I can't believe I was able to stumble upon this thread....
I know I'm late to the discussion but I just wanted to add that I personally love SQ1VGA. I understand that it would really bother the creators that they had no input into essentially was their creation but I was always very happy with the end result. For starters, I think the soundtrack was amazing. I still play it in my car to this day. It really elevated the game in my view and enhanced my playing experience.
I loved the dialogue, the snarkiness of some of the characters, the instant replay deaths with the Two Guys providing the play by play, etc....essentially I think that it was well written and an enhancement over the original.
The "look" of the game though, being 50's retro....I can understand how this is a departure from the rest of the series and could definitely rub certain fans the wrong way. And they aren't necessarily wrong. My personal opinion is that SQ4 best captured the Two Guys vision for SQ in all aspects; art, music, writing, etc... The 50's look just seems to come out of nowhere but ultimately I think I'm ok with it because the entire SQ series is supposed to be (in my view) goofy sci fi, not super serious; a parody of sorts of the genre. Even SQ4 which is the most serious game of the series had its fair share of comedic elements.
Anyways, I'm glad I found this thread, everyone is entitled to their opinion for sure and I know that I'll always enjoy playing SQ1VGA whenever I return to my semi regular run through of all six games.
