It's fair to say that, prior to the 1997 release of Final Fantasy VII, role-playing video games weren't really a part of the mainstream market. Sure, the Zelda's and Wonderboy's had gained a good cult-following in the past, but the game world was in need of a new kind of RPG - one made in three dimensions.

It was perhaps at the time a rather daring move from Sony to release the game to a global audience. The Japanese were (and still are to my knowledge) mad on all types of games, though response to RPG's outside the country had always been a little hit and miss. Sony's gamble paid off however - Final Fantasy VII has sold more than 10,000,000 units worldwide. The rest, as they say, is history.

It is a very strong contender for best PSOne game ever. Quite an accolade, and one that is achieved due to the lack of any real weaknesses anywhere in the game, and it's ability to excel in every criteria I can think to judge it on. Plus it has that bit of magic that I can't quite put my finger on.

Certainly in it's day, FFVII's graphics were immense - by PSOne standards, the huge array of full-motion video clips are still stunning. Many people still question whether the odd, deformed characters fit in with the almost photo-realistic look of the game, but in my opinion, they provide a welcome contrast to the dark, huge, futuristic and dingy look to the environments. Though the characters appear rather chunky, childlike and low-fi next to everything else in the field of play, they have an old-skool charm about them - and the animations regularly amuse. In terms of visual finesse, it's the battles the make the most impact - enemies, characters and scenery are all superbly renderred and some of the magical 'Summons' (mythical creatures that can be called upon to aid your party) are totally mind-blowing.

Still, it's difficult not to admire the depth in the battle system. The range of commands at the players disposal are immense - you can use the good old physical attack, magic, summon demons, use hundreds of items or any number of secondary commands that include steal, sense and manipulate. It may sound fairly complex stuff, but as you only start the game with the bare minimum of options, you can work your way in slowly and make things as simple or as tricky for yourself as you wish.

Worth a mention in itself is the Gold Saucer Amusement Park. This is a wonderful distraction from the main plot-line, and you may find yourself so immersed in it's attractions that you'll forget what you were meant to be doing next! This place has an arcade complete with half-a-dozen or so mini-games to have a crack at (including snowboarding, arm-wrestling and basketball); there is a ghost-train that acts as a shoot 'em up; a monorail that simply shows off several beautiful FMV's displaying the sparkling saucer in all it's glory...Also in here is a battle arena where a character of your choice gets to flex their fighting muscles against a series of progressively tougher opponents, and even a betting area where you can gamble on the Chocobo's (animals that look like chicks but are the size of horses), and even race the ones you have bred!

Final Fantasy VII excels greatly in graphical, playability, longevity and audio departments. The storyline is touching and mesmersing, making for some near-unputdownable action. I can't recommend this enough, and if you've been living in a cupboard for the last six years, you can still find it new on gamestation.co.uk. Without a doubt the best Final Fantasy title and likely to be the best PlayStation game of all time. Buy it immediately!