If you’re a retro fan or just a plain RPG lover, then you should check out this list of RPGs. The SNES had some of the most memorable and game changing titles appear on its system.

From the extremely well known Final Fantasy titles to the recently re-released Secret of Mana there is something for everyone willing to go back and pick up this retro system.

We have picked out the top 25 RPGs of all time from the SNES in hopes of sharing our memories with you.

25. Shin Megami Tensei II

(Only released in Japan on the Super Famicom)

This game is based in a world where the apocalypse has pretty much already come. The air in this world is unbreathable and humans have to live in in closed cities to survive.

The story starts off with a young man who gains citizenship into a place called the Center and quickly learns that he is supposedly the Messiah was going to bring forth the Thousand Year Kingdom. Aleph begins his journey and starts to fight demons across the land in order to help bring these years of peace.

The game has many twists and turns as things don't go exactly as planned for this young man as he becomes entangled in the plots of divine entities.

This RPG is actually controlled from a first person view to navigate to the maps. The dungeons have a gauge at the bottom that show you the likelihood of your next encounter with a demon.

The higher your gauge, the more likely you're about to end up in a fight. If you wish though you can form an alliance with demons. If you try helping them, you may even be able to avoid a battle.

This gives you a very unique way to get out of a battle while still helping yourself out in the long run.

24. Shadowrun

Shadowrun is a cyberpunk fantasy game based on a well-known tabletop RPG.

It all starts as you play as Jake Armitage, an amnesiac who awakes in a morgue after being presumed dead from being shot and left for dead. The story has you trying to figure out what events led to Jake being shot at and just who saved him.

You're going to need to do things like hack into computer systems and piece together clues in order to get full enjoyment out of the story.

Still, it's a thrilling sci-fi fantasy adventure that has great RPG elements for you to uncover.

The gameplay in Shadowrun is action role play style. Unlike other games, you are given a cursor that you can move around the map and click on things to do things like open doors.

The battle system unlike other RPGs on this list also will require you to have quick reflexes. You're going to have to be prepared for enemies to jump out at you and for you to either hunt them down or get away before they can kill you.

At times, the game switches from an isometric view to a top-down perspective depending on if you're in cyberspace or not.

23. Live A Live

(Only released in Japan on the Super Famicom)

Live A Live is a pretty strange game to play as it has you playing through seven completely random paths.

Each path has its own characters and plot that doesn't have anything to do with the other sections. On top of that, for whatever reason you can pick these chapters in any order you choose.

They also are separated by popular genres such as a western path and a ninja-themed path.

Upon the completion of all of the different chapters you will unlock additional chapters to end the game with. It's definitely one of the most unique games on this list of RPGs.

The gameplay is extremely basic with turn based tactical battles. The battles take place over a grid and depending on what type of attack you use determines how far and where on the grid they will hit.

You also have things like charge times for some of your special skills that can slow the battle down.

Just remember that this game won't throw you any type of revives for downed characters.

22. Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen

This game lets you choose both the gender and characteristics of the main character. It's one of the few examples of character customization that you can find on this list.

It all begins after the empress is slain and the main character avenges her only to find that an evil has been unleashed upon the world.

Also the game is more heavy on gameplay than story but there are multiple endings that you can get depending on which path you choose to take and how you do in battle.

The battle system is set up as a real-time tactical strategy RPG that will keep you on your toes. You’ll deploy units to fight instead of you picking a character to fight them directly.

You're going to have to recruit and play the classes that will work best for your battles though. Soldiers will evolve over time as you gather experience points and you can organize multiple units to send out to fight for you.

The game features a day and night cycle that will also affect the type of enemies you encounter. For example, if you play the game during the night hours, you’re going to find a lot of enemies like vampires roaming around.

21. Soul Blazer

Soul Blazer is about a hero sent by the divine entity known as the Master, to defeat the evil entity known as Deathtoll and restore the world as it was.

Deathtoll has invaded the world with his evil creatures who hold the souls of all living things, leaving the world desolate.

The hero is tasked with restoring each location and their denizens back to how they were and collect six magic stones to reach Deathtoll and destroy him.

Soul Blazer is a hack and slash style RPG that uses basic attacks with a sword and various magic as a means of combat.

Defeating the enemies scattered throughout each area causes them to release the souls of living things. They will repopulate the towns with a variety of characters that can lead you to clues about what to do. They can also lead you to new items or skills to use in combat.

Defeating enemies in combat will earn you experience causing you to level up your attack and defense, and you can further increase them by equipping weapons and armor.

