The Super Nintendo era was the 'Golden Age' for role-playing games. Indeed, in those years there was a huge mass of unforgettable titles released that drew in a whole generation of gamers. Western audiences were skeptical as to whether RPGs were too complicated and lengthy to be popular. But it turned out enough gamers actually wanted thes🎶e intricate RPG elements, which persist to t🐼his day.
It's a shame, but a great many hidden gems for the SNES weren't released in North America and don't qualify for this list (like Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei). In addition to this, a lot of games from that era blurred the line between RPG and action-adventure, making it difficult to decide whether or not to include them. Yet, even without all of its best games being included, the SNES still meets its reputation of carrying must-play gam𝕴es for any die-hard fan.
On the other hand, there's a large mass of failed role-playing games for the SNES that aren't even worth mentioning. As such, this list will be prioritizing titles that people actually recognize. 🔯In no particular order, read on for some of my top picks for the best and worst retro RPGs for the Super Nintendo.
15 ꦍ Best: Chrono Trigger 🔴
Any list of celebrated Super Nintendo games or famous RPGs isn't complete without mentioning Chrono Trigger, so let's just get this one🌱 out of the way. Players took on the role of the silent protagonist Crono, as he traveled through time to save the world from Lavos. The game boasted great music and a fun battle system with combination ♑techniques. To this day, the characters are beloved, and the story is lauded as excellent.
An ingenious facet of the game was how you could make changes in the past and see them manifest in the future. That, and the sidequests near the end of the game left me speechless. In addition to this, Chrono Trigger was one of the first games to include multiple endings, as well as the New Game+ feature. Two decades ago, Chrono Trigger on the SNES was my firsꦑt video 𓆉game, and it's shaped my judgment of all RPGs ever since.
14 Worst: Secret Of The Stars 𒁃
At first, one might think Secret of the Stars is just like any other generic, fantasy RPG. Ray and his party defends the world from the dastardly Homncruse and his demon horde. But the enemies are out-of-place while the quests (if you can deign to even call them that) required the bulk of your patience as you scoured maps for whatever junk was necessary to move forward.
Secret of the Stars' only good points were its average graphics and soundtrack. A child could have written the plot, the characters were barely developed, and the script was poorly translated. If that wasn't enough, the game is horribly slow in its walking speed, frequent battles, and low experience. Think of Secret of the Stars as a punishment rather than entertainment.
13 Best:𓃲 Earthbound 🐼
Admittedly, when I first played Earthbound, I didn't understand its acclaim. The game was goofy, and just not as cool as other the other available RPGs of the time. But its flat visuals and silly dialogue are an intentional part of its chaꦬrm, and♛ once you open you mind to it, you can see what sparked its cult following.
Join Ness and his friends as they save the world from alien mutations. Rather than follow conventional fantasy elements, the game seemed to satirize and subvert these facets by placing the setting in the modern era; requiring things like pay phones for savepoints, ATMs for claiming spoils, and hospitals as inns. For its challenging adventure and bizarre (yet clever) humor, Earthbound is a classic among retro RPGs.
12 W﷽orst: The 7th Saga
Admittedly, The 7th Saga is the best of the bottom feeders on this 'Worst' list. The protagonist is recruited to collect seven🌼 runes and become the benevolent king's heir. There is one aspect of the game that's quite creative —♍ at the beginning of the game, the player picks between seven different characters. These characters run into each other on their separate journeys, sometimes as allies and other times as opponents.
When you look at its visuals, plot, and soundtrack, you don't expect it to be bad. But as far as the gameplay is concerned, The 7th Saga is repetitive a𒈔n🦩d mind-numbing. It's difficult to appreciate the music if all you hear are random battles over and over again. Any innovation could have improved the ceaseless cycle of grating encounters and convoluted puzzles.
11 Beꦯst: Eye Of The Beholder
Eye of the Beholder was one of the last games made to be a loyal (albeit simple) Dungeons & Dragons-style title gracing that era, and was lauded by fans of the niche. Some claim it's merely a clone of Dungeon Master, bu🌄t it's important to note that this was an improvement from that beloved prototype. And fans reall♌y enjoyed the tricky gameplay.
