on DS earlier this year, this is where the voice acting can truly shine, with voice work better than most console RPGs. Square-Enix need to give tips to other developers on how to make such good looking and sounding games on DS; every single one of their releases so far has excelled in this field. Final Fantasy IV is the best of the bunch aesthetically, but this crown will probably last until the next title they release on Nintendo's dual screened platform.

Final Fantasy IV is just as good as it was seventeen years ago. It still has one of the most memorable RPG stories, excelling with both its aesthetics and value for money. But despite all of this, the thing that makes this the best RPG on DS - and arguably the best game - is the gameplay. The ATB battle system and dungeon structure still stand out today as genius, which is what makes FF IV an essential purchase. For those who have enjoyed FF IV since its first release way back in 1991, this is the best way to play one of the greatest games of the SNES era, while anyone who is yet to experience its delights is equally in need of this game. As an RPG, Final Fantasy IV is still right up there with the greats. All we need now is the inevitable 3D remakes of FF V and VI to go with next year's Chrono Trigger remake, and the DS can become the RPG Holy Grail that the SNES once was.

Reviewed by Sam Atkins for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).