Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles (GameCube)

Crystal Chronicles marks the long-awaited reunion of Nintendo and Final Fantasy. It's been nearly a decade since the series was playable on a Nintendo home console; thankfully, this innovative title makes up for lost time.

Crystal Chronicles' main selling point is its multi-player take on the traditionally solo role-playing concept. Up to four players can take their part here, and a real sense of teamwork and camaraderie quickly develops between members of the adventuring posse. It's a breath of fresh air in one of the most stagnant game genres.

More invention arrives in the form of Crystal Chronicles' use of Nintendo's much-vaunted GameCube-to-Game Boy Advance link-up feature. With Game Boy Advance handhelds hooked up to the main GameCube system, players can manage their inventories with consummate ease and quickly access maps and other useful information. This is just one unique feature of a truly unique game.

The Final Fantasy series' famous qualities--from its intuitive battles through its epic soundtrack to the sprawling nature of its worlds--are all preserved here. For GameCube owners, this is the ultimate team-based RPG. With gorgeous visuals and a game world full of character and life, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is a title of stellar quality. --Jonti Davies

"A little beauty, but lower that score if playing alone; this is a dedicated multi-player for dedicated RPG chummies. 87%"

Connected gameplay expands the Final Fantasy universe in Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, an epic role-playing game unlike any other. In a world ravaged by plague, the people depend on a blessed crystal. To sustain it, the Crystal Caravan is sent out every year to collect Mirula Droplets and this year you and up to three friends must go. As you take a long and perilous trek through a wilderness overrun by monsters, you'll fight through an epic role-playing game with the story and graphic quality players have come to expect from the Final Fantasy series. Your party members connect their Game Boy Advance systems to the GameCube, and as you move, fight and solve puzzles together on the TV screen, what their characters see and hear will be secretly transmitted to their Game Boy Advance systems. Cycle through weapons and magical powers, check radars and sensors and communicate with your companions--work together, or the world is doomed.