Players created a party of characters to investigate horrors below the city by venturing through the sewers into the lair of Xanathar. The graphics and sounds were great, giving a deep, and realistic dungeon experience. While it received praise for its atmosphere and user interface, the combat was a littl🏅e lacking, and the ending seemed fairly rushed. Ultimately, the game just didn't age well, but it was still a gem in its time.
10 Worst: Obitus ♉
On the other side of the fence, not every D&D-style knock-off could get its feet off the ground. As these games were first intended for the PC, not everything could transfer well. But Obitus is the perfect example of there b𓃲eing nothing of substance to transfer. Tꦦhe game was visibly atrocious, and the soundtrack was usually either uninspired or nonexistent.
Players take on the role of Wil Mason, the history teacher, as he's thrown into a fantasy world to save the kingdom. Unlike Eye of the Beholder, whose difficulty lie in its puzzling dungeon-crawling, Obitus' stꦦruggle stemmed from its confusing controls, ag🍬gravating enemies, and irritating starvation mechanic. Maybe playing this monstrosity will raise your opinion of all the other RPGs by comparison.
9 Best: Shadowrun 🍎
Meet Jake, who is riddled with bullets at the beginning of the game. He awakens in the morgue with amnesia, and journeys to understand why he is in danger, and how he was saved. Shadowrun has morose music and visual design. Combat is quic🔥k and decisive. The story is deep, and succeeds in portraying the introspective nature of the character.
It might not be fair to include Shadowrun on this𝓡 list, as it didn't sell well. It had a lot of innovative qualities to it, but it was too ahead of its time. Given a few years and a better platform to perform on, it would certainly have been a commercial success. At the very least, it's retroactively considered one of the greatest sci-f🔜i games of the era.
8 Worst: Final Fanta🌠sy Mystic Quest
Many RPG fans ignore this forgettable relic, but almost two decades ago this under-performing spin-off was my introduction to the Final Fantasy series. The developers intended Final Fantasy Mystic Quest for entry-level role-playing gamers and also to garner interest in the other Final Fantasy games. But instead, it was just a cheap knockoff of other elements in the series that didn't appeal to either the masses nor f𒐪ans.
Benjamin is supposed to fulfill a prophecy to collect the crystals and vanquish monstജers, but really, there was little to no character development or plot. The battle system was repetitive and poorly designed. And♔ there was little to gain from exploring (not that the overworld really allowed for that) this completely linear game. It's only good aspect was its music.
7 Best: Secret Of Evermore ꦅ 🅠
Secret of Evermore i🌸s proof that cheap knock-offs can be great games too. The game was developed by Square in North America. The protagonist and his dog get warped to a fantasy world, where his dog shape-shifts to match the realm he's in. The player can switch between four different kinds of weapons, which increase in skill by use.
The soundtrack is amazing, the visuals are dark and tantalizing, and the game's unique alchemy system allows for awesome combined magic. Its combat and ring-style menu call back to Secret of Mana, which also could have been on this list because it was anꦜ amazing game as well. Another similarity it shares is the option to switch characters. This success of this gameplay is an example of 'if it ain't broke♓, don't fix it.'
6 ♏ Worst: Drakkhen
I wasn't going to include this entry in my list, but it's so abhorrent that I couldn't help myself. Begin the game with cꦅharacter creation of the four adventurers. Proceed to complete tasks for ungrateful nobles. Then proceed to bang your forehead a🍌gainst your desk as this game tries your patience.
Dying is extremely frustrating in this game, as it's easy to die, but it isn't easy to revive your party members. The controls for moving and battle tactics are abysmal, and the monsters are unforgiving (and ill-placed). Worst of all, it's not even an exaggeration to say that Drakkhen doesn't really have a plot for most of the game. 🌠It's rareꦏly clear what you should be doing, and the massive amounts of text likely use poor translations from its original French release.