An amazingly good series of RPGs by Squaresoft. Final Fantasy 1, 2, and 3 were for the old 8-bit Nintendo, but only the first one made it to the english-speaking world.
Final Fantasy 4, 5, and 6 were for the Super Nintendo. FF5 is considered the best of the series by many, but it never made it outside Japan until the release of Final Fantasy Anthology. FF4 came to the USA as FF2 for the Super Nintendo, after being modified to make it easier for the American gaming audience. FF6 made it to the US as FF3.
FF7 was released in September of 1997 for the Playstation, marking the beginning of the 3D Final Fantasy era. FF8 came out two years later. There has been a trend in the Final Fantasy series towards more realistic-looking characters and futuristic themes; however Final Fantasy 9 goes back (somewhat) to the old ways - Yoshitaka Amano is doing art again, and the characters are young and cartoony.. but still 3-D.
The Final Fantasy universe is, like so many other things, soon to be a major motion picture. A fully computer-generated feature film, called "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within", is due out July 13, 2001.