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Super Famicom

Nintendo Super Famicom logo

These are for the Japan-only SFC games. A good chunk of these are translated. Some aren't, and then there's those that don't even need translations.

Box Art Title Genre Description Translation Screenshot
Arabian Nights Sabaku no Seirei Arabian Nights: Sabaku no Seirei
(Arabian Nights: Spirit of the Desert King)
RPG A JRPG based on Arabian lore. You play as Shukran, a young girl, who finds a Djinn and wishes for world peace. Thus, the two embark on their quest to make that wish come true together, as Ifrit can’t stray from his new master’s side. The neat thing about this game is that battles play like normal RPG fare, but you also use cards to affect enemies and allies with various effects and also the battlefield toward your favor. Link Arabian SFC
Assault Suits Valken Art Assault Suits Valken
(Cybernator)
Platformer / Shoot 'em Up A very fun, challenging, and engrossing platformer/shoot 'em up hybrid where you play as a soldier in a future war where soldiers take their fights into the cockpits of mecha (not unlike Mobile Suit Gundam or Votoms). The action and levels were designed spectacularly, and the story-line is surprisingly interesting. Released outside of Japan as Cybernator, but it was butchered like crazy (trimmed long texts, removed portraits during dialogue, and the removal of a controversial suicide scene), so it got a fan retranslation. Link AVALKEN
Bahamutlagoon Bahamut Lagoon RPG / Strategy One of Square's more unique titles. Utilizes Tactics-based over-battles, which also involve giving strategies to you powerful dragon units. Get one of your character parties close to an enemy party and you go into a "sub-battle", which plays out like a traditional turn-based JRPG battle, but only lasts about one ally and enemy phase. These all seam together wonderfully, making for one of the SNES/SFC's sadly overlooked games.


There's two completed translations out there now. The oldest is by DeJap Translations and Tomato. The other is by Near (aka Byuu).

Link

Link

Bahamut lagoon screen
Smas eng 00000 Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Another Story RPG Shut up, you know you want to play this. Explore Tokyo, and help all 10 Sailor Guardians work together to defeat the bad guys. This is an independent story that takes place after the S season. Surprisingly fun. Downside are countless useless OCs (Donut steal) and a stupid script, but if you liked the (better written) anime, you can live with it. Link Sailor
Super Genjin 2 SFC Cover Chou Genjin 2
(Super Bonk 2)
Platformer The last console entry on the Bonk series, which sadly never got an American release, especially because it's one of the best Bonk games. It ditches that useless giant form and adds lots of different transformations, including a fucking tank! It has probably the best visuals in the series, even rivaling Bonk's Revenge! Link SuperGenjin2Screenshot
Macross-scrambled-valkyrie
Choujikuu Yousai Macross - Scrambled Valkyrie (Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Scrambled Valkyrie) Shoot 'em Up (horizontal) This is a horizontally scrolling shooter with each pilot having their own entirely unique weapon loadout for their Valkyrie fighter. The Vakyries are aircraft that resemble a fighter plane, but can swap between three distinct forms: fighter(jet fighter), GERWALK(half fighter, half robot), and Battroid(robot). Each form for each pilot has a single, unique weapon, so swapping between forms becomes a huge part of the strategy in the game. There is a patch to open up this difficult game to casual players here.
Scrambled-valkyrie
Tumblr mebh22U7lv1qhhv13o1 1280.png-1452982710 Choumahou Tairiku Wozz
(The Magical Land of Wozz)
RPG A fun,goofy rpg with a good content to heart. You can choose 3 of the main characters in a branching storylne for each one. Nice graphics,excelent music and has a nice humor to it. You'll probably hate Shot when you start the game,but make no mistake: He's a great character. Link 474screenshot2-2
Clocktower1 Clock Tower Survival Horror Point and Click horror adventure game were you play the little girl running from a killer in a mansion. Far scarier than it sounds, ESPECIALLY at the (one of several) end(s). Has an extremely cool random event engine, which provides for unexpected scares, and unlike most survival horror games you can't fight back - only run and hide, which adds to the tension even more.

Remade as "Clock Tower: The First Fear" on the PS1, Wonderswan, and PC. Sequels are on the PS1 and PS2.

