This is the pixel remaster version of the game. I’ve completed the original version on the NES a long time ago, but this one improves it in a lot of ways. In the original if you target an enemy that another character kills in the same round you miss your attack. In this one your character will hit another enemy instead like the rest of the series. The graphics are completely redrawn, but they are still in a pixel style that keeps the spirit of the original designs.
I found some of the story events quite cryptic, which was common for NES games. To get the airship you need to find a stone called the Levistone, and walk into a particular area on the world map. The clue that this is the case is I think a single character in a single town mentioning it vaguely. I spent a while really unsure of what I supposed to do next before finding it.
This game is before the series had summons, but two of the usual summon creatures actually feature. Titan is in a cave blocking your way, you have to hand him a gem to eat for him to move. Bahamut is in an island cave, and will promote your characters to an upgraded class.
Every mainline game in the series apart from this one has a character called Cid, who is in some way related to airships. This remake actually changed the text a bit to have a character in one of the towns say that the person who built our airship was called Cid.
The story is an odd time loop. The first boss you defeat is sent back in time by four fiends, and when he is in the past he wakes up the fiends so that they can do that. He then becomes the final boss in the game when you travel back in time and stop the loop.