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The NES version of Final Fantasy has quite a few bugs in it. Most of them were fixed in later versions, but some weren't. It seems a lot fewer new bugs made it into later versions also.
There is a program called FFHackster Companion which will fix some of these bugs in the NES ROM for you. Find it at http://home.earthlink.net/~paul3/ff1.html
| Double Door |
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If you go into the menu screen while standing on a door, when you come back the door will reappear on you. Sometimes if you walk down, the door will double. I first noticed this bug in NESticle so I assumed it was an emulation problem, but it still works on a real NES. This bug was fixed in all later versions. |
| Finger Point |
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The 2 top rows on this penninsula north of Pravoka have enemies much tougher than anything you should be able to fight in the beginning of the game. It's a great place to gain a lot of experience and gold early on. I call it Finger Point, but it's also known as the Penninsula of Power, or just the Penninsula NorthEast of Pravoka (PNEOP). This was not changed in the WSC, PSX, and GBA versions, possibly suggesting that this was intentional and not a bug afterall. Of course the other spillovers (Imps/Goblins in inappropriate places) were never fixed either, and that was clearly a bug. The map in the MSX version was shifted, fixing most of the other spillovers, but this one is still there, just in a slightly different place. |
| Invisible Woman |
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The invisible woman is the weird mystery of FF1. Thanks to the "walk thru walls" Game Genie code, we know it's a woman. This is apparently a layering bug. She's in a room, even tho she isn't. If you go into a room and walk back out without using the door, she'll be visible and no one else will. While I expected them to just make her visible in the WSC/PSX/GBA versions, she seems to have been removed completely. That is, unless they did an even better job of hiding her. She is visible in the MSX version. |
| Elemental Swords |
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Many weapons throughout the game were obviously intended to deal more damage to particular enemies. For example: the Ice Sword to fire monsters, the Flame Sword to ice monsters, and the Dragon Sword to dragons. Unfortunately, this was apparently never implemented. This bug was fixed in all later versions. |
| Land on the Caravan |
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You can actually land the airship on the spot of desert where the caravan is. It's the only desert in the game you can land on. This bug is still there in the MSX version, but was fixed for the WSC, PSX, and GBA versions. |
| Ghost Characters |
Description |
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After coming out of the Inn in Onrac, if you walk straight down without going left or right people can walk right thru you. This bug was fixed in all later versions. |
| Lousy Houses |
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When you use a House it restores your HP and asks if you want to save and restore magic. The problem is, when you say yes, it restores your magic AFTER it saves, so if you come back to your game your magic isn't restored. To counteract this, just use a Tent after you use a house. This bug was fixed in all later versions. |
| Black Belt Armor Bug |
Description |
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The Absorb of an unequipped Black Belt (or Master) is equal to his level (not a bug). After a level-up, this happens even if he is equipped. Going to the armor screen sets it straight. This can be good or bad depending on level. A useful application for this bug is to gain the high Absorb from a level-up, and still keep the protective effects of the Ribbon or ProRing. Just make sure not to visit the armor screen after that. Similarly, make sure to visit the armor screen after level-ups when you're at a low level. Another related bug is that the Black Belt starts off with an absorb of 0. There is a similar level-up bug for weapons, but it can only cause a difference of 1 point. This bug was fixed for the WSC/PSX/GBA versions. The Monk/Bl.Belt's special abilities were removed for the MSX version, so this doesn't apply. |
| Faulty Spells |
Description |
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Some spells don't work as they should. TMPR, SABR & XFER don't seem to work at all. (Although oddly, if you hack the game to make an enemy cast them, they do work.) LOCK always misses, and LOK2 does the opposite of what it's supposed to. It makes the enemies HARDER to hit. HEL2, although coded properly outside of battle, actually has the effect of HEL3 in battle. These bugs were fixed for the WSC, PSX, and GBA versions. |
| Ribbon [SPACE] [SPACE] |
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This isn't much, but the Ribbon has an extra space in its name that messes up the selling screen a little. This bug is only present in the American NES version. |
| Experience |