Link Clocksnes
CyberKnightSnes Cyber Knight I & II SRPG\JRPG So, I see you've played CT, FF6, BL and every RPG available for the ol' SNES under the sun. But you want more? HERE'S SOME MORE: Cyber Knight I, and its sequel, Cyber Knight II, are two remarkably unknown titles that never made it out of Japan, but really should have. Mixing SRPG and traditional JRPG, both games allow you to travel through space exploring several planets while piloting badass mechs, which you can assign to different pilots and equip as you please. Writing and plot are simplistic and fairly lighthearted, but don't let this stop you from giving this a go. This site has some in-depth info. CK1
CK2
CyberKnightGameplay
Insane snes game Deae Tonosama Appare Ichiban
(Meet Tonosama! Bravo! Number One!)
Action An absolutely ridiculous action game by Sunsoft. Players get to choose between a Japanese guy who uses a fan as a weapon, or a French guy who shoots flowers. All enemies explode on defeat. When percentage points exceed 50, press X button for extreme muscles. Unique stages and enemies, quirky and hilarious art, and all around great blow up everything experience. Only released in Japan, no translation available, but the story makes no sense anyway. LET'S PLAY DTAI s008
Daikaijuu Monogatari SFC cover Daikaijuu Monogatari
(Super Shell Monsters Story)
RPG Sequel to Kaijuu Monogatari on the NES. Takes place years after the NES game. The Demon sealed away in the NES games gets unsealed by a mysterious force, and strange objects are falling from the sky. The beings of Shell Beast Island summon the new Fire Shell Hero to combat this new and unknown force. Has many playable characters and their endings change based on clearing their sidequests.

Fair warning though, the translation linked does have a bit of far-right madness that would be perfect for /pol/, so be warned

Link Daikaijuu Monogatari
Daikaijuu Monogatari 2 SFC cover Daikaijuu Monogatari 2
(Super Shell Monsters Story 2)
RPG Sequel to Daikaijuu Monogatari, takes place many years after the events of the first SNES game. A Sorceror seeks to control Shelldorado and plunge it into darkness. Yet again, another human is called as the Fire Shell Hero to fight this new menace. Fewer playable characters but has a time based system which affects certain locations. Link Daikaijuu Monogatari 2
39768 front Dark Half RPG An interesting RPG where you play the story of a human and a demon lord (Or Fallen One, if you'd prefer), there is a Soul Power who depletes whenever you are at in the world map or a dungeon and YOU CAN'T LEVEL UP, instead you must capture monsters and reap poor innocent souls to enhance your power (playing as the antagonist) or by using dark orbs and shit (Playing as the generic jrpg hero).

The battle system is kinda strange, but it works (It's really like Trails of the Sky or Radiant Historia), and has some epic music.

Link Tumblr mebh22U7lv1qhhv13o1 1280.png-1452984078
220px-Dark Law - Meaning of Death Coverart Dark Law: Meaning of Death RPG The spiritual sequel to Dark Lord for the Famicom. Dark Law has a dark story right off the bat, great graphics, REALLY DEEP inventory system, has a variety of MCs to start off with and a fun, yet repetitive combat system. Anyways, this is a great experience and has it's own feel of being the closest thing to a real tabletop-rpg on a video game. Link Dark-law-meaning-of-death-english.3
39768 front-0 Der Langrisser SRPG A port from the PC-FX game. A really great game which now has been localized by a bunch of nice guys Near (formerly known as byuu) and D (D-Boy).

The gameplay resembles Fire Emblem with a grid for movements, but changes to a Dragon Force-esque combat screen, where a squad fight other based on the power of each soldier (Similar to Yggdra Union too). You have a big roaster of characters with a branching class tree, strategic and moral choices which affects the main character,story and ending, along with vibrant scenarios, a catchy but epic soundtrack and great, GREAT story.

Link Tumblr mebh22U7lv1qhhv13o1 1280.png-1452984599
DoReMi-Fantasy SFC DoReMi Fantasy: Milon no DokiDoki Daibouken
(DoReMi Fantasy: Milon's Heart-Pounding Great Adventure)
Platformer A fantastic, cute platformer by Hudson with great level design, tight controls, fun puzzles, and perfect atmosphere. Japanese only. The game contains a surprising amount of dialogue, so it'd be best to use a translation patch. There are two English patches, though one is based on an older translation and is finished with a new expanded ending.
Available for the Wii Virtual Console in the West, but mostly untranslated.
Link Doremi
Dragon Ball Z - Hyper Dimension SNES Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension Fighting The most technical, Street Fighter-esque DBZ game until FighterZ came out. Beautiful graphics. The other Butoden games are worth checking out as well. Link Hyper Dimension
DQ1&2Cover Dragon Quest I & II RPG Kickass remake of the first two Dragon Quest games bundled together! Link

