Series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi has said that out of all of the Final Fantasy games, this is his personal favorite.
Amarant is the only one of the main eight that the player does not control at any point in the game. Zidane is controlled primarily. Garnet/Dagger is controlled as she journeys back to Alexandria and again at Pinnacle Rocks. Vivi is controlled at the start of the game. Steiner also at the start and at South Gate on Disc 1. Eiko is controlled briefly at the start of Disc 3. Freya is controlled briefly in Cleyra. Quina is controlled during the frog catching mini-game. Also Eiko, Steiner, Vivi or Freya can be controlled during the Desert Palace.
A hierarchy exists with the main characters, to determine who the party leader will be if Zidane is not there. For example, Zidane is required to go to Oeilvert so the hierarchy determines which character will lead the party left behind in the Desert Palace. Eiko is second-in-command, followed by Steiner and then Vivi. If none of those four are present, Freya will lead the party. This also applies to the characters chosen for the Final Battle and which character will give a speech to Necron.
A Final Fantasy IX remake for PlayStation 2 had been considered by Square in early 2001, only one year after the original release. For some reason, the project was either scrapped or never started development at all.
The cloak Garnet wears when escaping Alexandria is designed to resemble the White Mage's outfit from the original Final Fantasy.