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The Final Fantasy series arrives on the Super Nintendo in style. In Final Fantasy II, the player is whisked off to a mythical dungeons-and-dragons world as Cecil, commander of a giant airship battle fleet charged by the King of Baron to recover a set of magical crystals.

But when Cecil refuses to do the King's dirty work any longer, he is cast out on an even more perilous mission. All this is told by an elaborate introductory sequence prior to play, and then it's up to you to journey off into the wastelands not just to undertake your mission but also to find out what sinister treachery the king seems to be up to.

Along the way you're accompanied by your pal, Kain, and more characters, turn up and join your party as the quest progresses. The main game is presented is top-down cutesy format, with squat little characters and bright, colourful scenery. The simplistic nature of the graphics tends to belie the game's sophisticated nature.

It may look infantile and shallow, but in fact it's bigger and more lengthy than the vast majority of computer-based RPGs - and it's much easier to get into and learn too. I'd much rather play this that some stuffy, pretentious AD&D product any day of the week.

For its terrific user-friendliness, depth of gameplay and sheer size and scope, Final Fantasy II gets a definite thumbs-up as one of the tidiest console RPGs to date - even the super-cute graphics do make it a little difficult to take things seriously at times.

Definitely recommended.