Title Fix

Dw2-sfc3
DQ3Cover Dragon Quest III: Shoshite Densetsu he... (Dragon Quest III: And Into The Legend...) RPG Dragon Quest III also received it's own remake much like the previous two games, only this one was released as standalone. Link Dw3-sfc3
DQ5Cover Dragon Quest V: Tenkuu no Hanayome
(Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride)
RPG The first original entry of the series on the Super Famicom, and sadly the first to not make stateside, this game is still considered by many to be the best Dragon Quest title, period. You begin the game as a little kid and explore the world as you grow up into and adult and even have your own kids. It later received an awesome remake for the Nintendo DS, which was the first time the game was release in western shores. Link Dq5-2
DQ6Cover Dragon Quest VI: Maboroshi no Daichi
(Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation)
RPG The next entry in the Dragon Quest series, it features a dual world setup and brings back the vocation system from the third game. It also received a remake for the DS. Link Dq6-7
39768 front-1 Dream Maze: Kigurumi Daibouken
(Dream Maze: The Mascot Costume Adventure)
Dungeon Crawler RPG OMG, I'M FUCKING PUKING RAINBOWS!! Dream Maze is a really cute, candy-lover game, but don't look down on it: It's a great RPG with new features to the genre. Has a costume system where enemies drop their flesh skin costumes and you can wear them to gain or lose attributes and tailor them to get a better one. Another thing is the cool battle system: there a hit point system which you can punch/kick the enemy in a certain spot of its body, which is useful for discover weak spots. Had a bit of popularity back in the day for being like Shin Megami Tensei on a "gay tone". Link Yume grid
EdonoKibaJPBoxShotSNES Edo no Kiba Action Edo No Kiba is a constantly side-scrolling frantic action game in which you run through streets, walk through corridors, and ride airships and missiles as a samurai robot while slashing fuckers. The gameplay seems a little derivative at first but it's very fun and it's not too difficult if you set yourself up with a shitload of lives. Only released in Japan with no available translation, but you'll be having too much fun cutting your way through downtown to mind the unreadable intermissions between levels. 456084-edo-no-kiba-snes-screenshot-bill-riser-you-get-out-of-here
Emerald dragon Emerald Dragon RPG The first version came out on Japanese PCs in 1989, had a dragon-human 4 years before Breath of Fire, and Party Chat 11 years before Dragon Quest. This game was truly ahead of its time. The battles are a weird mix of strategy and turn-based, but work pretty well, and your allies have GOOD A.I.! The story is an amusing mix of non-serious and dramatic narrative that blends rather well, too. All in all, it feels kinda dated, but remains charming and enjoyable. Link Emerald D Screen
39768 front-2 Energy Breaker RPG / Strategy Now,that's a beatiful game. Sometimes it looks like a 32-bit game. The story is about a girl who lost her memory and stuff,but turns out in something great to the point you will play for it.The characters are lovely and charismatic (except Lenardo, fuck Lenardo), music are relaxing and epic and battle. It's like Tatics Ogre without ground effect. Skill and Spell system can be kinda confusing, but there is a guide for your answers. Link Yume grid-0
Famicom Tantei Club Part 2 SFC cover Famicom Tantei Club Part II: Ushiro ni Tatsu Shojo
(Famicom Detective Club Part II: The Girl who Stands Behind)
Adventure Great adventure game and remake of Famicom Disk System title. You are teenage detective apprentice who is investigating the murder of a high school student. You talk with people and gather clues to solve the case. Great detective/ghost story/urban legend storyline with plot twists. It was one of last games released on Super Famicom so graphics are amazing. It is prequel for Part I so you don't have to worry that you hadn't played it. Original FDS version was re-released on GBA, both are available on Japanese Virtual Console. Link Fdc2
Feda The Emblem of Justice Super Famicom cover Feda: The Emblem of Justice Strategy RPG Two renegade soldiers, a human and a wolfling, join a rebellion against the corrupted Balformian empire they used to serve. Pretty much the Shining Force of the SNES. Link Feda The Emblem of Justice Super Famicom screenshot
Final Fantasy V Box JAP Final Fantasy V RPG Featuring the most refined version of the job system seen in a main Final Fantasy title to date and enough classes to make your head spin. Join Butz/Bartz on his quest to have the most female-filled party in the series, as well as his battles against a magic tree/demon army-in-one. The story is on the lighthearted end of things, showing a more comical Final Fantasy, though it does have its tear-jerking moments. Only released in Japan, but a fan translation is available. Ported in English to the PlayStation with LOADTIMES and Game Boy Advance with a better script and extras (and no LOADTIMES). Link Ff5
220px-Fire Emblem Mystery of the Emblem cover
Fire Emblem: Monshou No Nazo (Mystery of the Emblem) SRPG A bit on the older side, but most assuredly the best way to experience Marth's entire story, due to the NES being archaic, and the DS versions having some awful changes and modifications, like the Mary Sue My Unit. This will lack some of the features you'll be accustomed to if you're more familiar with the modern FE games, but it holds up pretty well if you've got the itch after beating 4 and 5. Just be sure to grab the update to the translation patch, as well, here. Link
SNES--Fire Emblem Monshou no Nazo Nov23 11 54 58
Fire emblem iv seisen no keifu japon Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu
(Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War)
SRPG Widely considered the best game in the Fire Emblem series. It features a complex plot that takes place over two generations of heroes. If you're used to the GBA games, get ready to be blown away by the massive-scale battles this has. Link Fe4
Wmiry31-ml6wSVu8qcC -u6qhk0zVqNXiPduxe7QAZg
Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 SRPG

