Replayable Minigames In The Original Final Fantasy 7, Ranked

We rank FFVII’s best replayable mini-games.

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Final Fantasy 7 is likely one of the most celebrated entries in the long-running series. Despite having something of a rushed development and rather shoddy translation for its original release, it was also the first Final Fantasy in 3D. It was a huge undertaking and a massively successful one at that.

But a major aspect of the game was its minigames. Unlike every Final Fantasy before and since, 7 was loaded with minigames. Too many for a single article, honestly. So here, we’re going to be ranking just about every replayable minigame, all the ones you can enjoy at your own pace.

12 Arm Wrestling

First we go to the home of almost every repeatable minigame, the Gold Saucer. A now-iconic corner of the Final Fantasy universe, there are plenty of games here; some fun, some middling, and some kind of poor. Then there’s arm wrestling.

Instead of facing off against another NPC, you instead arm wrestle a machine emulating a human. To win, you have to rapidly tap a button until you knock down the opponent’s arm. For the first opponent, that’s possible. However, you may as well be fighting a wall for the rest, and we’ve not keen on wrecking our controller and ourselves for a minigame.

11 3D Battler

Also housed in the Gold Saucer is the 3D Battler. Played on a table that projects 3D holograms of the players, it’s something of a rock-paper-scissors scenario, but with high, mid, and low attacks instead. The game has you facing off against four opponents, with the first to land 10 blows moving on to the next round.

Thing is, it’s entirely random. There’s no reaction from the AI to form a strategy, so continually tapping the same attack has just as much chance of winning as varying attacks. On top of that, the AI seemingly has a higher chance of beating you as you go on despite being random, making it incredibly difficult to actually beat the gauntlet.

10 Mog House

Mog House is funny as a game, as it’s more about making the right choices than it is about any particular skill. There’s no time limit here, or really even prizes to win. They want you to invest in the story of Mog and his chances of finding a mate, and for you to spend all the money you can until you get a happy ending.

In short, Mog is trying to learn to fly to impress his mate, and needs to be fed the right amount of kupo nuts. Too little or too many and you’ll fail. But just the right amount, and he’ll grow old and have a great big family with his mate, and everyone lives happily ever after. You’ll even get 30 GP from someone standing nearby for your first completion.

9 Basketball

Would you believe, also in the Gold Saucer is the Basketball game, one that’s not actually that unfamiliar to amusement parks and the like. It’s a simple game: you charge up your throw of the ball and hope it lands in the basket either with a clean shot or by bouncing it off the backboard. Easy.

Thing is, there’s still a small randomized chance regarding how far Cloud will throw the ball, even with a perfect charge, so it’s basically essential to get the charge perfect every time to reduce the chance of ever missing. The game ends after 44 consecutive shots, but it’s super addictive to jump back in because of how fast it is.

8 Excavation

Located in Bone Village are a bunch of excavators looking for treasure, a task in which you can participate. The basis of the game is to hire searchers, detonate a bomb, and then set a digger in the spot in which all the searchers face. The intent is to hire enough searchers to narrow down the exact point they’re facing.

Unlike many of the minigames though, excavation has next to no randomization. This means if you already know the location of every buried treasure, you can set a digger there right away and gather all the items for free. Conceptually, it is an interesting idea of having to basically triangulate a position, but can be broken pretty easily.

7 Shooting Coaster

Refusing to be confined by the fact that exploration is done on a 2D plane, Final Fantasy 7 has a horde of minigames in actual 3D environments, and the shooting coaster is one of them. Housed at the Gold Saucer, of course. Shooting Coaster is a literal on-rails shooter, tasking you with hitting as many targets as possible.

Now, these targets are things like ghosts and other enemies that move around quite a bit. And to make it harder, different versions of the game run at different speeds, with the original European release running slower and making it easier to aim. But then the original PC version has no precise aiming, the reticule gliding across the screen like ice. Fun idea, weirdly executed.

6 Submarine Game

After first receiving the submarine in-game, you’re instantly thrown into a minigame that places you in a 3D underwater area tasked with taking down the Turks to retrieve the Huge Materia they’ve stolen. It can be incredibly daunting with all the UI suddenly appearing and looking like a digital monitor from Evangelion.

But after completing the minigame, either by winning or losing, it can actually be replayed in the Gold Saucer for points, with unique rewards. Each level has increased enemy submarines and more mines strewn across the area, but for higher GP. It’s one of the more detailed minigames and one with an actually fun execution too.

5 Chocobo Racing/Breeding

Being one of the primary mascots of the Final Fantasy series, of course the beloved Chocobo is present in Final Fantasy, with quite a bit of depth too. While introduced as wild animals that you can periodically ride, you can later breed your own Chocobos with unique traversal abilities.

But this is all for a greater benefit too. You have to perform Chocobo Racing once as part of the main story, but can then compete for prizes later at the Gold Saucer, entering your own Chocobo. Here, you’re rewarded for raising the greatest Chocobo, winning almost all races with ease with your trusted companion. Unless you come up against Joe and Teioh.

4 Squats

Hailed as one of the most well-known of Final Fantasy 7’s minigames are the Squats. So beloved are they that they had to be advertised as included in 7 Remake, and massively expanded at that. The Squats minigame is played at Wall Market with the bodybuilders, and your performance gives items that grant Cloud a higher chance of being chosen by Don Corneo.

The game itself is simple but requires strong timing and a keen eye on Cloud’s posture. You must press the buttons in a specific order for Cloud to do the various actions of a squat, increasing in speed with each squat. Failing causes you to freeze up for a second and start the squat over. The speed of the minigame makes it addictive, as well as getting down the perfect timing.

3 Fort Condor

The opinions on Fort Condor are hard to state unanimously. The minigame, a kind of tower-defense strategy, has enemies ascending from the bottom of the screen attempting to reach the condor at the top, and you have to place units to hold them back. If you fail, you have to fight a boss. It’s interesting, with a good degree of mechanical depth too!

All the units are displayed as polygonal models and can be hard to discern what they are exactly, and the game is definitely a bit obtuse with its rules. That said, it can be easily won by placing units at the border and continually pushing them further down, as the game ends as soon as every enemy on screen is beat, rather than a set amount.

2 Snowboarding

Shortly after Aerith’s uh….departure from the story, Cloud finds himself heading towards the Icicle Inn for a quick spot of snowboarding, because nothing wipes away sorrow like some rad tricks down a snow slope. Thematic oddity aside, the snowboarding minigame is surprisingly fun, especially as you gather momentum.

The first time the minigame has to be played, though it can be repeated as many times as you want afterward. There are balloons strewn about the course which have no effect until you play the minigame at the Gold Saucer, so I guess they can be viewed as training for the real thing.

1 G Bike

Originally played during the escape from Midgar, G Bike throws you onto a 3D highway on a motorcycle, dashing your way to freedom as you protect the rest of the party in their truck. Cloud can slash at each of his sides, and the driving is surprisingly smooth for one of Square Enix’s first forays into 3D.

The chase eventually culminates in a boss fight against Motor Ball, with your health in this battle determined by how much health was lost during the chase sequence. It’s a great set piece that feels just oddly well-made, and can even be played again later at the Gold Saucer for points, because who wouldn’t want to play this one again? The soundtrack is great too.

Link Source : https://www.thegamer.com/final-fantasy-7-vii-original-mini-games-ranked/