Capcom wasn't famous for its RPG titles prior to the release of the original Breath of Fire in 1993, but the company quickly gained a solid reputation on the basis of that well-liked RPG. The sequel – which, like its predecessor, was lucky enough to get a western localisation – is more of the same, boasting colourful visuals and some fetching character design. While the two SNES entries in this series aren't quite as critically-lauded as the 16-bit Final Fantasy outings, they're still worthy of your time if you're looking for some old-school JRPG action. Both Breath of Fire and Breath of Fire II were re-released on the Game Boy Advance.
Also by Quintet is this early example of a SNES Action RPG. Like its stablemate ActRaiser, Soul Blazer places you in the role of a 'servant' warrior who is sent to a troubled world by "The Master" – a god-like deity who wishes to destroy the monsters which hold the captured souls of the world's inhabitants. During the dungeon segments, slaying certain enemies releases the soul of an NPC which can impact the story in the game's many towns and settlements. It's a unique approach that gets a little goofy at times (you talk to a flower and dolphin during your quest, for example), but, despite its rough edges, remains a likeable example of the genre.
At the time of release, Arcana (or Card Master: Rimsalia no Fuuin as it is known in Japan) was marked down by reviewers thanks to its similarity to Sega's Shining in the Darkness. It's a fair comment – both are first-person dungeon-crawlers with random, turn-based battles and town 'hubs' you can visit between battles – but Arcana is arguably the more polished of the pair thanks to its superior visuals, gorgeous soundtrack and engaging gameplay. Sure, the random encounters are a little on the high side, but this is something you could say about many '90s JRPGs. Arcana is also notable for marking the debut of Kirby in a video game; HAL's pink puffball appears during the introduction sequence.
What needs to be said about legendary title? The opera scene. The World of Ruin. Watching Magitek armour slowly trudge through the endless snow. Sabin meme-ily suplexing an entire train. Kefka’s laugh (we know you heard that text). Squaresoft’s beloved RPG often feels like a non-stop parade of effortless excellence, churning out memorable scenes one after the other as if the team had an excess of creativity that just had to come out.
Famously headed by three of the biggest names in the industry at the time (Final Fantasy’s Hironobu Sakaguchi, Dragon Quest’s Yuji Horii, and Akira Toriyama, the man behind a little comic you may have heard of called Dragon Ball), there was no chance this time-travelling saga was ever going to end up as anything less than the stuff of legend. Blurring the expected boundaries between battle scenes and standard exploration allowed players to feel closer to the action than ever before, and the strong cast drawn from the past, present, and futures that you hope will never come to pass, help to hold together what could in lesser hands have easily ended up a fractured and incomprehensible tangle of plot threads.
Who doesn’t still feel a shiver up their spine after turning this game on and hearing that whale song sample coming out of their TV’s speakers? Randi, Primm, and Popoi’s world-saving tale was an instant classic – and for once, a tale you could play through with a friend as naturally as any other multiplayer game on the system. The incredible pixel art (stunning even when compared to the console’s best) and the charming fairytale-like qualities of this heroic trio’s story come together to create a truly unforgettable experience. The sequel's not half bad, either.
Nintendo choosing to publish this Quintet-developed action RPG marks one of those occasions European SNES owners could hold their heads high and just for once feel slightly superior to their RPG-enjoying counterparts in the US – even if Terranigma was released in such small numbers many of those who would have happily dedicated their evenings to it were completely unaware of its existence at the time. Ark’s journey to restore the world and the trials he’s subjected to along the way are a rare example of genuinely epic RPG storytelling; encompassing as it does nothing less than god, the devil, and a world with strong similarities to our own.
Nintendo let Squaresoft run riot in their most precious setting, and gamers everywhere rejoiced. Although it’s to be expected from a developer of their pedigree part of what makes this colourful adventure so special is how much fun it is even after the novelty of seeing Mario and friends standing in an orderly line while waiting their turn to bop a menagerie of familiar faces and brand new enemies has worn off. It’s Nintendo’s famous plumber as you’ve never seen him before yet somehow exactly as you’d imagined, placed right in the middle of the sort of story you always wanted to see him in.
It’s the vague baseline of almost-normality that makes Shigesato Itoi’s off-kilter RPG feel more bizarre than most games that try to make a conscious effort to create a weird and wacky setting. Story-heavy games are filled with triple-headed monsters and sentient globs of goo but how many have you square up to armoured frogs and aggressive cups of coffee? EarthBound may have been criminally overlooked on its release but there’s no doubt fans – old and new – have more than made up for that in the years since (and even Nintendo remembered to include it on the SNES Mini).
Developed by Quintet – the same team which produced the excellent ActRaiser, Soul Blazer and Terranigma – Illusion of Gaia (or Illusion of Time if you're in Europe) is an Action RPG that boasts neat puzzles, awesome visuals and a fine soundtrack. Little wonder, then, that it was a solid seller globally, shifting around 650,000 copies worldwide. The story, too, is noteworthy, even if it does tone down the spiritual core seen in the likes of the aforementioned Soul Blazer and Terranigma.
Once out of reach for all but Japanese Super Famicom owners and dedicated importers yet always desperately wanted by everyone, Seiken Densetsu 3 (that's its Japanese title – westerners might know it better as Secret of Mana 2 or, more recently, Trials of Mana) finally made its way to the west on Switch and proves that some games really are worth the wait. The game’s pixel art is some of the finest not only on the system but the medium as a whole, the beautiful soundtrack enhances every scene, and the customisable party (and the different storylines that go with it) make each adventure your very own. If you don't fancy playing it on the Switch (either as part of the Collection of Mana or in its remastered form), then you can experience it on the SNES thanks to the wonder of a fan-made English language patch.
Squaresoft’s pastel-hued world of floating islands in an endless sky combines its beautiful fantasy stylings with a unique battle system that merges strategic decisions usually associated with SRPGs such as terrain type, attack range, and positioning with the familiar side-on swords and spell-flinging of their evergreen Final Fantasy games. Feeding your army of dragons weapons, items, and armour not only boosts their stats but determines the sort of mythical beast they’ll grow into, making every game different from the last. Released in 1996, there was never going to be any reasonable chance of this coming to the west, but you can play it in English thanks to an excellent fan-made transition patch.
Front Mission is Fire Emblem with giant robots. The game manages to be much more than a simple trade of medieval fantasy settings for mech science-fiction scenario; it is a beautiful, masterfully-crafted package that can turn people who are not fans of either turn-based strategy or mechs into diehard followers overnight. It was a shame Squaresoft never went ahead with the planned western localization of this game; such a well-crafted product would surely have found an audience among SNES owners in 1995 beyond the niche collection of Gundam fans. Still, a complete English translation exists so there's no excuse to not give it a try. Despite the lack of a global release, Front Mission would prove to be so successful it would spawn a series that has seen entries on the PlayStation, DS, WonderSwan and Xbox 360.