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If you somehow manage to get enough experience to go up 2 levels in one battle, you'll still only gain one level. Then the displayed number of experience you need for the next level will be wrong. When you win another battle you'll level up again and the number will be corrected. This was NOT fixed in the MSX version and I haven't tested the later versions yet. |
| Wrong Colors |
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Depending on which battle you find them in, some monsters can appear with the wrong colors. Most of the time this is only true in the Famicom version, since some battle formations were changed for the NES version. The only time this affects the NES version is with the Sea Troll. The difference in color is much less drastic than some other monsters, like the OddEye. This bug was fixed in all later versions. |
| Enemy Spells |
Description |
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When an enemy casts a spell that targets all allies it doesn't hit the caster. When an enemy grants protection from an element to something that's weak to that element it doesn't work. I grouped these bugs together because the most noticeable occurence of each is with the WzVamp's use of AFIR. These bugs were fixed in the WSC, PSX, and GBA versions. |
| Dialog Layering |
Description |
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When you talk to someone or something, and an NPC is standing beside the dialog box, the NPC will be placed behind the background. When they're standing on grass, they'll just disappear. In the case of this walkway, you can still see them in the black (transparent) area. This bug was fixed in all later versions. |
| Lost Bat |
Description |
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There's a bat in the Waterfall who's stuck outside the bounds of the cave. This bug was fixed in all later versions. |
| Running |
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Running away is supposed to deal with your Luck and your Level. Due to a bug, the top 2 characters can run easier than they're supposed to and the bottom 2 characters can have a harder time running than they're supposed to. This bug was fixed in later versions. |
| Nondescriptive Altars |
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This is a really minor thing. When you "talk" to the 4 altars you're supposed to get a message like "The Altar of the Earth." This only actually works for the Earth and Water altars. The text for the Fire and Wind altars exists in the code though. This bug was fixed in the MSX version. The WSC and PS versions don't have this descriptive text at all though. |
| Fairy in the Ice Cave |
Description |
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I don't know if you could technically call this a bug, since you can't find it without cheating. There's an extra fairy on the first floor of the Ice Cave, outside the normal bounds of the cave, down from the furthest point on the right. There's no way to tell if this was fixed in later versions unless I get some walk-thru-walls codes for them. |
| WarMech's Rarity |
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I'm not sure if this was a bug or if it was intentional. In every version except the American NES game, WarMECH is in the rarest encounter slot, and the [Dark] Fighters are in the second rarest. In the American NES version, they're switched. This does not occur in any other version. |
| High HP |
Description |
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If you use a Sleeping Bag (Tent) when some of your characters are dead, they get a lot of Hit Points for some reason. It doesn't do you any good though, since you they go back to 1 if you revive them. This bug is not found in any other version. |
| The Price is Wrong! |
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The Ruby Bracelet (Gold Bracelet, Ruby Armlet) is 10,000G, only 20% of what it costs in other versions of the game. This bug is not found in any other version. |
| Useless Monk |
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The Monk (Black Belt) has none of his special powers (better damage/defense while unequipped) in this version. I figured maybe this was on purpose, and that he'd get them after the class change since it doesn't do him any good in the other versions. Nope, no such luck. He does, for some reason, attack pretty well with Nunchucks at high levels, but otherwise the Monk is just a big hunk of crap on the MSX. This bug is not found in any other version. |
| Truncated Damage |
Description |
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If you can deal more than 1000 damage at once (a Monk with a Masamune is pretty good at that) there won't be room for the thousands digit, so only the last 3 numbers will show. This bug is not found in any other version. |
| No Angel's Ring |
Description |
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The Angel's Ring exists in the code, but apparently you can't actually get it without cheating. There's no Angel's Ring at all in any other version. |
If you know of any more bugs, give a yell.
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