LogFAQs > #945788226

The first three are probably the only ones that have significant differences between the versions.

For 1 and 2 it depends on how authentic to the original you want to go (which may be a good or bad thing, since a lot of people dislike 2 since it's basically a SaGa game). Playstation Origins version is closest to the originals of the remakes with mostly just some bug fixes (and an easy mode for ff1). Dawn of Souls for the GBA changes the game balance a lot for the easier, including having MP instead of spells per day for FF1 and reduces some of the grindiness of raising stats in 2. DoS also adds a bonus dungeon with boss fights from other ff games to FF1, and adds a new epilogue story for FF2. PSP versions has most of the DoS changes, but are even easier still and adds a new bonus dungeon to each one (although they're apparently worse than the ones added to the GBA version). So basically for FF2 it's probably better for most people to play the GBA version, but for FF1 it depends on whether you prefer spells per day vs. MP (honestly, spells per day doesn't really work out very well in most japanese games outside of wizardry clones due to magic being weaker than a lot of western games with spells per day) and how much other "authenticity" you want.

For FF3, the remake is basically like the FF4 DS remake since it's the same engine and all. Though, the FF3 remake sticks closer to the original's NES content and game mechanics and balance and such than the FF4 remake does. Main difference is that the NES version has some dumb capacity point system when changing jobs (and you have to change jobs often since certain dungeons/boss fights are designed around certain job gimmicks) that doesn't actually limit anything while the remake has a cooldown penalty when you change jobs so you don't gain any job experience until you fight X battles in your new job. Also I guess since the remake can't display as many enemies in a single encounter as in the NES version, a lot of enemies got buffed to make up for it. The remake does have some minor plot changes and new plot elements, though it's basically giving the onion kids unique identities and some unique lines instead of being a team of four pallette swapped generics. Nothing really important if you choose to skip it though. I'd personally say that it's a toss up with both versions having annoyances just in different spots, though many others prefer the NES version since it's not like the remake has as much in the way of concessions for modern players anyway. (p.s. you can't get the "best" job in the DS version anymore since it was a wifi communication exclusive. It's not difficult to beat the game without it, but it's worth mentioning since it bothers some people. I think you can get it normally in the PSP and steam ports of the remake though, but I never played those).

For 5 and 6, I don't think the differences are terribly important other than some minor new optional content in the advance versions, and the terrible new graphics in the mobile/steam versions (though someone may have come up with a mod for the original graphics with the steam version, IDK I just ignored them).
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Not changing this line until I beat Seven Heroes (2/24/07) - Fulfilled 2/20/18