SNES advice needed: best RPGs

[jhd7]

All-

I have 29 SNES games, all RPGs (I think), and need to pare the list down to just 10. With all my other games for other systems, there's no way I'll have time to play all of these. So the obvious question is... which 10 do I keep? Using the NES as a reference, I like Dragon Warrior-style RPGs. Here's my current inventory:

7th Saga
Brain Lord
Breath of Fire
Breath of Fire II
Dragon View
Drakkhen
Earthbound
Eye of the Beholder
Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy III
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
Illusion of Gaia
Lagoon
Lord of the Rings 1
Lufia
Lufia II
Paladin's Quest
Pocky & Rocky
Secret of Evermore
Secret of Mana
Soul Blazer
Super Mario RPG
Tecmo Secret of Stars
Ultima Runes Virtue II
Uncharted Waters
Wanderer's from Y's III
Wizardry V
Young Merlin
Zelda Link to the Past

Thanks,

Jeff D

[Lemmy Kilmister]

Out of the ones you listed.

1. Final Fantasy III
2. Lufia II
3. Lufia
4. Final Fantasy II
5. Super Mario RPG
6. Breath of Fire II
7. Breath of Fire
8. Secret of Mana
9. Zelda Link to the Past
10. Illusion of Gaia

The last 3 aren't typical turn based RPGs though so I don't know if you want to included those.

[kainemaxwell]

Breath of Fire
Breath of Fire II
Earthbound
Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy III
Lufia
Lufia II
Secret of Mana
Soul Blazer
Zelda Link to the Past

[Promophile]

Super mario RPG
Earth bound
Secret of mana
Final Fantasy 3(6)

i would def keep those 4.

[Aussie2B]

I'd cut it down to:

Breath of Fire
Breath of Fire II
Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy III
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
Lufia II
Secret of Evermore
Secret of Mana
Super Mario RPG
Zelda Link to the Past

[XYXZYZ]

I just want to jump in and give extra props to Secret of Mana. That game is soooo much fun.

[DigitalSpace]

Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy III
Earthbound
Breath Of Fire
Breath Of Fire II
Secret Of Evermore
Secret Of Mana
Super Mario RPG
Wanderer's from Y's III
Zelda: A Link To The Past

[Daria]

You cut them down I'd buy Dragon View. (:

[Drexel923]

Breath of Fire II
Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy III
Lufia
Lufia II
Paladin's Quest
Secret of Evermore
Secret of Mana
Soul Blazer
Super Mario RPG

and Zelda...it's not really an RPG, but keep it anyway :)

[Daria]

Anyway... greediness aside. From your list I really liked the following:

Breath of Fire
Breath of Fire II
Dragon View
Earthbound
Wanderer's from Y's III
Lufia II
Paladin's Quest
Super Mario RPG
Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest

[CullJeff]

I know it is an import but Bahamut's Lagoon is pretty awesome.

[Fuyukaze]

First, I say dont get rid of any of them. Just because you dont have the time to play them RIGHT now doesnt mean time wont present itself later. That said, I nominate these 10 titles.

7th Saga
Lufia
Lufia II
Uncharted Waters
Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy III
Breath of Fire
Breath of Fire II
Wizardry V
Secret of Mana

While many of these titles would never apear on most peoples list of must have RPGs much less must have games, I would consider each of them to be solid titles that feature many hours of gameplay. Plus, most of them are rather hard to find.

[Ed Oscuro]

I can't believe that you have to dump all these immediately. Find some time and play at least a little of each of these. Even the ones you should dump.

Eh, once you've played Mystic Quest, there's no reason to go back. Beat that sucker in three days, and dump it LOL Why the recommendation to keep that, ladies? I'm a bit mystified at that one. I'd say it's worth a playthrough (the end screen is one of the nicer things I've seen in a SNES game), but overall this is a low quality throwaway game. The ads for this game (i.e. the cover art) captured my imagination as a kid, but aside from that it's got only a little going through it. Mostly cutesy, has some well-picked dungeon themes, and not much else going for it.

Brain Lord is pretty good if a little bland; you could almost call it Light Crusader DX or something (though maybe Brain Lord SE would be more appropriate as Light Crusader came out years later...). I like the first Overworld theme to this one.

