Video game franchise proves fantasy can go ever on

It's 1987 and video games are on the minds and on the television screens of almost every geek in the world. The Nintendo Entertainment System is only two years old, but already the console has broken every record imaginable, eclipsing the home computer market and all but reversing the much-publicised video game crash of 1983.

It's the ideal time for young, talented individuals eager to make their mark in this fast-growing world. Among them is Hironobu Sakaguchi, only 24 years old but already director of planning and development at the recently formed Japanese gaming company Square. Sakaguchi hasn't had much luck lately - two minor releases, both failures - but he has an idea.

He has a vision of a game that goes beyond the simple side-scrolling mechanics that have so far dominated the market. A role-playing game (RPG) of epic proportions, offering dozens of characters and hundreds of locations. He calls it, simply, Final Fantasy - and vows to leave the industry if the game isn't a success. Thankfully, it is.

Gamers instantly respond to its blend of classic fantasy tropes and then-modern RPG elements: players take on the roles of four warriors in a world of elves, dwarves and dragons, and are given free rein to explore towns, villages and dungeons.

Along the way, they encounter ordinary citizens who offer helpful information, shops that sell weapons, potions and magic spells, and an ever-increasing number of enemies that they battle using an innovative turn-based system.

As the series progresses and sequels are created, the games become larger and more ambitious - graphics are improved, gameplay reinforced, plots and characters expanded - but the core RPG mechanics of exploration and a great storyline are kept firmly intact (see sidebar for more on the series' progression).