Final Fantasy IV’s SNES Version Was Developed in About One Year, Only a Quarter of Planned Scenario Made It Into the Game
- ⚡Xe⚡
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Final Fantasy IV celebrated its 35th anniversary on July 19, 2026. In a special interview published by Square Enix, director Takashi Tokita and Final Fantasy X producer Yoshinori Kitase discussed the game's development, which began in 1989 and took roughly a year in its final SNES form.
The project initially targeted the NES before moving to the SNES during development. For Tokita, the change meant gaining access to hardware with significantly improved specifications, although the new console's capacity still proved restrictive.
“I think that was part of it, but the NES had a lot of limitations when it came to the number of colors and ROM and memory, so I was just excited knowing I’d get to make use of the SNES’s improved specs.”
The limitations became especially apparent when the team worked with the console's color capabilities.
“But even with 8 megabits, using all sixteen colors took up a lot of memory, so we used eight colors for most graphics with the calculation that it would take up two-thirds of the entire capacity.”
As a result, only selected parts of the game received permission to use all sixteen colors, including the airship, the last dungeon, and Zeromus. The available capacity also forced the team to cut down the scenario substantially.
“So while I was happy we shifted to the SNES, it couldn’t handle as much data as we had initially expected; not just with the colors, but the scenario too. After helping expand on the plot written by Mr. Sakaguchi and creating all the in-game text, we realized we were only able to fit a fourth of it into the game. [laughs]”
The hardware transition nevertheless enabled one of the game's most recognizable technical showcases. After seeing demonstrations of the SNES's Mode 7 technology, Hironobu Sakaguchi wanted the team to use it.
“There were lots of flashy demos showcasing the SNES’s Mode 7 feature that lets you enlarge, shrink, and rotate the background. When Mr. Sakaguchi saw it, he insisted that we take advantage of it.”
That decision resulted in the opening airship sequence.
“That’s how the opening scene with the airship came together, and I was right there to see it happen. All of this was shortly after I joined the company.”
The team was also working with a development environment that required data to be managed manually, creating problems that modern tools would automatically prevent.
“But if you weren’t careful, your data could exceed the allocated space, and because the system gave no error messages or warnings, people sometimes accidentally ruined each other’s work. It was challenging.”
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-⚡Xe⚡
About FINAL FANTASY IV
In the kingdom of Baron, the mighty airships of the Red Wings rule the skies. But when dark knight Cecil Harvey begins to question the ruthless orders of his king, he is stripped of his rank and cast into exile alongside his friend Kain.
What begins as a simple mission spirals into a desperate struggle for the fate of the world. Ancient crystals of immense power are being stolen one by one, and an enigmatic figure named Golbez stands behind the growing darkness. Joined by a cast of unlikely allies — the young summoner Rydia, the white mage Rosa, the bard Edward, the monk Yang, and many more — Cecil must confront his own inner darkness, uncover hidden truths about the moon and the stars, and rise from the shadows to become the light that saves the Blue Planet.
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