Eye of the Beholder. That's a cart I've got. Better on the PC, but that's still not very good. DUMP THAT GARBAGE

Lagoon. Much better on the x68000, but do you read Japanese? Or mess around with emulators? eh.

Secret of Stars. Hmm, here's one I'm not too familiar with (actually many of these I'm not...have to copy this list to make sure I get the scoop on all of them).

Super Mario RPG you might not want to keep around, but you've got to play some of it. Have to. I've yet to beat this one, but it's been fun, amazingly enough.

Lufia is, heh, another silly RPG. I've yet to play all the way through my copy, but it's no great shakes.

Secret of Mana - not too shabby, one of the many action RPGs on your list. Worth playing through a bit. The friendly NPCs are worthless, but other than that it's solid. Neat little series that is finally starting to see some proper releases here in the US.

[Daria]

Well I like short RPGs that can be played through in a couple sittings. So I'm inclined to beat Mystic Quest multiple times then I am say something like Final Fantasy 6 which I could beat once then sell because I'll won't be playing it again anyway.

[Ed Oscuro]

You poor, poor thing LOL

[Daria]

Bah... it's not that bad a game.

[Ed Oscuro]

Well, if you read what I wrote earlier, I didn't say it was.

But I dunno; dredging up warm, fuzzy memories is outweighed by the prospect of a lot of repetition. If I had to make a choice, I'd go with the games that offer more playtime, amazingly enough. It's almost like I don't like seeing 57 varieties of elf! Acknowledging there's not a lot to see there (and it's true) seems like giving a reason to toss it. But I agree that it needs to be played at least once.

[Daria]

I just didn't know what you ment by "you poor thing" or how to respond. So I took a guess. I was wrong.

As for repetition, most RPGs that are known for being longer bulk up their playtime with random battles. So you either get the repetition of doing the same thing over and over in one game, and taking longer to reach the ending. Or play a shorter game over and over again. Either way it's going to become repeative.

You can argue it either way, so me, I'd finish up some of the longer games that you no longer want. Then sell em if that's what you really want to do. I just think Mystic Quest, and Super Mario RPG are the perfect fixes for those times when you don't have a month to devote to a single game.

I left plenty of longer titles on my list for marathon gaming.

[Ed Oscuro]

I just think Mystic Quest, and Super Mario RPG are the perfect fixes for those times when you don't have a month to devote to a single game.
Well, that makes sense for SMRPG, but with Mystic Quest, there's *nothing* new to find, no stats to build. If you want to play it, fine, but you have to remember that the original post is asking for some opinions on what to keep - looks like Jeff D hasn't played any of these. Of course, that's a whole other rant for me ;)

[-hellvin-]

How about you keep 9 and buy Shadowrun?

One of my favorite games on the system. Some people don't have too much love for it, but I highly recommend a try.

[Aussie2B]

I love Mystic Quest. Like Daria said, I'm more in inclined to replay it multiple times, and have already. I'll take an RPG that's short and sweet over one that wears out its welcome any day, like many RPGs. I usually complete Mystic Quest over the course of a weekend. It's a simplified RPG, but really, the difficulty of the battles isn't much weaker than most RPGs. I probably had a more challenging time with Mystic Quest than with Final Fantasy 7, haha.

The main thing that keeps me coming back is the music. The soundtrack is just AWESOME. I really should buy the album someday. The graphics are pretty cute at times (I especially like how the enemies get beat up looking and the main character's little "shrug"), and I like the fast pace of the battles. Even the simple story is kind of fun to follow, and some of the characters are rather humorus.

It's not the greatest RPG ever, but it's worth having around.

[nik]

Breath of Fire <--- awsome story!
Breath of Fire II <--- got to finish it off, right?
Earthbound <--- THE BEST obscure RPG in the WORLD!
Final Fantasy II <--- Obvious reasons.
Final Fantasy III <--- Obvious reasons.
Lufia II <--- the "prequel" to Lufia, so you'll get the whole story first.
Paladin's Quest <--- awsome music, great obscure game!
Secret of Mana <--- multiplayer, but also my fav.
Super Mario RPG <--- square and nintendo goodness.
Zelda Link to the Past <--- don't deny this game before twilight princess comes out.