Technically a side story to Fire Emblem 4, this takes place during the second generation.

Back when the series still took its plots somewhat seriously, Thracia 776 deals with genocide and war crimes introduced in FE4.

In addition, it's by far the most difficult Fire Emblem when considering standard difficulties. Healing staves can miss, your characters can be captured, etc. If you want an SRPG with a challenge, look no further.

Link
Fe5trans081.png
Front Mission Gun Hazard Front Mission: Gun Hazard Platformer / Run and Gun A spin-off to the Front Mission series, Gun Hazard is essentially the final game in the unofficial trilogy of games including Assault Suits Valken and Metal Warriors. Gun Hazard is easily the best of the three. The team who made this game mostly comprised of members who worked on Valken, and it's clear they liked some of the gameplay improvements they saw in Metal Warriors, and were likely humbled, because they included some of them in this game. Has a great storyline, as well as more as a stage map/overworld RPG-elements that help refine the experience.

Only released in Japan, but a fan translation is available.

Link Fmgh
Ganbare Ganbare! Daiku no Gensan
(Do Your Best, Gen the Carpenter! / Hammerin' Harry 5)
Beat 'em Up / Platformer If you've ever played Hammerin' Harry on the NES/Arcade, or Hammerin' Hero for PSP, then you know what to expect here. This series only saw those two incarnations in the west, but in Japan (known there as Daiku no Gensan) it has quite a few. This is perhaps the most polished one. A cute platformer/beat 'em up hybrid with plenty of Japanese quirky humor, the sprite-work visuals are pretty amazing, and the gameplay is extremely refined. You'll totally miss out on the 'story', but that's no much of a loss, otherwise, no Japanese knowledge is required to play this game. Haven't you always wanted to be a working-class man, being a hero to the people by smashing faces with your mallet? I thought so. Ganbare
GOEMON SNES II Ganbare Goemon 2: Kiteretsu Shōgun Magginesu
(Let's Go! Goemon 2: The Strange General McGuiness)
Platformer The sequel to Legend of the Mystical Ninja, it has similarities to Super Mario World, and you can play as newcomer Sasuke, a clockwork ninja! Very fun, quirky humor, but, not surprisingly, only in Japanese. Also, the debut of Impact! He's a giant steam-mecha who you fight certain giant bosses with in first person duels. Sadly, his well-loved theme song doesn't come up until the N64... Link G Goemon2 screen
GOEMON SNES III Ganbare Goemon 3: Shishijūrokubē no Karakuri Manji Gatame
(Let's Go! Goemon 3: The Mechanic Octopus Hold of the Lion Elite Guard)
Action-Adventure / Platformer The third in the SNES Goemon line, this game plays more like The Legend of Zelda in the overworld, and is thus the least accessible to non-Japanese speakers... but if you're determined, give it a go, because it's a great game. Still has platforming stages though, which makes for a weird hybrid. Each character has or gains useful skills to make their way through stages and obstacles. You can also play as Yae in this game, who can transform into a sexy mermaid. Link G Goemon3 screen
GOEMON SNES IV Ganbare Goemon Kirakira Dōchū: Boku ga Dancer ni Natta Wake
(Let's Go! Goemon: The Glittering Journey: The Reason I Became a Dancer)
Platformer The fourth game in the Goemon SNES series returns to the style of the second, and also includes minigames. Quirkiness abound, as Impact apparently has some story to him now. Your characters start split up in 4 different planets but reunite once each is completed to take on the latter section of the game. Like 3, the allies each have useful skills and attributes. Link G Goemon4 screen
Gunmanproof Ganpuru: Gunman's Proof Action-Adventure In 1880, on a western little island, the space police came after a space outlaw. With your help, they pursue him and his posse. As expected, there's some tech-advances, such as bazookas and alien mecha, but it remains quite Western. A comical, but still fun game styled like Zelda, but much more action-inspired. You can crawl and strafe for better gunning, and find an invincible donkey to ride. You also learn to Shoryuken up waterfalls and one boss is a Brazilian Ninja. Though Japanese, the ROM has a translation patch in full English. Link Gfs