20. Dragon Quest VI

(Only released in Japan on the Super Famicom)

While Dragon Quest VI doesn't introduce much in the way of gameplay changes, it still has a pretty interesting narrative.

The beginning is set in a very medieval world where there are two realms, the real world and the dream world.

The dream world is of course made up of people's dreams and has a similar map to the real world with a few changes here and there. You're going to have to navigate between the two worlds in order to finish the game and help save the world from the evil that's a looming over them.

This games opens up with a huge party already going to face the Demon King in his castle. The Demon King named Murdaw end up overwhelming the party and almost kills everybody involved in fighting him.

Afterwards, the main hero wakes up with his sister beside of him where she tells him that everything he just saw was only a dream. Then the hero sets off on a journey into a much greater plot to save the world.

19. Treasure of the Rudras

(Only released in Japan on the Super Famicom)

The story of this game is divided into three main parts, each main part has a different main character that will reveal to you a different side of the story.

The fate of the planet that Treasure of the Rudras takes place on is pretty bleak. As it turns out, about every four thousand years the current race goes extinct and a new Rudra and its race takes its place.

There's only 15 days remaining before the new Rudra shows up and humanity is wiped out for good.

The main character set out to find a way to save the human race by assembling a treasure that can help make the perfect Rudra to protect them.

The game has a random encounter based system in place. The game has a very typical RPG based system with magic spells and experience.

The most interesting part about this game’s gameplay is the fact that you can create your own magic spells. The spells are made up by letters that if combined together in any fashion, it can turn the tide of battle.

The game encourages you to experiment around these letters in order to make the perfect spells for your character.

While the spells still heavily focus around the main elements, there are lots of combinations you can do to create spells with varying effects.

18. Bahamut Lagoon

(Only released in Japan on the Super Famicom)

Bahamut Lagoon takes place in a world named Orelus that exists in the sky.

The game opens with a war going on in the skies turning purple because of the fall of a kingdom named Kahna.

The rebel alliance named The Resistance is trying to take back their territory from the empire. This resistance is made up of several people from other regions that have been taken over as well.

Their journey begins officially sets off to liberate the skies and take back their kingdom from Granbelos. The story is all about a growing revolution and saving your home.

The game features a lot of squad based RPG mechanics meaning you're going to have to manage pretty much everything that goes on with your troops.

The battles will be on a 2D grid and you can have up to a party of 6 characters to fight with. The turn-based system has both close up and ranged combat for you to deal with and later on you will be giving dragons for your party to be represented with.

The dragon will give your party ability to use special attacks but if you don't watch it, the dragon can be killed making your party weaker in the middle of battle.

17. Dragon Quest V

(Only released in Japan on the Super Famicom)

Interestingly enough, Dragon Quest V actually takes place over many years of the main character's life.

You play throughout the hero’s life and help him resolve many things in his life that will lead you to other quests. These things include trying to find your dead mother and learning of your father’s mysterious past.

You will encounter time skips as you get deeper into the story and even see the main hero getting married.

The story definitely gives you an interesting take on the classic RPG formula by letting you see the main character grow from a boy into a man.

The battle system is pretty interesting because it gives you the ability to let monsters join your party. Other than this, Dragon Quest V tends to keep the same role play mechanics that have been seen in the rest of the series.

The monsters are tough enough to create a pretty interesting dynamic as you can level them up just like other party members.

There are about 40 monsters that can join your party each with different abilities that they can use to help you out.

In a way it reminds you of an early version of Pokémon where you have to collect them all in order to have the most out of your gameplay.

16. Secret of Evermore

This story is all about a boy and his dog who are transported to a mystical world known as Evermore.

As you travel through this world, you learn that each realm and it is related to a different piece of real world history.

The dog you have with you is also a shapeshifter who will transform depending on his surroundings. Along the way you will learn more about the world that you have somehow entered and meet the scientist that originally made the machine that transported you there in the first place.

The story has both high fantasy and sci-fi elements within it. This gives the battle settings and creatures that are available to fight some interesting designs to work with.

The magic system is also a little bit different if you're going to have to learn to use alchemy and find formulas in order to gain the ability to use certain spells. This means you're going to have to get ahold of ingredients and level up your alchemy spells in order to get through battles quickly.

The gameplay is also very similar to Secret of Mana and uses a top-down view to show you the battlefield.

