The undisputed king of the 16-bit era, the Super Nintendo has no shortage of truly incredible games to go around. Encompassing all genres, there’s a game for anyone. Between titles like Super Mario World, Wild Guns, and F-Zero, variety was always the name of the game with the SNES. But there is one genre that always stood out: the RPG.
RPGs are as synonymous with the SNES as Super Mario himself, and the Super Nintendo has some of the best entries in the genre– both action RPG and turn-based. Forget about Final Fantasy, as some of the best RPGs on the SNES tower over Square’s mega-franchise.
10 Action: Soul Blazer
The first entry in the Super Nintendo’s Quintet Trilogy, Soul Blazer is one of the most unique action RPGs on the system. Gameplay is fairly standard for the genre– dungeon crawling and light exploration– but Soul Blazer’s claim to fame is that enemies actually die for good when killed. There’s no respawning here.
This is just as much a game mechanic as it is a huge part of Soul Blazer’s identity. Thematically, the story focused on the nature of life & death, and conveying death’s permanence through gameplay is important. Beyond that, Soul Blazer has an incredible soundtrack, great level design, and addictively sweet combat.
9 Turn-Based: Breath Of Fire II
Breath of Fire II is plagued by one of the worst English localizations on the Super Nintendo, but it has a fan translation that reveals just how strong the story always was. Taking a stance against organized religion with more tact & depth than the average JRPG, Breath of Fire II is a huge improvement over its simpler predecessor.
More importantly, Breath of Fire II ups the ante when it comes to dungeon design and gameplay mechanics. Combat is much smoother, there’s better party variety, and the dragon transforming mechanic is much improved over BoF I. Breath of Fire II can be a bit of a grind, but battles require real strategy which keeps gameplay engaging.
8 Action: Trials Of Mana
Secret of Mana is considered one of the must-play games on the Super Nintendo, but that’s only because Trials of Mana was region locked for decades. Originally known as Seiken Densetsu 3 worldwide, Trials of Mana might very well be the best sequel on the SNES: improving quite literally everything about SoM.
Dungeon design is better, combat is much tighter, the leveling system has been greatly improved, there’s a substantial amount of party customization, and the story– while simple– is much better told than Secret of Mana’s ambitious plot. With six playable characters and three distinct story arcs, Trials of Mana towers over its predecessor.
7 Turn-Based: Earthbound
One of the quirkiest RPGs on the Super Nintendo, Earthbound has the kind of reputation that makes it easy to want to dismiss it. It’s a strange game that’s influenced the western indie scene quite aggressively. Cheap imitators can make one mistake the genuine article as lesser quality, but Earthbound rises above the titles that ape it.
An incredibly strong script, trippy visuals, and consistently engaging setpieces make Earthbound one of the best RPGs of the 16-bit era. Its take on the traditional Dragon Quest battle system is also welcome, keeping the turn-based combat more or less as is while adding real time elements in regards to damage & healing.
6 Action: Star Ocean
Star Ocean got its international debut with the release of Star Ocean: The Second Story on the PlayStation 1. The original Star Ocean unfortunately released extremely late into the Super Famicom’s life cycle, and both Nintendo of America & Europe were no longer localizing larger titles at that point.
It’s especially disappointing because Star Ocean is one of the best looking and sounding games on the Super Nintendo. The visuals are downright gorgeous, and the soundtrack is outstanding, going so far as to feature spoken audio. Complete with a fun, if a bit broken, combat system, and Star Ocean makes for an unforgettable playthrough.
5 Turn-Based: Super Mario RPG
Square is naturally associated with Final Fantasy, especially in regards to the super Nintendo where three of the franchise’s strongest titles frontline the system (albeit one only in Japan.) That said, Final Fantasy IV through VI have absolutely nothing on the splendor that is Super Mario RPG.
A dream project between Nintendo and Square, Super Mario RPG adds reflex based gameplay to turn-based combat while keeping the Mario series’ charm intact and adding in a nice dose of party customization. Rounded out by an excellent script, memorable boss fights, and top notch level design, Super Mario RPG is one of Square’s best 16-bit games.
4 Action: Tales Of Phantasia
Before Tri-Ace developed Star Ocean, they worked on Tales of Phantasia as Wolf Team. Creator disputes ultimately resulted in most of the team disbanding to form Tri-Ace (now owned by Square Enix,) but Tales of Phantasia is arguably better than its successor. While Star Ocean has some of the best presentation on the SNES, ToP isn’t far behind.
More importantly, Tales of Phantasia tells a classically epic story with a great twist, solid dungeon design, and a battle system directly based on 2D fighting games. Tales of Phantasia does have a PSX remake that arguably irons out its kinks, but it’s worth playing specifically on the SNES to truly appreciate everything it has to offer.
3 Turn-Based: Chrono Trigger
Final Fantasy notably started using the Active Time Battle system beginning with Final Fantasy IV– a real time combat system which added an inherent strategy and tension to battles. While it was a boone for Final Fantasy, it was arguably best pulled off in Chrono Trigger. Considered one of the greatest games ever made, Chrono Trigger is in many respects the ultimate RPG.
Art by Akira Toriyama, a surprisingly beautiful story, great character writing, and plenty of secret content keep Chrono Trigger one of the medium’s highest highs. This is a game that can release as is in any era and likely meet universal critical acclaim. Good game design doesn’t age.
2 Action: Terranigma
Releasing rather late in the Super Nintendo’s lifecycle, Terranigma should have been published by Enix, but Enix of America was hitting hard times and a North American release never came. Thankfully, Terranigma did come out in PAL reasons– something of a Chrono Trigger for the European audiences who didn’t have Chrono Trigger.
Terranigma tackles themes of environmentalism and existentialism extremely well, while showcasing humanity’s fingerprint on Earth in a morbidly realistic manner. Terranigma carries a somber mood from start to finish, and while the localization is lacking, the core plot is strong enough to overcome any shortcomings. Terranigma’s ending is nothing short of incredible.
1 Turn-Based: Dragon Quest III
Dragon Quest III is the quintessential JRPG. Unforgettable set pieces, a perfect balance of party customization, and tight game design make DQ III a must play for anyone even remotely interested in the genre. This is the game that most modern RPGs owe their existence to. Dragon Quest III’s DNA can be felt in so many modern classics.
Really, any Super Famicom Dragon Quest is worth playing (V especially for its emotional storytelling,) but Dragon Quest III is almost perfect in its design– something few games can lay claim to. Its worst quality is the mere fact that the journey has to end sooner or later. Dragon Quest III might just be the best RPG on the SNES.