I took out items like pocky and rocky becasue that's a "cute" shooter, last time I played it anyways.

[Crush Crawfish]

Keep these ones:

Breath of Fire
Breath of Fire II
Earthbound
Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy III
Illusion of Gaia
Lufia II
Secret of Mana
Wanderer's from Y's III
Zelda Link to the Past

They're easily the best of the lot. Oh, and you owe it to yourself to buy Chrono Trigger. It's easily the best SNES RPG ever. Not to mention the single greatest game ever created. But that's just me. Plus, It's only about 20 hours long, so you should be able to fit it into a busy schedule. :)

[Promophile]

Oh, and you owe it to yourself to buy Chrono Trigger. It's easily the best SNES RPG ever. Not to mention the single greatest game ever created.

I agree, its up there. I really have no idea which game is my favorite out of FF6(3), Earthbound, BoF2, and Chrono Trigger, but to me those are the best 4 games ever made.

[monkeychemist]

7th Saga
Breath of Fire
Breath of Fire II
Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy III
Lufia
Lufia II
Secret of Evermore
Secret of Mana
Zelda Link to the Past


(in alphabetical...not order of pref.)

Contrary to what others say...DO NOT KEEP EARTHBOUND!!!

That game is GARBAGE! I know it goes for a lot on ebay but that games is really bad. In fact sell it on ebay and get tons of money for it. After playing FF2 and company i put earthbound in and after about 10 mins of that crap i returned it to blockbuster.

[Promophile]

Contrary to what others say...DO NOT KEEP EARTHBOUND!!!

That game is GARBAGE! I know it goes for a lot on ebay but that games is really bad. In fact sell it on ebay and get tons of money for it. After playing FF2 and company i put earthbound in and after about 10 mins of that crap i returned it to blockbuster.

Yeah, its garbage. Thats why so many people love it so much, it has its own fansite, the biggest fansite of any SNES game (www.starmen.net), and it sells for so much on ebay.

[sharp]

Contrary to what others say...DO NOT KEEP EARTHBOUND!!!

That game is GARBAGE! I know it goes for a lot on ebay but that games is really bad. In fact sell it on ebay and get tons of money for it. After playing FF2 and company i put earthbound in and after about 10 mins of that crap i returned it to blockbuster.

Yeah, its garbage. Thats why so many people love it so much, it has its own fansite, the biggest fansite of any SNES game (www.starmen.net), and it sells for so much on ebay.

We could have seen this coming. Hater vs Fanboy. To be honest I never liked Earthbound, but I can understand why people love it, just like for example Animal Crossing. Some games you just love or hate. No more no less just like some other things in life (I hate Guiness beer, and that's also a product you love or hate).

So please don't start a flamewar here.

Oh you need to get Terranigma, really a great RPG, but sadly for you import only.

[Ed Oscuro]

Oh you need to get Terranigma, really a great RPG, but sadly for you import only.
Fortunately it's in a European language, though! ...still import only, still PAL.

[Daria]

Well, that makes sense for SMRPG, but with Mystic Quest, there's *nothing* new to find, no stats to build. If you want to play it, fine, but you have to remember that the original post is asking for some opinions on what to keep - looks like Jeff D hasn't played any of these. Of course, that's a whole other rant for me ;)

You just love busting my balls (so to speak) don't you? The original post asked for what we think he should keep and I answered. What do you want me to do post a list of the top 10 most expensive and over rated snes rpgs like everyone else regardless of my opinion?

I also must be a freak because when I think stat buliding "fun" doesn't immediately spring to mind. "Mind numbingly tedious" on the other hand...

Anyway it's a fun little game and he ought to try it out and decide for himself if it's one he'd like to keep. I assume he might since he did include it in the list of games we're to pick from. Actually scratch that, he oughta screw the topic and all our opinions and pick his own damn video games.

[Ed Oscuro]

Alright, alright, you've won me over :D

It's not a bad game, and you've convinced me of the merits of your argument (I'm a little slow to catch on sometimes).

