Favorite RPGs on the SNES

[Jay]

Spoiler

7th Saga
Arcana
Breath of Fire 1
Breath of Fire 2
Chrono Trigger
Dragon View
Drakkhen
Dungeon Master
Earthbound (Mother 2)
Estopolis 1 (Lufia & the Fortress of Doom)
Estopolis 2 (Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals)
E.V.O. Search for Eden
Eye of the Beholder
Final Fantasy 2
Final Fantasy 3
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
Front Mission 1
Illusion of Gaia (Soul Blazer 2) (Illusion of Time)
Illusion of Time (Soul Blazer 2) (Illusion of Gaia)
Inindo: Way of the Ninja
Lagoon
Lord of The Rings
Lufia & the Fortress of Doom (Estopolis 1)
Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals (Estopolis 2)
Might & Magic 3: Isles of Terra
Mother 2 (Earthbound)
Paladin's Quest
Robotrek
Romancing Saga 3
Secret of Evermore
Secret of Mana (Seiken Densetsu 2)
Secret of the Stars
Seiken Densetsu 2 (Secret of Mana)
Shadowrun
Soul Blazer
Soul Blazer 2 (Illusion of Gaia) (Illusion of Time)
Soul Blazer 3 (Terranigma)
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Terranigma (Soul Blazer 3)
Ultima 6: The False Prophet
Ultima 7: The Black Gate
Ultima: Runes of Virtue 2
Uncharted Waters
Uncharted Waters 2: New Horizons
Wizardry 5: Heart of the Maelstrom

**********
Only Available Through Translated ROMs
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7th Saga 2 (Possibly)
Bahamut Lagoon
DBZ: Legend of the Super Saiyan
Dragon Quest 1
Dragon Quest 2
Dragon Quest 5
Dragon Quest 6 (Possibly)
Dual Orb 2
Feda: Emblem of Justice
Final Fantasy 5
Live a Live
Magic Knight RayEarth
Monstania
Rudora no Hihou (Treasure of the Rudras)
Secret of Mana 2 (Seiken Densetsu 3)
Seiken Densetsu 3 (Secret of Mana 2)
Shin Megami Tensei
Shin Megami Tensei 2
Star Ocean
Tales of Phantasia
The Violinist of Hameln
Treasure of the Rudras (Rudora no Hihou)
Villgust
Wonder Project
Ys 4: Mask of the Sun

**********
Debated Genre
**********

Brain Lord
Brandish
Front Mission 2
King Arthur & the Knights of Justice
Lagoon
Ogre Battle
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang
Ys 3: Wanderers from Ys

I'll post my TOP 10.

10. Super Mario RPG - When I rented this I had very low expectations. I mean, how good could a Mario game be? Very good is the answer. Surprisingly addicting with a fun combat mechanic, this title earns a place on my top 10.

9. Uncharted Waters 2: New Horizons - Probably the game with the most replay value on this list. 6 different characters with different backgrounds and strengths can be chosen from the start. The storyline and more importantly, the strategy involved to your success is rewarding if not inspiring when you achieve your goals and make MONEY and build bigger and more powerful ships. Explore the world!

8. Final Fantasy 2 - The first real RPG on the console market that converted me into an RPG addict. How many times does a Dragoon have to turn on you before you realize he's a lost cause? The answer? Limitless. What a game! What a finish! What a classic game with a compelling storyline that allows this timeless IP the ability to churn out goblin filth the last decade.

7. Shadowrun - How often do you play a game where you wake up in a morgue with a bomb in your head? Based on something I never heard of before and afterwards forever ruined by those who hold the rights to this IP, this RPG had a nice gameplay concept and explorationg was rewarding... or.... dangerous. What you did, where you go, when you go forever changed the game's outcome with predetermined scripts. Not by any means for a RPG newbie but will always remain a classic. The Genesis version was superior in the RPG sense.

6. Secret of Mana - An RPG that allows you to play up to 2 friends with am multi-tap? YES PLEASE. A gem of my youth playing this with my NERD friends. Storyline is engrossing and the music is captivating.

5. Inindo - Most people probably never played this little known KOEI RPG but it is an absolutely amazing game. Basically, you're a NINJA and your goal is to kill your sworn enemy who decimated your people, Oda Nobunaga. Quite the challenge. You travel across Japan as you train new skills, explore new dungeons. You choose your 2 companions, who can even be your clan's enemies after YOU BEAT THEM TO SUBMISSION. The game also has a nice "provincial war" system that happens on every first day each month as governer of provinces strive for power and you can sell your Ninja skills to aid them or build a relationship with them to help you in your plans to destroy Oda Nobunaga's plans of controlling all of Japan. Fantastic game, graphics are date and the sound is average but the content is noteworthy.