Ghost Chaser Densei SFC cover Ghost Chaser Densei Beat 'Em Up Port of the arcade Denjin Makai. Great beat'em up with many enemies on screen, juggles, many special moves. Excellent. Link Ghost Chaser Densei
GokinjoBoukentai Gokinjo Boukentai
(Adventure Troop)
RPG A wacky and colorful RPG where you control a kindergarten kid who fights all sorts of goofy monsters. Unfortunately, all the attempted English patches for the game are in development hell. Gokinjo-12
487488-g-o-d-mezameyo-to-yobu-koe-ga-kikoe-snes-front-cover G.O.D.: Mezameyo to Yobu Koe ga Kikoe
(G.O.D.: Heed the Call to Awaken)
RPG Fun and innovative game based on the manga of same name. Funny dialogues, superb atmosphere of adventure and a skill tree(!). Great graphics for the SNES and awesome music. Often compared to Earthbound for good reasons. Link
3515screenshot4
GS Mikami Joreishi Wa Nice Body cover SFC GS Mikami: Joreishi Wa Nice Body
(Ghost Sweeper Mikami: Exorcist's Nice Body)
Action / Platformer Cool game based on the Ghost Sweeper Mikami manga/anime. The game is somewhat similar to Castlevania; you must travel through a bunch of stages, fighting many different ghosts and monsters. All stages are based on different episodes from the anime. The game has good graphics and great animation. GS MIKAMI SFC
Heiseionigashimaboxart Heisei Shin Onigashima
(Heisei Era: New Island of Ogres)
Text-Based Adventure Based off the Japanese folktales Momotarō and Taketori Monogatari, and originally released on FDS, this is one of the few findable versions of the game. This time, however, you don't play as Donbe and Hikari, but as the three animals that accompany them on their journey. This is essentially the BS-X rerelease gone full game. It had a cousin in Yūyūki, which was a parody of Journey to the West, and also part of the Famicom Fairytales series. The main characters are granted to an old, childless couple through prophecy, but their extraterrestrial origins causes Oni to appear which steal their parents' souls. The children set out on a journey to retrieve the souls of their parents and to find out what their origins are. Also available on FSD, BS-X, Nintendo Power and GBA. There is no translation available, and likely there never will be one due to the text layout (top-to-bottom). Heiseigameplay
Goh3 Heracles no Eikō III: Kamigami no Chinmoku
(Glory of Heracles III: Silence of the Gods)
RPG The first "modern" GoH game, now with enough differences from Dragon Quest to make it feel like its own series. Technical aspects of learning magic from Greek Temples and weapon mastery from instructors aside, the series' writing got a notable boost in quality and the music now has an operatic feel about it, creating a very cool experience. Link Gohscreen
Glory of Heracles 4 SNES cover Heracles no Eikō IV: Kamigami Kara no Okurimono
(Glory of Heracles IV: Gift from the Gods)
RPG The fifth game in the series can be found on DS in English. Link Glory of Heracles 4 SNES screenshot
HolyUmbrellaBoxArt Holy Umbrella: Dondera no Mubo!!
(Holy Umbrella: Dondera's Madness!!)
Platformer / Action-Adventure Really easy, and rather short. That said, it is pretty solid and kinda charming. You play as a kid who finds a holy umbrella and gets warped to a world terrorized by an army of powerful and comical morons. Taking elements from Zelda 2 and the Rolan's Curse series, you and your rag-tag party power up with unique and shared upgrades, and each ally has different skills to utilize in stages. If you've played The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang, the rather lighthearted and humorous soundtrack, world, and story may appeal to you, as it is by the same team. Link Holy Umbrella screen
Hourai High Hourai Gakuen no Bouken! Tenkousei Scramble
(The Adventure of Hourai High School: Transfer Student Drama Bomb)
RPG You're a transfer student to a high school that takes up an entire island. Also, there's wild animals, robots, cultists, and renegade teachers and students all over it. How to survive? Simple: Join some clubs, and gain new abilities and skills! The gameplay and club system itself is like FF5 and DQ6 and its jobs, but much less grindy; and, a bit of Persona as your bonds with many friends let you use new powers (though far less cult-ish). The story is episodic, but helluva amusing with oddball plots that seem straight out of Cromartie. You can even choose your gender for some slight story differences.

