Best RPG's on the NES.

[Darth Sensei]

I'm not a big RPG fan, but my gf is. What are the best RPG's on the NES?

[s1lence]

I'm going to say the first dragon warrior is a great RPG for the NES. Some people are going to say Final Fantasy but I'm going to put DW over that.

[Jibbajaba]

The Ultimas are great if you are into the older-style RPG. All of the Dragon Warrior games are awesome, I might agree with s1lence that they are a bit better that FFI.

I had a friend in college who was really into Destiny of an Emperor, but I never got into it myself.

Chris

[zerohero]

Willow j/k

[Simply Dave]

Faria is also a fun game, though a bit frustrating in parts.

[XianXi]

I'm going to say the first dragon warrior is a great RPG for the NES. Some people are going to say Final Fantasy but I'm going to put DW over that.

Werd. My fave will always be Dragon Warrior.

[Jagasian]

Everybody will list the obvious games that everybody has already played. Let me do something different. Some of the best games were never officially released for the NES, but either exist as prototypes or unofficial fan translations. You can buy copies of these unofficial games as reproductions. (http://www.nesreproductions.com/) Here is my list:

Unofficial English Translations:
Chronicles of the Radia War
Final Fantasy 2
Final Fantasy 3
Sweet Home

Prototypes:
Earthbound

Sweet Home is probably the most innovative and unique of all NES and Famicom RPGs. It takes place in a haunted house, and you have a party of 5 or so characters who each have a unique skill. This game will scare you! The entire game is about survival. If I was to describe it to a modern gamer, I would say it is like Resident Evil combined with Final Fantasy. As far as RPGs go, the first Mother aka Earthbound is also very innovative. So those two would be my top 2 picks.

[shaggy]

Of course the Dragon Warrior games and Final Fantasy. But don't forget Crystalis!! That game is awesome.

[Slimedog]

Dragon Warrior 2 or 3 are much better than the DW1 or FF. 4 probably could be in this catagory as well, but its pretty rare and I haven't played it. I'm working on Wizardry now, but I have a hard time recommending it unless you are reeeeeeealy into storyless 1st person dungeon crawls with unfriendly interfaces. Also, I found the 2nd NES Ultima (Quest of the Avatar) game vastly superior to the first (Exodus). Willow and Crystalis are also fun, but they are more action RPGs.

[Avatard]

My fav is FF1 by far. I play it atleast once a year or more. My next fav would be Faxanadu if that counts.

[VG_Maniac]

Crystalis is my personal favorite RPG for the NES.

[rbudrick]

Nothing beats Crystalis.

And I don't give a crap what anyone says, Zelda II rules.

If you want a challenge, Legacy of the Wizard is very good, but extremely difficult (password save, ick). It's hard for most people to get into, but once you 'get it' it's very rewarding.

Castlevania II, arguably could be considered.

-Rob

[shaggy]

Nothing beats Crystalis.

And I don't give a crap what anyone says, Zelda II rules.

If you want a challenge, Legacy of the Wizard is very good, but extremely difficult (password save, ick). It's hard for most people to get into, but once you 'get it' it's very rewarding.

Castlevania II, arguably could be considered.

-Rob

Oh, yes!! I don't give a crap what anyone says but Zelda II is AWESOME!!!! @_@ Legacy of the Wizard is an awesome game also but like ROb says you have to play it awhile before you truly enjoy it. This game is hard and takes awhile to beat but it can be done. I did finally beat it and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[roushimsx]

Seconding Crystalis, Destiny of an Emperor, Sweet Home, and Faxanadu.

The Final Fantasy games have aged terribly and are an absolute chore to play through. Dragon Warrior 1 - 3 are all equally unfun nowadays, which is sad because when they came out they totally blew me away. I still find Dragon Warrior IV to be enjoyable.

Destiny of an Emperor II was also great if you're into the fan-translation thing. Chaos World is also worth a good look-see.

I guess River City Ransom counts too, in a round-about-way. Hell, it's more of an RPG than Zelda II is.

[Necron99]

would Startropics be considered an RPG?

[roushimsx]

would Startropics be considered an RPG?

I'd consider it more of an adventure game than an RPG (same with Legend of Zelda), No real stat building of any sort, just some old school top down adventuring.

But that doesn't change the fact that Startropics and Zoda's Revenge are awesome and should be played by all, damnit :(

[Jed]

No love for Wizardry? Wizardry II ranks up there as one of my favorite games. It's a slow, boring dungeon crawler that you need a lot of patience to play. It's fun though, if you're looking for something different I'd give it a go.

[Jumpman Jr.]

Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior.
Those ones are pretty obvious though.

[boatofcar]

I think the original Final Fantasy is pretty darn good. It may not have the best story, but graphically and musically it is the best, and the scope of the world is huge for a game of that time. Not to mention it had the airship 8-)

[syd]

All of the Dragon Warriors are awesome, my personal favourite is Dragon Warrior III. I'd highly recommend having a map if you play any of these, they help especially when you get a ship.

Crystalis is really good, I got pretty far in one of the Ultima games before I stopped playing it. Same goes with Star tropics, even though I heard the second one isn't nearly as good.

One of my favourite RPG's for the nes was The Magic of Scheherazade. IMO this is a very good game, even though it may be more of an adventure game than an RPG.

Little Ninja Brothers is pretty good too, but again this may not be considered an RPG. And like I said in my Zelda II thread, it's an amazing game! :D

[DigitalSpace]

As is the case lately, I wouldn't be surprised to see the typical "who cares?" responses, but there's already a thread on NES RPGs here:

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52665

[Jorpho]

Magician, anyone?

[Mianrtcv]

I like all of the above mentioned titles.

I also enjoyed playing DUNGEON MAGIC

It took a while to get used to but was a fun time playing through it.

[NESaholic]

-Final Fantasy
-Dragon Warrior series
-Ghost Lion
-Princess Tomato
-Faria
-Crystalis
-Tombs and Treasure
-Bard's Tale
-Maniac Mansion

to name a few!

[chrisbid]

Phantasy Star on the Sega Master System ;)

[Slimedog]

I almost forgot AD&D Pool of Radiance. Its not too user friendly, but its pretty immersive and I like the combat.

[Raedon]

for an obscure romp that many haven't finished go with Bard's Tale as it is different then any other BT version though it is sort of based on 1.

[rbudrick]

Seconding Crystalis, Destiny of an Emperor, Sweet Home, and Faxanadu.

The Final Fantasy games have aged terribly and are an absolute chore to play through. Dragon Warrior 1 - 3 are all equally unfun nowadays, which is sad because when they came out they totally blew me away. I still find Dragon Warrior IV to be enjoyable.

Destiny of an Emperor II was also great if you're into the fan-translation thing. Chaos World is also worth a good look-see.

I guess River City Ransom counts too, in a round-about-way. Hell, it's more of an RPG than Zelda II is.

God, how could I ever possible forget Faxanadu? I'd rank this right there with Crystalis.

And RCR...good call, man.

If anyone wants to see some another good game in the Legacy of the Wizard/Faxanadu series, check out Romancia for the famicom...if you can read Japanese.

-Rob

[Aussie2B]

Traditional RPGs suck on NES. Seriously. There is definitely some fun to be had in them, but they are so outclassed by the RPGs on later consoles. Most of them are far too primitive and unintuitive, not even giving you the most basic of conveniences like being able to buy more than one item at a time (in Final Fantasy, you WILL need a full stock of 99 potions).

Adventure games, on the otherhand, really shine on NES. Both Zelda games, both StarTropics games, Crystalis, Willow, Faxanadu, etc. are all wonderful. I'd suggest putting time into these before, say Dragon Warrior or Final Fantasy.

[Daria]

My favorites are:

Dragon Warrior 4
Magic of Scherherazade
Ultima Exodus
Crystalis
Star Tropics

And....

Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom
more of a point and click type adventure game but it does have "traditional" dungeon crawling sequances.

[kainemaxwell]

I really never got the Ulitma games- too involved. i enjoyed the Dragon Warrior titles, Final Fantasy, Crystalis (my fav), Startropics 1 & 2 also. Never played Destiny of an Emperor until I got into emulation and then the Dynasty Warriors games. Loaded up the rom and enjoyed it quite a bit.

[ubersaurus]

Dragon Warrior games are fantastic. Final Fantasy, though, was kind of shitty, and boring as hell for me. I hear it gets better once you class change, but I honestly couldn't sit down and play it that far. The story is...non-existant.

[Valhalla]

If you don't mind playing a game through emulation, I highly reccomend STED: Starfield of Memorable Relics, this is the NES equivalent of Phantasy Star. Four characters battling it out in a sci fi uiverse against foes on a birds eye view overworld, and first person dungeon crawling. The game is very hard, knowing what to do is a pain in the arse. I've never beaten the game but have spent more time on it than any other NES rpg. I signed up specically to reccomend this game in this thread after lurking for a while, but plan to stay!

It was only released in Japan but there is a translation patch for it.

[Jorpho]

So, no Magician fans, then? I understand it's a pretty good game, although rather rare when originally released.