4. Earthbound - I remember renting this game as a teenager with very low expectations that I rented another game with it "to make sure" I don't get bored that winter weekend. I never even opened the 2nd game all weekend. Compelling story with a lot of humor that constantly left a big smile on my face. A must play for all RPG lovers.

3. Lufia 2 - Always forshadowed by big names such as FF3 and Chrono Trigger, Lufia 2 is an innovative game with a compelling storyline. The soundtrack (especially the boss battles) are amongst the most epic soundtracks in all of RPG gaming. The game will keep you busy and keep you interested. If you haven't played this game, do yourself a favor.

2. Final Fantasy 3 - Ah Final Fantasy before Final Fantasy sold its soul to the tentacle raping monster and destroyed this franchise. I'm sure some of you will resent that comment but I'll always state that this game was probably the last epic fantasty game before their dev team lost their marbles and focused more on emo crap with main characters looking like fearful big-eyed fruit tarts more likely to put on some eyeshadow rather than carry an epic burden. This game's storyline keeps you busy, the introduction of espers allows you to learn new abilities and skills that will make grinding not feel in any way a chore. Over what? 20 characters? Will allow you to choose your team how you'd like to play your game. All in all an excellent product with a great soundtrack.

1. Chrono Trigger - Without a doubt the BEST RPG on this console and I'll have a solid case in declaring this probably the best RPG of all time. If you have never played this game then I truly ask you to reconsider that shortcoming in your life, even non-RPG lovers should attempt to play this game, if your were born before the golden era of RPG, stop playing the mediocre games current out and whip out an old emulator and play this game. The storyline is fantastic, the assortment of skills and abilities gave you multiple gameplays and you could even play the game all over again. Fully fleshed out characters and dramatic moments connected you with the characters, with the storyline. Probably amongst the best music of all time in a final game as far as I'm concerned.

Honorable Mentions : Robotrek, Illusion of Gaia, Breath of Fire 2.

 

[Gusto]

I'm actually replaying Earthbound right now, via ROM.

I literally saved state in Stonehenge, closed out, and hit this thread.
Added at: 15:10
Earthbound was the first RPG I ever played, and it was because I rented it accidentally, not realizing it was an RPG. My neighbour used to lend me a lot of his games, but told me that I probably wouldn't like RPGs much, so didn't lend me those. I was maybe 7-10 years old.

After loving Eartbound so much, I decided to check out other RPGs, and the only ones I knew existed at the time were Super Mario RPG, because it had RPG in the title, and the game that my neighbour never wanted me to borrow, which turned out to be Chrono Trigger.

Those were the salad days.

 

[ThatNickGuy]

In no particular order:

-Final Fantasy IV - If I did do these in order, this would be #1, hands down.

-Final Fantasy VI (I know, they're supposed to be 2 and 3, but after years of being corrected and seeing corrections, that's the only way I view them, now)

-Ys III - The only Ys game I've ever played. Very Zelda-like, but with level ups. I loved it.

-Earthboard - Never got to play this anywhere but a ROM, but a damn good game. Wish other games would incorporate the "far too powerful to handle tiny enemies, so the first time you beat them without getting hit, you'll never have to fight them again! Free (but small) XP!"

-Soul Blazer - REALLY underrated and sometimes forgotten RPG. Made by the same people that did...

-ActRaiser - Because fuck yeah.

-Legend of Zelda - I can't count the number of times I played through this.

-Chrono Trigger - Like Earthbound, I only played this through its ROM. But goddamn, what an excellent game.

-Secret of Mana - I played the hell out of this back in the day. Haven't revisited it in a very long time.

 

[Chibibar]

They should totally remake these games for iPad I would so buy them.

 

[Jay]

Earthboard?

 

[LordRendar]

Jay,you have an awsome taste in games.

I loved Secret of Evermore for the SNES.My first RPG.

 

[Frank]

Chrono Trigger's music was great and not just for all the music it cribbed from (Pink Floyd, Rick Astley ha ha ha). But what more of a list than J's there do you need? That's pretty much the summation of the SNES's rpgs. The DS version is pretty good (though I admit I haven't played enough of it yet to see the new dungeons) and readily available.

 

[Jax]

Final Fantasy V too, I loved the job system. Which is probably why I liked FF Tactics as well.
For the rest just about every other game mentioned before.

Nice timing with this thread, I got an original SNES for my birthday a couple weeks ago one of the coolest bday gifts ever!
Too bad the cartridges are unbelievably expensive..

 

[TheBrew]

For overall game, it has to be Chrono Trigger.

For combat though, Mario RPG is my favorite system because of the extra ways you could augment your attacks. Plus it was hilarious.

