What do Metroid 2, Super Mario Bros. 2 and Zelda II all have in common? They are all the second game in a beloved franchise, but they are also the black sheep of their respective series. Final Fantasy II falls into this category as well, a title that took the series into an unexpected direction while still using ideas that the series has held up since the game's 1988 Japanese release. Along with a remake of the first game in the franchise, Final Fantasy II is now available on the PSP, host to revitalised graphics and sound. Is this the best version of this experimental title?

Palamecia is at war and the people of this world are sick with worry of imperial attack. Villages are being burnt to the ground, leaving young children stranded without a family and the soldiers who are left to fight are dying within seconds of trying to protect their homes. In the middle of all this, three young heroes emerge, entering onto an adventure that will take them to the depths of the world, in search of one of the trio's beloved brother. This may seem like a basic RPG story of 'young kids' on an adventure that is far below your usual expectations, but for the first time in the series, the story is both interesting and memorable. Compared to the lightweight prose found in the previous game, this is a major step up, in both the plot and character sense.

The three (or four, depending on how you look at it) characters here are all different to each other, looking, and feeling, individual throughout the game. This trait extends beyond your set of central fighters too; all of the denizens of Palamecia also have an exciting story to tell, with some even accompanying you on your journey. The white mage Minwu and the leader of the resistance, who you begin your story working for, are both cleverly designed to make them seem like a part of the world, rather than a set of pixels placed in a random room to give you a hidden item. All in all, the story is one that stands out against the minimal one found in the game's predecessor. It may not be of the standard found in the more recent games in the RPG series, but it is very well executed and will be one of the reasons you continue playing.

If you have played the original Final Fantasy, or any other game in the series, then you will feel familiar with the basic design of Final Fantasy II. You travel across an expansive world map that's littered with dungeons, towns and other points of interest. While in these areas you move around with the d-pad, selecting things to talk to and look at with the X button. You walk around the town, entering shops, stocking up on phoenix downs and stealing large sums of gil from treasure chests found in the unlikeliest places. All of this is standard series fare and you'll also find the series debut of both the Chocobo (a huge yellow bird that can help you move across the world map at speed) and Cid (an airship pilot who would go on to become vital to the series.) You won't find anything unexpected - for the first five minutes anyway, after which you'll discover the first of many tangents that this Final Fantasy title takes.

Although some of these do not come across as well as intended, the first one to mention is an addition that Square-Enix should think about bringing back to the series. When talking to key characters in towns or castles, certain key terms are highlighted. This gives you a clear indication to pay attention and learn the word, a result that is achieved by selecting learn from a menu that appears at certain points in conversations. These terms can then be told to other people, who may be on the other side of the world, and they will respond in either a helpful way, or one that doesn't affect the events you are a part of at that point. This gives the feeling of being involved in a conversation, rather than cycling through text, which as many Final Fantasy fans know, can get very tiresome. The ability to use items instead of words adds even more to this original and enjoyable feature, one that changes the way you feel about the story. Rather than just being along for the ride that your four heroes are on, you are a part of the team, making connections between characters and words all the time, with this carrying over to the dungeon crawls you encounter, as you find links to the items you discover. The first detour that Final Fantasy II takes on its way to the series' manufacturing plant is the game's best, and one that is inventively woven into the fabric of the main game. Sadly however, this can't be said about the other main change that the game makes to the Final Fantasy formula.

If there is one reason for fans to dislike Final Fantasy II, it isn't the story, or the world, or the battle system, or the addition of Chocobos, or even the new keyword system; it's the levelling up system. This is unlike any other character development system in the series, which is a bad thing in case you hadn't already guessed! Your team of warriors don't have selectable jobs - that's Final Fantasy I, III, V, X-2 and XI out of the window; they don't have preset actions that they learn over time - I, IV, VI, and IX are gone; and even though the characters can learn any ability, the system is still unlike VII, VIII, X and XII. After that long list of games, the question is, what is the character development system in Final Fantasy II?

You can buy magic and weapons in shops as usual, but each ability and stat levels up individually. That means that if you use a cure spell consistently, in and out of battle, this ability gains experience and level up. The same goes for stats like strength and HP, where if you're hit a lot and your character's HP depletes then the damage you can withstand increases too. This seems well thought out on paper, but in practice it becomes annoying to say the least. With no overall level, or sense of development without always entering the status menu, I found it hard to keep track of how powerful each member of my team was. This can make tackling a new dungeon touch and go, as to whether you will succeed or suffer a quick and painless death (those adjectives used to emphasise how fast this game is). This type of levelling up is not suited to a classic style RPG such as Final Fantasy and it fails to create any sense of progression. This is the worst aspect of the game and it's the main reason that FF II doesn't reach the heights of its predecessor and its many chronological follow-ups.

The most notable difference of this version to the original game is the graphics; in the same vein as the Final Fantasy port on PSP, the game has been redrawn to fit the system's 16:9 wide screen. The SNES style sprite designs are a great addition, turning the production values of the game into something worth talking about. The same can be said about the music, with fan favourite themes reborn once again. The world looks different and marginally better than the one found in the original Final Fantasy; the environments are more scenic, the characters are bolder and brighter and the trees on the world map are an even better shade of green (something that makes a surprising amount of difference!) The aesthetics are just as good as you will be expecting - nothing more and nothing less - although they are the best seen in Final Fantasy II in its twenty-year lifespan.

There are tons of other things that should be mentioned about this version of Final Fantasy II, such as the bestiary, cut scenes, the speed of the game and the extra dungeons - but the most important thing to note is that this is a standalone game. Other than the original game and a mobile phone version, Final Fantasy II has never been released without the original Fantasy alongside it. This may not seem like a problem, but without this extra game, you see just how weak Final Fantasy II is when compared to every other entry in the series. This is the worst Final Fantasy game, and that is a very hard thing to say for a diehard FF fan such as myself. While the overall score isn't considerably lower than the other PSP port, this game is undoubtedly the lesser product. Even so, this is the best version of FFII to ever hit store shelves, and at £20, series fanatics can save Palamecia at a budget price. Newcomers to the series should start with the original FF, or even jump in at a later entry - just don't play this and expect it to be the true Final Fantasy experience. This has a place in some gamer's hearts, but for most it won't be worth paying the airship fee for - so let's just sweep this one under the carpet and wait for the next PSP conversion of a Final Fantasy game with great anticipation.

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