[Keranu]

Keep the more expensive and rare ones, which are pretty much all of the Square and Enix ones.

[kainemaxwell]

I kept Earthbound on my list. Why? Far as we know he hasn't played it yet, so I'd say let Jeff keep it and see if he actually likes it or not? if he does, then great! If not he's welcome to sell it off and use the cash to get other RPGs.

[Frankie23]

Contrary to what others say...DO NOT KEEP EARTHBOUND!!!

That game is GARBAGE! I know it goes for a lot on ebay but that games is really bad. In fact sell it on ebay and get tons of money for it. After playing FF2 and company i put earthbound in and after about 10 mins of that crap i returned it to blockbuster.

First off, say what? You're forming an opinion of Earthbound after only playing ten minutes of it? I don't want to come off all troll-ish, but that's just idiotic, and while I respect your right to your opinion, I have to say I find your opinion to be ill-thought, and takes greatly away from my respect of anything you might say in the future. Crikey.

Anyhow, not to waylay the thread, I have to say I agree with those who are suggesting you keep them all and work on the stack, as it were. However, if you are insistent upon ridding yourself of some of them, I suggest, not which games to keep, but which I feel are deadweight that won't do you any good:

7th Saga
Brain Lord
Drakkhen
Lagoon
Lord of the Rings 1
Paladin's Quest
Tecmo Secret of Stars
Young Merlin

While I wouldn't say they're all bad games, I don't think you'll find much in them that you won't find better done in the other titles in your collection.

[Jorpho]

I thought Breath of Fire and Breath of Fire 2 were widely regarded as fairly meh. I played the first and found the gameplay to be highly tedious and the story to be insufficient payoff. And such awful boss battles! They in particular did much to ruin the experience.

Isn't Pocky and Rocky a shooter? And Ultima Runes Virtue II a Game Boy game?

[monkeychemist]

First off, say what? You're forming an opinion of Earthbound after only playing ten minutes of it? I don't want to come off all troll-ish, but that's just idiotic, and while I respect your right to your opinion, I have to say I find your opinion to be ill-thought, and takes greatly away from my respect of anything you might say in the future. Crikey.

Hahahahaha not to be picky but you are saying that it is wrong to judge something after only a few minutes, yet you did the same thing about me...you read a few lines and now you don't respect what I say? LOL

Anyways, I just want to extend an apology to those many DPers that I offended with my opinion of Earthbound. I just really REALLY REALLY hated it. I know that I did not play very long...probably about an hour (10 min was an exaggeration). However, it was hyped in Nintendo Power at the time, I was expecting this great game and I really disliked it. It was such a let down to me.

Since it seems that this game has only extremes (lovers and haters) then I would strongly suggest that the original poster play it a little to get his own opinion...because if he feels like me about it he will be kicking himself...

HOWEVER...the more I read this post the more I get the idea that the poster is making an imaginary list that he WANTS to get and not necessarily has. I mean come on, you would have all those RPGs (some of which hard to find / expensive) and not tried ANY of them...that's kinda fishy.

Well, again, sorry to those I offended, that was just my raw opinion; I did not mean any disrespect.

Jeremy

[Lemmy Kilmister]

Contrary to what others say...DO NOT KEEP EARTHBOUND!!!

I agree.. Earthbound is a complete stinker of a game and would probably land you the most money if you decided to sell it. I'd say lose Earthbound and pick up a loose copy of Chrono Trigger and Phantasy Star 4 with the profit. You'll thank me later.

[Frankie23]

Hahahahaha not to be picky but you are saying that it is wrong to judge something after only a few minutes, yet you did the same thing about me...you read a few lines and now you don't respect what I say? LOL

I didn't say I that I now have no respect for you or your posts, I said it was likely to diminish that respect. I'm not making any judgements about you, just saying that, in light of that one statement, you're going to have to impress me to change my mind much. Which, frankly, you already have with your reply. Just wanted to point out your misunderstanding of me there.