 

[Jay]

All that work in the first thread and only 1 like, you cheap bastards.

Thinking on making one for the Genesis soon, some awesome games for that console.

 

[Terrik]

Secret of Mana all the way. Played it multiple times. Loved the story and the soundtrack always got stuck in my head. Especially the green fields song.

 

[Jay]

I'll have to say my favorite track was most likely Aria deMezzo Carattere. There are a lot of good ones but this song? This is a classic and honestly, I had tears in my eyes when I played the game on how beautiful it was. Youtube has some excellent opera renditions of this song.

One of the songs that I love the most these days though is this "fan-made" rock rendition of Lufia : Rise of the Sinistrals.



I love blasting this song in my 4x4 when I'm driving on the highway.

 

[Shegokigo]

Were there great RPGs for the SNES? Sure. Favorites? Not so much... I know this is going to come as a slap in the face and probably a shock to alot of you who know my gaming preferences, but alot of the SNES rpgs were one-timers at the most for me.
Secret of Mana? Great game to play..... once.
Legend of Zelda? See Above.
Lufia 1&2 or Breath of Fire 1&2? Same.



The reason alot of these games couldn't become favorites for me is because once you beat them, going back through them was nothing but nostalgia, because the stories were actually really weak/repeats of previous games.


Take Secret of Mana for instance. I had already played the original (known as Final Fantasy Adventure for Gameboy) and felt it was a massively amazing game. What it lacked it graphics it made up for in one of the best told in a video game. So when SoM came around, I found it really lacking. I couldn't bring myself to care about the characters 10minutes after they were introduced. They could have been palette swaps for all it really mattered to the story.

Legend of Zelda? Masterpiece of a Zelda game. Its gameplay blew it's predesesors out of the water.... except in storyline. After playing Zelda 2, I was actually really disappointed they went back to the top down style of gameplay, as well as the original traditional storyline instead of continuing the series.

Lufia/BoF was just a little too generic for me to go through more than once.



Well enough complaining about the games I didn't favorite, how about the ones I did? Let's start with the two I am already contridicting myself with - Final Fantasy IV and Soul Blazer. Did these games have linear storylines that weren't going to change no matter how often you played it? Yep. Did they have stale gameplay we've seen a thousand times? Yep. So why did I favorite them? Stories like no other.

Final Fantasy IV had (for the first time in the numbered series) Characters you truly cared about. They had history, they had backround, they had emotions you could feel and empathize with. The Dark Knight who's king had tested his loyalty. The best friend in love with love of his life. The old wizard who's only goal in life was to master the greatest magic and avenge his daughter, the bard who'd lost a kingdom and his love. It was amazing. Not only did they have amazing backrounds, they GREW as PEOPLE as the story actually PROGRESSED. By the end of the game, they had conquered their demons, learned what it was they truly needed to be happy and accomplished their goals. Not only were THEY bettered by it, by the entire WORLD was affected by their changes. Kingdoms grew, relationships flourished and bonds were created that would never be broken.

FFV and FFVI tried to be favorites but the things they did right, (FFV's class system, FFIV's fun characters) were overshadowed by what they didn't (FFV's oversaturation of classes but lack of characters, FFIV's oversaturation of characters and storylines that spread too thin). Final Fantasy IV is the only FF game for the SNES that I've played to finish in the double digits. It's SNES RPG perfection.



(more reviews to come)

 

[Jay]

 

[Shegokigo]

Hey now, I fixed it! Where's my dislike button?

 

[fade]

What, no 7th Saga? That was probably my favorite SNES game.
Added at: 19:11
Oh, and Actraiser. I know it wasn't pure RPG, but it had RPG elements. Actraiser II? Not so much.

 

[Shegokigo]

7th Saga is in my favorites, it's going to be part of my next "wall of text" post.

 

[Dei]

Not gonna lie, I never beat FF2/4 because of the irritation of random encounters that would randomly gib me out of nowhere through RNG. I've been slowly playing through the DS port, but I just got RNG'ed on the moon and put it down in a fit of rage. SOON I WILL BEAT THIS DAMN GAME ARRRRRRRGH.

 

[Shegokigo]

Earthbound: Why did I put a game, that's generic in gameplay, a linear storyline and had a small cast with little to no character development? Because being unique goes a LONG way with me. There will never be another series like Earthbound (I've played all 3) and there will never be one as good as the version we got (1 and 3 didn't match up). Earthbound can't really be described. The best way I can describe it is to someone who's played LoZ the Wind Waker. At first glance you say "Wow, what a shit game. These graphics are terrible, I've seen this gameplay a million times, this is lame" then 30hrs later you can't put it down and you can't even explain why. It's amazing, it's unique, it's unlike anything you ever played or will ever play. Earthbound is an RPG experience. That's exactly what it was and still is.