Fun Fact: This is actually based on a series of TRPGs in the vein of ol' D 'n D!

Link Hourai high
Iron Commando Kotetsu no Senshi SFC cover Iron Commando: Koutetsu no Senshi
(Iron Commando: Steel Warrior)
Beat 'em up This the manliest beat 'em up EVER! The soundtrack is great and the sprites are big, it feels more like an arcade game than a Super Nintendo one. The weapon selection is pretty cool; Baseball bats, Pistols, Shotguns, Machine guns, grenades, etc. Aside from normal stages it also has stages where you drive vehicles while shooting at trucks and running over enemies. The only problem with this game is that it's SUPER hard, even on easy the game is completely merciless.

Was ported to PC in 2016, with some mixed results. Link

Iron Commando Koutetsu no Senshi
Jaki Crush SFC Cover Jaki Crush Pinball The forgotten entry to the Naxat Crush Pinball series, it is as good as its predecessors (Alien Crush and Devil's Crush). This one features a Oni theme. JakiCrushScreenshot
Jutei Senki SFC cover Jutei Senki
(Forest Emperor Campaign)
Strategy Jutei Senki is a strategy game that no one has ever heard of. The game play is extremely simple in comparison to most other strategy games, as you're given a fairly solid 14 different battle-piece type warriors to use against your opponent in battle (the opponent uses different looking warriors with all of the same abilities.) There's no real leveling system for your units aside from warriors becoming an ACE after ten kills, upgrading its initial abilities to the limit. The game has a campaign, training mode, 40 challenge fights, and even multiplayer, delivering hours worth of gameplay. Only released in Japan, but a translation is available from Aeon Genesis. Link Jutei Senki (J)
Keeper SFC cover Keeper Puzzle A puzzle game. Pretty sure there's no translation patch. Was to be released in USA as Cyberslider, but was cancelled, making it jp-only. It might be a little confusing, so watch this video. KeeperP1
Kmt Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei RPG Remake of Megami Tensei 1 and 2 that were originally released for Famicom. Graphics and music were enhanced but gameplay is faithful to the originals. Few elements of MT1 were updated to make it play better but it still can be painfully brutal. This compilation covers origins of the series as Shin Megami Tensei was in fact successor to these games, especially Megami Tensei 2. Link Kmt screenshot
LiveALiveBoxArt Live A Live RPG This story is spread across time (Prehistoria to Far Future, and notable eras in between) and split between short, but very different, chapters. The stories pay homage to respective genres and make new, interesting twists on them; and, despite the battles being RPG-styled, you find yourself in different situations such as survival-horror, setting traps, sneaking, street fighting, and even piloting a mecha with its own theme song! The plot has incredibly solid writing and you never need to grind. If you like Chrono Trigger, consider spending some time with this. Be warned that this is heavy on the story! Link Livea
Magicalpopn Magical Pop'n Platformer An adorable little side-scrolling adventure where you play as the little girl. It seems to make several references to 16-bit titles through some of the power-ups you find: a grappling beam like Samus', an explosion attack that resembles Kirby's Crash ability, and a spinning move a la Sonic. Even the sword-swinging protagonist has an uncanny resemblance to Link. Link Popn
Majin Tensei cover Majin Tensei SRPG Spinoff of the Shin Megami Tensei series. Heavily inspired by Fire Emblem mechanics, it's basically mix of both series set in modern Japanese city. Even though field graphics are rather poor, battle scenes look amazing. Link Majin Tensei screen
Majin Tensei II cover Majin Tensei II: Spiral Nemesis SRPG More or less the same thing as the prequel but with improved gameplay. Developers also ditched top-down perspective in favor of 3/4 angled viewpoint. Compared to first game it's much more plot oriented, storyline revolves around parallel universes and time travel. Link Majin Tensei II screenshot
Majyuuou cover SFC Majuu Ou
(King of Demons)
Action This game is always described as "Castlevania with a gun", which is true at least during the first stages. You start out as a normal guy with a gun, and after defeating bosses you get jewels that transform you into different sorts of demons. The sprites are a bit small, but the monsters and everything looks pretty great. Link Majyuuou-6-1-
Marvellous mou hitotsu no takarajima sfc-large Marvelous: Mōhitotsu no Takarajima
(Marvelous: Another Treasure Island)
Action-Adventure A forgotten Nintendo classic that never made it overseas. Marvelous recalls the look of the Zelda series, and the locales of Earthbound, but is more of its own game than anything. You control 3 characters who adventure in a large wilderness. The physical and mental capabilities of the 3 are important, as you switch between them to utilize their skills in puzzles and exploration. There's also a number of point-and-click areas to explore. Link Marvelous sfc screenshot