Also, i'd like to say I'm neither pro- nor anti-Earthbound. I've played it myself, and I quite enjoyed it, but I completely understand why it's not everyone's cup of tea. It's a weird, quirky game with stylistic, some would say primitive, graphics. I just feel that it, and indeed most games, require more than ten minutes worth of play for one to develop a valuable opinion on said game, much less to give that opinion to others so vehemently. Of course, there's always the occaisional stinkers which reveal themslves almost immediately, but I feel that those are less common than some would claim. Potentially enjoyable mediocrity is far more common than outright turds, IMNSHO.

[hezeuschrist]

Anyhow, not to waylay the thread, I have to say I agree with those who are suggesting you keep them all and work on the stack, as it were. However, if you are insistent upon ridding yourself of some of them, I suggest, not which games to keep, but which I feel are deadweight that won't do you any good:

7th Saga
Brain Lord
Drakkhen
Lagoon
Lord of the Rings 1
Paladin's Quest
Tecmo Secret of Stars
Young Merlin

While I wouldn't say they're all bad games, I don't think you'll find much in them that you won't find better done in the other titles in your collection.

Sell all of these and find a copy of Chrono Trigger. Absolutely masterful execution for RPG replay value and really should have been the basis for more modern RPG's than it was. I also highly enjoyed Chrono Cross, contrary to popular opinion.

ANYWAYS, here's my list (adding Chrono Trigger) of my favorites, in order.

Final Fantasy II
Chrono Trigger
Earthbound (everyone needs to play this game, and while I can certainly understand not liking it, seething with hatred for one of the quirkiest games ever just doesn't make sense to me)
Secret of Mana
Final Fantasy III
Lufia (never played the second one, but it's widely regarded as the better of the series)
Super Mario RPG
Breath of Fire II (you said you enjoyed DW, this is probalby as close to horribly formulaic as possible)
Legend of Zelda: LttP (not really an RPG so it's lower on the list, but absolutely amazing game)
Illusion of Gaia / Soul Blazer ( I haven't played either, but they get plenty of acclaim and they're a break from the turnbased monotony)

[Promophile]

Earthbound (everyone needs to play this game, and while I can certainly understand not liking it, seething with hatred for one of the quirkiest games ever just doesn't make sense to me)


They're just so in love with traditional RPGs that a game without swords and magic in it makes them knee-jerk. Kinda like if you wiped your ass with bible pages infront of a southern baptist.

[jhd7]

First off, thanks to everyone for their insights and responses!
Second, sorry for starting so many arguments. :-)

There's no set number of games to keep, 10 just happens to be a nice number.

I've heard many praises for Chrono Trigger, so I've been trying to find it at a reasonable price.

I've played the NES version of Earthbound, which was nice. I should probably play the SNES version as a follow-up.

Why get rid of some? Well, my current collection is rather large (small to some, immense to others). Here are the totals:

US NES: 770
NES Repros: 18
PAL NES: 22
HES NES: 6
Famicom: 22
ColecoVision: 153 ("in-the day", repros, homebrews)
Atari 2600: 19
TG16/Duo: 138
PC Engine: 6
SMS: 1 (Phantasy Star)
SNES: 46 (for now)

Realistic or not, I *would* like to play all these games. At my advanced age (45), that's not likely to happen, especially since there are other things I'd like to do.

Thanks again for all your input. I'm keeping a running total of the votes, so feel free to continue adding your ten cents. :-)

jeff d

[Chainsaw_Charlie]

out of the list here's what i would keep

7th Saga
Breath of Fire
Breath of Fire II
Earthbound
Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy III
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
Illusion of Gaia
Lufia
Lufia II
Paladin's Quest
Secret of Evermore
Secret of Mana
Soul Blazer
Wanderer's from Y's III
Zelda Link to the Past

How can people not like earthbound? Sure it's weird but that's the point

[Ed Oscuro]

Realistic or not, I *would* like to play all these games. At my advanced age (45), that's not likely to happen, especially since there are other things I'd like to do.
You can find a few minutes here and there to watch the intros, play a few minutes. Shouldn't kill ya, and you'll feel that you've got some idea what each one is about.

Personally, when I get to 45, I'll be trying to haul arse through as many titles as possible...heh, who knows, maybe I'd better stay away from some RPGs until then.