E.V.O: What can I say about EVO? "But Shegs, you didn't favorite LoZ or FF5/6 but you favorite EVO?" Yes. Why? Because I was a flying, feathered raptor faced, bipedal dinosaur fighting creatures of unearthly origin in a huge space ship. This game was also never the same playthrough twice. There were SO many evolution options. want huge teeth? You aren't going to be able to swipe with your claws. Want huge claws? Get ready for a tiny body. Tiny body with huge talons and can fly? The posibilities were endless. Oh and if you got a human, don't lie, you cheated with a GAMEPRO to get the secret how.
Ok in all seriousness, this game was unlike anythingelse out there. Much like Earthbound it stood head and shoulders over alot of more publicized games but was lost in the media crowds. It had customization, charm, and really let you feel like nothing was holding you back. Granted it had no storyline past "MUST EVOLVE!" (which was actually fun to go against: Not evolving from a dinosaur and you're already past the Ice Age) and the gameplay was rather simplistic yet it was a challenging game (alot of parts where you had to grind or slam your face into a wall). Alot of RPGs really were more abouth Length than Difficulty, it was nice to have a game with both.

More to come!

 

[Frank]

E.V.O.s not really an RPG though is it? I mean, it has XP and elements but if that was all you needed to be an RPG almost every single game out there at this point would be called an RPG. And I didn't cheat with a Gamepro, I cheated with a Nintendo Power like every good kid did.

 

[Jay]

If it is the list, it is an RPG or at the least a hybrid one.

EVO is a neat little game however no where close to my top 10.

 

[TheBrew]

I totally forgot about EVO. I love game! Like Sheg said, it is a bit simplistic but the customization is fun and unlocking new forms is a great discovery process.

Plus who doesn't like trying to make the ultimate killing machine?

 

[Jay]

How many of you bitches played Inindo?

 

[KCWM]

How many of you bitches played Inindo?

I loved Uncharted Waters 2 and Inindo. LOVED. I want to dig out my SNES and find these games just to play them again. Chrono Trigger was released as a download on the Wii (at least my friend has it and plays it on his Wii), so I may pick that up.

 

[Math242]

the best has to be Chrono Trigger but something about Secret of Mana makes me remember it fondly.

i loved that game

 

[Terrik]

I think I loved secret of mana because I use to play it on the SNES with my bro. There weren't exactly a ton of RPGs that we could both play simultaneously.
Added at: 00:40
Also, I wanna give props to Super Mario RPG. That game was surprisngly good, and I took thought that there was no way Mario would translate well into an RPG. Glad I was wrong. I remember supreme disappointment when I got to the final boss and had to return it to the rental store before I could beat it (I did eventually, years later. Ah memories).

 

[Frank]

Man, you ever read what the Chrono Trigger's music guy Mitsuda went through making the music for the game? He lost 40 tracks to a harddrive crash, contracted stomach ulcers and had to be hospitalized so Square needed Uematsu to finish off the few remaining tracks they needed. An artist's suffering really paid off.

 

[AshburnerX]

I'd say my number one for the SNES is Lufia 2, but I like a different song than Jay. I'm a big fan of Battle 3, mainly because it's so different than most tracks at the time. Back then, you'd usually get something ominous or thumping... but this is the first one I'd call METAL.Here's the arranged version for the DS version (which had great music if nothing else).



I'd say my favorite part of the game was that there were actual, difficult puzzles in the game. Some (like the fucking Treasure Sword Shrine) were incredibly mindbending.

I'd probably put Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6 in the next to spots.

 

[Jay]

Nice remake of the Rise of the Sinistrals.

 

[AshburnerX]

Nice remake of the Rise of the Sinistrals.

It's the theme that I hear anytime I'm in an intense boss fight, no matter what the game. I just think back to that first boss fight with Gades and remember how hard I tried to beat him and how long it took... finally doing it (and getting his awesome sword, which makes the Ancient Cave a cakewalk) is definitely one of few great memories I have with gaming.

 

[bigcountry23]

Robotrek. Pokemon style RPG with Robots.
Added at: 16:02

Not my top game (FF II gets that vote, played it through at least 10 times, and I use EVO as my testbed for a emulator) but an interesting little RPG that I have not seen mentioned.

 

[AshburnerX]

Robotrek. Pokemon style RPG with Robots.

Robotrek was fun, but I don't know if I'd compare it to Pokemon. You don't catch anything for one thing...

 

[Jay]

Robotrek was fun in its own way but at midpoint of the game you realized massive issues of balance when one robot type was OP carnage and the other that was built in another way was useless as fuck and used to get rocked.