15. Seiken Densetsu 3

(Only released in Japan on the Super Famicom)

While you may have never heard of this game in America, Seiken Denestu 3 is a sequel to Secret of Mana that only released within Japan.

This game follows heroes as they try to once again they get ahold of the Mana Sword of legend.

The world's about to be destroyed and the heroes need to stop it by welding the power of Mana and a defeat the villains before they can amass enough power to wreak havoc. There are 6 possible main stories based on which main character you choose to play as.

It has a lot of familiar elements from the first two games and is a great sequel for anybody who really loved Secret of Mana.

The gameplay isn't much different than Secret of Mana and has some enhancements to things like the battle system.

This game has a top down perspective like its predecessors. The game also goes by a time system where in-game days pass.

Each in-game day has a different spirit attached to it that can help raise your stats in battle. This system also makes it so different items are available for purchase at different times of the day.

14. Star Ocean

(Only released in Japan on the Super Famicom)

The game starts out on an undeveloped planet where a disease has started to spread and cause trouble for the villagers.

The whole plot centers around the main characters trying to find the cure for the virus. It also has two groups that you have to play between in order to complete the game.

The two groups are Illia and Roddick, who entered the time portal too late and Millie and Ronyx.

As it turns out, they had to go in the past because the origin of the disease was linked to a demon king who was supposedly felled 300 years in the past. With a lurking war over the disease on the horizon, the young heroes are ready to go out of their way to save the people they love.

Star Ocean displays from a top-down perspective and uses the random battle system for encounters.

The battles aren't turn-based but the players also don't directly control the actions that are going on inside of it.

Instead, you focus on picking which strategies best fits the battle you have entered and while you can switch between characters, once you start your strategy it may be a little bit harder to just up and switch.

You also have to watch your MP points and assign your special attacks ahead of time in order to properly use them.

On top of that, there was also an affection system in the game that helps you get additional story info by focusing more on certain characters in your party.

13. Terranigma

(Only released in PAL regions and in Japan)

Terranigma is about a young boy named Ark who opens a forbidden box causing his whole village to be turned to crystal.

Afterwards, he has to be guided to the surface world to return his village to normal. As the story of Terranigma goes on, things get more and more serious as the story goes from a simple saving your village to restoring life and civilization back to the world above.

A major theme in this game is the battle between God and the Devil.

These two have plummeted the earth into its current state of lifelessness. These two entities actually represent the light side and dark side which stood for both growth and decline depending on the viewpoint.

The gameplay has a top-down perspective and uses a real-time battle system with a dedicated attack, run, jump, and defend button.

You can run jump or stand still in order to change the method of attack. You also have the ability to guard and will gain experience points from each battle like classic RPG.

You can even collect items known as magirocks to use powerful magic or summons for tough situations.

After defeating each boss in the game you'll have different types of magic become unlocked you.

12. Illusion of Gaia

(Also known as Illusion of Time in PAL regions)

Illusions of Gaia is actually a pretty interesting action RPG developed by the same studio that made both Soul Blazer and Terranigma.

The game follows the main character, Will, a young boy whose parents disappeared after an expedition to the Tower of Babel and is left to live with his grandparents.

One day atop his school roof, Will comes across a strange doorway and within lies Gaia, an entity that is the source of all life. Will is tasked by Gaia to travel and save the world from a coming evil in the form of a comet.

There's nothing too complicated about the combat of this game and while different characters have different stats they're not really that different from others. A lot of focus is put into the story in the development of the characters instead of making a complex battle system.

Watching Will travel the world and exploring the large cast of characters will take most of your time.

It's also pretty fun to watch Will gain his different shape-shifting abilities and grow as a person.

11. Tales of Phantasia

(Only released in Japan on the Super Famicom)

Tales of Phantasia is the first game to be released in the ongoing Tales series.

The story circles around a young man named Cress, who along with four other heroes in the story are on a quest to seal the evil Dhaos who was once sealed away but escapes by traveling throughout time.

As the character’s travel, they gain the help of the world’s elemental summon spirits and learn the truth behind Dhaos’ actions and motives.

Unlike many other RPGs on the SNES, Tales of Phantasia uses voice samples for both the opening song which plays before the title screen, which has now become a staple of the Tales series, and in battle for every action the characters perform.

Tales of Phantasia features a combat system known as the Linear Motion Battle System, where you control the main character in real time in order to play. The game also contains a pause menu during battle where you can assign special skill to a directional button to use mid-attack similar to a combo in a fighting game.

If you have a friend to play with, then the game will allow them to control another member of your party during battle much like the Tales games out on current systems today.

