The following is a list of version differences between releases of Final Fantasy IX

PlayStation

The original iteration of Final Fantasy IX was released in Japan on July 7th, 2000. It was later released in North America on November 14th, 2000 and in Europe on February 16th, 2001.

Localization

• The ending theme song, "Melodies of Life", is fully translated into English.
• Monty the moogle now reacts differently depending on if the "Prince on a White Horse" Mognet letter is delivered to him in the Evil Forest or the Pinnacle Rocks.

Gameplay changes

• The button is used to confirm and the button to cancel.
• Impressing one hundred nobles in the sword-fighting minigame rewards 10000 gil, rather than the reward being varied depending on the quickness of the player's inputs.
• Stiltzkin now gives the party a Ribbon if the player purchases all of his items.
• Sealion's Tsunami ability now deals less damage.
• Black Waltz 2's Fira spell now deals less damage.
• Reflected magic used by the player is significantly stronger.
• The Continental/World Map can now be used anytime on the world map, and is no longer inaccessible between leaving Lindblum on Disc 1 and reaching the Outer Continent on Disc 2.
• In the room in Memoria where Gaia and Terra are shown merging, proceeding forward requires simply holding the Up button on the directional pad or pushing the Left Stick up with Analog Controller.

Mobile and Steam

• The game has improved graphics, anti-aliasing filtering, high-definition FMVs, and improved character models.
  • Transitional FMVs with character models in them are not updated.
• FMVs can be paused and skipped, with the exception of the ending FMV.
• A new typeface similar to the original is used.
• A new menu and new high definition menu portraits for party members are used.
• New battle user interfaces and message dialogue windows are used.
  • The battle UI in the mobile versions is larger.
• New higher quality sprites are used for Tetra Master cards. For instance, Namingway's card is updated with the sprite from Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection.

