Welcome to VC Weekly, N-Europe's guide to the wonderful world of Nintendo's download service. Written by Sam C Gittins.

Another single offering in this edition, this time around it marks the beginning of a certain popular RPG series. Anyway enough from me and on with the erm... game!

Available for download this week we have...

• Final Fantasy

Points: 600
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Squaresoft
Released: 1987
System: NES

Back in the Eighties the RPG genre was slowly but surely gaining in popularity, although it didn't really take off until a certain developer by the name of Squaresoft decided to create the first entry in their rather ironically titled series Final Fantasy. The series has spawned innumerable sequels to date and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon, far from final. But anyway, this is how the series started, on Nintendo's very own 8-bit system.

Truly this is a bare bones RPG by today's standards and shows just how humble a beginning the series started from. You follow a rather linear course as you travel from place to place partaking in quests which involve you either having to find something or save someone while battling monsters along the way. Battling is basic too as you have a very short command list for the limited turn-based battle system that does what it's supposed to and nothing more.

Everything generally 'works' but that's about it because truly we have become spoiled over the years as the RPG genre has progressed, so much so that returning to this game naturally feels like a huge backward step. Controls are fine but feel very sluggish generally as you move at a very slow pace - not to mention navigating the menus which is as poorly paced as the rest of the game. But then again, what else should we expect of such a title given its age?

Visually there's nothing wrong here for an 8-bit title but it's certainly not the prettiest example available on the console. It's clear to see that a decent amount of effort was put into the character models despite the landscapes looking fairly generic throughout. Audio does what it's supposed to do as well and lest we forget this is the game responsible for giving us the famous victory theme which is as synonymous with the series as the treasure chest theme is with Zelda.

If you're curious as to how the series first came about or you just want to relive it then it's well-worth downloading this to satisfy your curiosity. Be warned though - if you've become accustomed to mostly modern RPG's then you'll be in for a very rude awakening.

Verdict: Fun but frustratingly dated.

That's it for another installment of VC Weekly which will return again soon. So until then, enjoy the rest of the week and Game On!

Sam Gittins
[email protected]

Looking for reviews on other Virtual Console games? Or a full list of games available on the system? Then Check out our Virtual Console Index Page.