10. Breath of Fire

Breath of Fire revolves around a young man who can shape-shift into several different types of dragons.

This man is named Ryu, who is trying to find a way to reclaim his sister Sara who has been kidnapped by the dark dragons.

During the game, you will meet other people who can transform into different types of creatures such as birds. The initial problem starts when a goddess divides the clan of the dragons into two separate factions of light and dark. This was because both clans were trying to win over the goddesses’ affection.

The gameplay of Breath of Fire is a very traditional role-playing video game.

The combat is turn-based and the agility system determines who goes first in battle. One of the most interesting features of this game is that some strong bosses may be able to continue fighting even after their health bar is depleted.

This isn't something that you see in any other game, and can give players a bit of a shock when they think they won a battle and they have to continue fighting.

9. Final Fantasy IV

(Also known as Final Fantasy II in North America)

Final Fantasy IV follows a knight of the kingdom of Baron named Cecil, who is tasked by his king to bring him the four elemental crystals.

As his journey continues, Cecil begins to question the motives of his king.

This leads Cecil and his close friends to fight back and restore peace to both the world and his kingdom while uncovering an evil force manipulating from behind the scenes.

This is the first Final Fantasy game to be released on a 16-bit console and the first to introduce characters that have specific jobs attributed to them rather than having a flexible job system such as Final Fantasy I and III.

The battle system for Final Fantasy IV introduced the Active Time Battle system, which used the previous style of combat the previous entries used but now instead of being turn based, it is now in real-time.

This means even as you scroll through your battle actions, you are open to enemy attacks so you have to think and act quickly.

While the job system is no longer in this entry, each character has his or her own specific skills and equipment that makes it easier to balance and plan what type of party you wish to use.

Also, unlike the previous Final Fantasy games, you have up to 12 unique party members throughout your adventure.

8. Breath of Fire II

The main character Breath of Fire 2 is actually named Ryu as well. This time both the father and sister disappear and the townsfolk have a pretty bad case of amnesia.

The story jumps 10 years in the future where Ryu is living with a friend. He is now a hand for hire and gets started on the main story when he takes a mission to find a lost pet.

The story really gets started when he discovers that he's part of a long-forgotten dragon clan and the party slowly starts to uncover what really happened when Ryu was a child.

One of the major features of the gameplay is the addition of a text-based menu system instead of us icon based one.

The game also features something called a monster meter that tells you how close you are to encountering a monster.

You can always freely switch out your party members to figure out who is the best fit for the battles in the area you're in.

Other than that, everything from the original Breath of Fire is still in place in the game.

7. Final Fantasy V

(Only released in Japan on the Super Famicom)

Final Fantasy V takes place in a world where the wind currents have started to fade away or stale.

This is because the wind crystal is shattering and soon the planet will become uninhabitable unless are heroes are able to restore the balance.

The young traveler named Bartz must work together with his party to save the elemental crystals that all play a huge part in sustaining life on the planet. Eventually the heroes even change planets to defeat an evil that is wreaking havoc on elemental crystals in other worlds as well.

Final Fantasy V will give you a heavy feeling of both defeat and success and its story will have you wrapped up in the adventure.

Final Fantasy V features an extensive job system that lets you pick which classes you want to play as. This allows you to pick from a total of 22 classes to max out and learn.

This, combined with sub job classes, gives the players lots of wriggle room for a huge range of combat options.

The battle system is like that of other games before such as Final Fantasy I and III.

Final Fantasy V was one of the starts of making your own characters based on your chosen abilities, and has helped the RPG system grow rapidly in that regard.

6. Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals

This game is actually prequel Lufia & the Fortress of Doom. The story features the hero named Maxim, the ancestor of the main character of the first game and one who is playable during the first game’s opening prologue.

The game starts when a woman named Iris comes to him saying he needs to go on a journey.

Afterwards, Maxim sets off and finds other warriors to join him in defeating the Sinistrals, who are godlike beings that want to dominate the world.

Lufia II uses a standard turn based battle system but includes a nice addition to the mix with the IP gauge.

As battles go on and depending on if you have a weapon with the IP skill attached, it will fill up and allow you to perform powerful attacks or gain an advantage over your enemies.

Another feature is the inclusion of Capsule Monsters, which are AI controlled party members that can evolve depending on what you feed them. T

he game also uses a lot of puzzle mechanics within dungeons that can sometimes require key items, similar to Zelda, to solve them.

