Chocobos are in every FF

Except maybe the first 1 or 2, I can't remember.

That said, the FFVII breeding system has got to best there is out of all of them (FFIX's comes close). The challenge of catching the ones you need, the fun of racing them up to the necessary standard - great fun. All those different colours, really cool.

There is of course the fact that it was quite far graphically advanced for its time. And there was something very cool about the fact that FMVs were only used for "special" moments (something which they apparently did for XII), gave them more of an impact.

However the graphics are absolutely dire by today's standards and yet it's still probably my favourite - so that's why I say the storyline must be the main reason.

Materia was cool, like. Much much better than, say, FFVIII's draw, draw, draw, draw system