MetalMaxReturnsBoxArt Metal Max Returns RPG Remake of the NES game. Very atypical and non-linear RPG set in a post-apocalyptic world where bounty hunters make a living off people terrorized by bio and mecha mutants (like flamethrower-wielding apes, mad professor plants, and literal mammoth-tanks). Guns and rocket lawnchairs only go so far, but thankfully you can obtain tanks to even the odds. Each tank has its own base stats, but ALL tanks can be customized and modified extensively. You can take down bounties and bosses and even find new allies in damn near any order. Has a spiritual successor released in US/English called Metal Saga on PS2. Link Metalmax
MickeysTokyoDisneylandDaiboukenJPBoxShotSNES Mickey no Tokyo Disneyland Daibōken
(Mickey's Great Adventure in Tokyo Disneyland)
Platformer Beautiful Super Nintendo platformer published by Tomy. This is another example of a game that American and European audiences totally would've played, but never left Japan (like Mickey To Donald). Some prefer this to the Capcom series, but you be the judge. Mickey no Tokyo Disneyland Daibouken (2)
Mickey Donald Magical 3 Mickey To Donald: Magical Adventure 3
(Disney's Magical Quest 3 Starring Mickey & Donald)
Platformer The third and final game in the Magical Quest series (see: The Magical Quest starring Mickey Mouse below). Pete's still up to no good, and this time, he's gotten his grubby pedo hands on Huey, Duey and Louie, so it's up to Mickey and Donald to save them. Includes the delicious co-op gameplay from the sequel, except even better. This time you play as Mickey and Donald, and they aren't just palette swaps, both have a different set of powers that help each other on different occasions.Only released on the Super Famicom in Japan until the Gameboy Advance version was released over here as Disney's Magical Quest 3 starring Mickey & Donald. Link Mickeydon
Ossu!! Karatebu cover Osu!! Karate Bu
(Go!! Karate Club)
Fighting Pretty good fighting game based on manga series of the same name. The Ki meter mechanics are deep and unique, they set this game apart from other Street Fighter II clones. The delinquent youth aesthetic of the game are really cool. Japanese reading skills aren't required to play. Currently there is no fan translation available. Ossu!! Karatebu screenshot
SNES Parodius Parodius (series) Shoot 'em Up (horizontal) A Konami shoot 'em up that is, as its title suggests, a parody of Gradius. Features wacky worlds, bosses, and power-ups. Also crosses over a few other Konami franchise. All three games are Japan exclusive, except for the first one which surprisingly saw a European release. The two others are Japan only, but requires no understanding of the language if you decide to get it. Please note: The third game uses the superFX chip for a crazy over the top announcer VA, so be sure to use an emulator, a Super Famicom, or a converter that supports the Super FX chip. Parodius screen
Return of Double Dragon SFC cover Return of Double Dragon
(Super Double Dragon)
Beat 'em up The Japanese version of "Super Double Dragon" has many more features and gameplay upgrades. The fourth iteration of the series. As always you are playing as Billy or Jimmy Lee trying to overcome Shadow Warriors gang. Now you can block enemies attacks and then counter attack which is cool. Also you can fill RAGE bar and then beat up your enemies like pussies. Anyway it's a great beat 'em up. You should play it and see what actually was going up in the Double Dragon series back then. Return of Double Dragon
Rendering Ranger SFC cover Rendering Ranger: R2 Run 'n Gun Awesome game by the same guy who made Turrican. The game is pretty much a mixture of Contra and Turrican. The most interesting thing about this game are the graphics. It has the best graphics on the snes, it doesn't feel like a snes game at all. It looks so awesome you could pass it for a Playstation title. R2 rev09-1-
Rockmanforetboxart Rockman & Forte
(Mega Man & Bass)
Platformer Released after Mega Man 8 aimed at younger users with less money, this interquel is known for its difficulty. Nonetheless, it's still loads of fun. Later re-released on GBA and localized as Mega Man & Bass, and maybe being demade like Rockman 7 and 8 FC. Link Rockmanfortetitle
Romancing SaGa SFC Cover Romancing SaGa RPG Spiritual Successor to the Final Fantasy Legend games on the Game Boy. The gameplay is most similar to 3's, but uses stat-boosting "level ups" from 1 and 2. Additionally, use a type of weapon long enough, and you get better with it, and learn new skills. Extremely atypical, especially when it comes to money, but mostly in its lack of a totally linear story. Each main character has different paths to take, and your party can be made from MANY different characters. Also has a remake on the PS2. Link Romancing SaGa SFC Screenshot
Romancing SaGa 2 SFC Cover Romancing SaGa 2 RPG Considered the best SaGa game by many, this one introduces the glimmering system, which would be used by all subsequent games, where you have a chance to learn a new technique during battle, as well as party formations and Life Points. This one is a generational game, where you control the current emperor/empress, and after you defeat one of the major villains or some time passes your character retires and his/her successor takes his/her place, inheriting all mastered skills.

