Anything but the default NES party is just uncivilized . Magic is severely stunted in FF1 - only 9 uses of each spell level at best. You might bring a black mage with you, and think you'll always have a response for those large groups of enemies. Element 2 and 3 spells are pretty powerful. If you only face a few large groups of enemies, you'll have a powerhouse. That's not usually the case. You'll face many large groups of enemies, and then are faced with a decision- save spells for the boss, and peck at the enemies with your knife for 2 damage, or use all your spells before the boss, and peck at it for 2 damage. Either way, for an important portion of the adventure, your mage is wasted. Surely you didn't bring the mage along solely for level raising near towns? That's all it's good for.

I don't even bother with magic. If I had enough castings to make it worthwhile, maybe I'd bring a specialist mage, but that's not the case. Instead, I take one of each powerhouse. As far as spells go, the Red Mage can cast enough spells in a pinch, since I don't have to rely on his spells as a sole form of attack in every battle. Both the Knight and Ninja get some low level magic as well.

Knight, Ninja, Master, Red Wizard is the only team for me.