5. Earthbound

(Also known as Mother 2)

Earthbound, unlike other RPGs, is set in a rather contemporary setting where instead of battles being fought with swords and magic, they are fought with baseball bats and psychic powers.

The game follows Ness, a young boy in the town of Onett who awakens one night after a meteor strikes a hilltop outside his home.

Inside the meteor is a talking bee from the future named Buzz. Buzz warns Ness of a coming invasion by an evil alien named Giygas, and that he must join up with three other kids and visit eight locations to gain the power to fight back and prevent Giygas’ invasion.

The game is filled with many colorful characters and comedic moments but also has many touching moments scattered throughout.

Earthbound features many quirky elements that fit perfectly into an RPG, from having to call home every once in a while to prevent the homesick status effect, to withdrawing money from an ATM.

The battle system is a simple turn based system, but introduces a rolling HP bar for your characters that allow you to recover from a fatal blow if you hurry up before your health rolls all the way to zero.

4. Final Fantasy VI

(Also known as Final Fantasy III in North America)

Final Fantasy VI is often considered the greatest game in the Final Fantasy series.

Unlike other games in the series, the focus is not on one singular main protagonist but rather on multiple characters.

Throughout the game, you control 14 different characters and you get to see their perspective as they go through their own journeys.

The game first introduces Terra, a girl once under the control of the empire for her powerful control over magic and from there introduces a horde of interesting characters such as Locke, a self-proclaimed treasure hunter to Sabin, a royal heir to the throne of Figaro who cast aside his claim to the throne to train and become a martial artist.

The battle system uses the Active Time Battle System, just like Final Fantasy IV and V, but it introduces many new features such as the relic system.

Relics can be equipped to give special abilities, allow for extra equipment to be applied to a character, to even giving them a permanent status effect such as Protect.

Also, characters are able to learn new magic spells by equipping different summons and by earning ability points. Characters are able to learn these spells and use them without the need for having the summon equipped.

3. Secret of Mana

(Also known as Seiken Densetsu 2 in Japan)

The world of Secret of Mana contains an energy source of the same name.

Mana has caused wars to break out among the gods and humans resulting in a devastating setback to humanity. The only savior this civilization had was a young boy and his mana sword.

The story starts when a young boy falls into a lake when trespassing and is guided by a mysterious voice to remove and take an old sword in a stone.

This, in turn, makes monsters appear around his village and starts off his journey when he is banished. Secret of Mana is also a sequel to a game from the original Game Boy called Final Fantasy Adventure.

The gameplay features one element not often found in most early RPGs of this era, co-op.

While you can have the other two characters in your party be controlled via AI, you can instead have a friend battle alongside you for a majority of the game.

The combat when controlling the main character uses a hack and slash type system that with the press of a button. It allows you to strike with your sword, but depending on the percentage of the gauge at the bottom of the screen. The higher the percentage, the more damage you deal.

2. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

Super Mario RPG begins with Mario battling Bowser to save Princess Peach before Bowser’s castle is struck by a giant living sword named Exor.

It causes the three of them to be separated as well as breaking the Star Road that can grant wishes into seven pieces.

With the Star Pieces scattered and the Smithy Gang taking over, Mario must go on a journey alongside the princess, Bowser, and some new friends to restore the Star Road and restore the Mushroom Kingdom back to normal.

The battle system for Super Mario RPG may seem to be a simple turn based battle system but it actually has a few unique features.

When attacking, if you press a button just before hitting an enemy, you’ll do extra damage if you get the timing just right.

Also, when leveling up you get to choose which of your stats you wish to increase as a bonus.

Aside from Mario and his jumping abilities, other characters have their own unique ways of attacking as well as their own special skills.

1. Chrono Trigger

Chrono Trigger follows the story of Crono, a young boy who is invited by his genius inventor friend Lucca to the Millenial Fair to try out her new invention, a teleporter.

After running into a mysterious young girl named Marle who wears a strange pendant, both Crono and Marle both head to see Lucca’s teleportation demonstration.

When Marle sets foot in the teleporter however, her pendant reacts and insteads teleports Crono, Lucca, and Marle back in time.

The story from there unfolds as they travel to different eras and meet many other characters and save their world.

The battle system focuses on opening counters meaning that all the enemies that you can fight can be seen in the field. It uses both physical attacks and Magic as well as items to help you along the way.

The characters all have their own timer that will tell you when they can make the move again.

In a way this is a very turn based battle system, but you may see some variation depending on what tactics you use.