• The Shimmering Island portal no longer shifts between emitting white, purple, and blue hues.
• In the mobile version, the current time, shown in a 24-hour format, is on the top left while the current battery life is on the top right.
• Audio is compressed, and a few sound effects are altered or missing.
• Achievements have been added.
• Auto-save functionality is added. The game automatically saves after every cutscene and new screen. A Continue option is added to the title screen to access the latest auto-save.
• Cloud saving is available, and a Cloud Data option is added to the title screen.
• A Language icon (shown with the current language selected), used to change languages, and a Staff icon, used to view the credits of the re-release and view third-party licenses, are available on the title screen.
  • The mobile versions have a trophy icon, used to view achievements, and a question mark icon, used to view additional info.
  • The Steam version has a Square Enix "E" icon, for viewing other Square Enix titles.
  • The player can choose between English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, and British English. In the Japanese version, Japanese is added in addition to the above languages.
    • All languages, besides Japanese (which plays the Japanese version of "Melodies of Life" during the credits FMV), will play the English version of "Melodies of Life" during the credits.
• The blackjack minigame is made accessible from the title screen upon beating the game rather than by entering a sequence at the The End screen. An option to view FMVs is also added to the title screen upon beating the game.
• Copyright info on the title screen is updated.
• In the loop demo FMV, the logo is in Japanese. In the opening FMV and title screen, the logo is in English.
  • The registered trademark icon is smaller in the Opening FMV.
• There are now 10 save slots, for a total of 150 save files.
• Disc change screens are eliminated; there is no longer any stated delineation between portions of the game.
• Analog movement is removed; movement is limited to 8 directions.
• Random encounter rate is reduced.
• Menus and battle UI operate at 30fps.
• The cursor no longer jumps from the top of a page to the bottom when pressing up.
• Auto-battle can be enabled, causing characters to use basic attacks automatically.
• Four battle boosters are available. These are mapped to F1-4 and the shoulder buttons, and can be activated when the game is paused.
  • "High Speed Mode" speeds up the game, but doesn't affect in-game time or timers.
  • "Battle Assistance" causes HP, MP, Trance, and ATB gauges to always be full. Trance depletes when turned off, and party members can still be KO'd by attacks dealing more damage than their max HP.
  • "9999" causes all attacks from the player to deal 9999 damage.
  • "Safe Travel" disables random encounters.
• The Config menu is updated.
  • "Sound" now mutes music instead of switching between stereo and mono.
  • "Sound Effects" is added, muting all sound effects.
  • "Controller" is renamed "Controls".
  • "Skip Battle Camera" is added, disabling the panning camera at the start of battles.
  • "Battle Control" is removed.
  • "Field Message" is now placed above "Battle Speed".
  • "Vibration" is renamed "Vibration Feature".
  • Tutorials for Basic Controls and Combat can be accessed here. These are also shown at the start of the game.
  • Options are added to return to the title screen and, exclusive to the Steam version, close the game.
  • Three permanent game boosters are available, which disable achievements. These are mapped to F5-7.
    • "Master Abilities" masters all abilities in the inventory and teaches all Blue Magic.
    • "Lv/Magic stone Max" sets the level and Magic Stone cap of all party members to 99.
    • "Gil Max" grants 9,999,999 gil.
• Status-healing items and magic no longer automatically target afflicted allies.
• Characters no longer close their eyes when casting spells.
• Zidane's Detect Skill is missing an animation where the eye opens.
• Camera angles occasionally clip through surfaces and characters in battle.
• Background music resets after battles and Tetra Master matches. This was eventually patched for the Android and Steam versions.
• The character naming screen is different. Input to change names is only via keyboard in the Steam version and an on-screen system keyboard in the mobile version. It also has a button that reverts to its default name and a button to confirm its name. Names are still limited to 8 characters, and emoticons can't be used.
  • On Steam, Tab is used to revert to its default name and Enter is used to confirm its name.
• Exclamation marks now appear when approaching NPCs, and card icons will appear when approaching an NPC that can play Tetra Master.
• The sword fight during I Want to Be Your Canary is made easier to get a perfect score.
• The girl in Alexandria now says "Are you alright? Here, you dropped your ticket!" to Vivi instead of "Are you awright? Here, you dwopped your ticket!", depicting her now more like an older child.
• When playing the jump rope minigame with keyboard and mouse in the Steam version, the player can rapid-fire-click without any regard to rhythm to clear it.
• When the battles with Beatrix end, the menu disappears so the player can't see everyone's HP reduce to 1 when Beatrix uses Stock Break and Climhazzard.
• Menu functionality is available while controlling Regent Cid as a frog during the brief portion in Desert Palace.
• During the ending FMV, the ending text appears in English on top of the text appearing in the selected language. It only happens at the end of the ending text. The same goes with the logo, but with the trademark icon and without the Japanese name in katakana.

PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox on PC

• The Silicon Studio Thailand logo, shown after the Health and Safety Notice info and the Square Enix logo and before the Squaresoft logo, is replaced with the Guild Studio logo.
• The gray sidebars are altered slightly.
• Cloud saving is removed.
• Custom controls are removed.
• In the character-naming screen, an on-screen system keyboard is used on PS4 and Switch. ( in the Japanese version)//A is used to open the on-screen system keyboard, //X is used to revert to its default name and ( in the Japanese version)//B is used to confirm its name.
  • On Xbox One/Xbox on PC, only default names are used and can't be changed. The player must press /Enter or click Confirm to continue.
• The Xbox One/Xbox on PC version supports Xbox Play Anywhere, which means that it can be played on Xbox One and Xbox on PC.
  • The current signed-in profile is shown on the top right on the title screen.
  • A title screen with the game logo is shown after launching the game. On Xbox One, pressing any button will begin the game.
• The Switch and Xbox One/Xbox on PC versions have slower load times.
• The Switch version in handheld mode has a lower resolution (720p) and occasional crash issues outside of battles.
• Patches for the PlayStation 4 and Switch versions solved the issue of background music resetting.

Gallery

Cutscene movie comparison; original at top

New naming screen.