No completed fan translation patch exists, but there is one that translates all the menus. However, there is a pretty kickass remake on IOS, Android, Vita, PS4, Switch, Xbox One and Steam that has an English translation.

Romancing SaGa 2 SFC Screenshot
Romancingsaga3 Romancing SaGa 3 RPG The last of the Super Famicom trilogy, while it doesn't really add anything new (other than a few complicated minigames) this one refines elements from the previous games, making this a good entry point for newbies. Had its own Spiritual Successor in the SaGa Frontier series on PS1. A fan translation is available, albeit no finished. Romsag3
Rudra boxfront Rudra no Hihou
(Treasure of the Rudras)
RPG An RPG released by Square late in the SNES era. You play as several different characters with their own stories. The human race is going to go extinct in 16 days, which will complete the 4,000 year cycle of a race. 4 other races before the humans died out. Instead of having standard magic spells, you get to write your own, with effects based on the letters you put together. Link Rudra 1-16
Rushing Beat Shura Rushing Beat Shura
(The Peace Keepers)
Beat 'em Up Last game of the Rushing Beat trilogy and also the best, this one has stages with multiple paths, refined gameplay and flashy screen-clearing moves. It allows for up to four players simultaneously for some co-op mayhem!

This game was localized as The Peace Keepers, but this version was horribly butchered (it removes all music, changed some graphics, especially for the screen-clearing moves, to be more boring, and the localization is atrocious).

RBSscreenshot
575514 16516 front Sanrio World Smash Ball Air Hockey / Arcade Don't let the Hello Kitty character fool you, this game will curbstomp the shit out of you. Featuring the silly world of Sanrio, it's geared mostly towards a younger audience. However don't let that stop you, you manchild. Gameplay consists mostly of a mix between air hockey and pong. You smash a disc back and forth until one scores. The arenas use blocks, spinners and other stuff to mix up the gameplay. Things will heat up pretty fast and the gameplay gets intense. Two player mode is why you will buy this game, and that's about it. There is little to no music and the graphics are very simple. This game has a high replay value in single player, though it will get tedious sooner or later. There are enough playing areas to keep you busy for a while, and trying to master each one of the areas to give you an advantage is more fun than it is work. As long as you can find someone to play with you, you’ll have a great time. Link Sanrio-world-smashball.3
Seiken Densetsu 3 Front Cover Seiken Densetsu 3
(Trials of Mana)
Action RPG The sequel to Secret of Mana not released outside of Japan until 2019 on the Switch. It features six playable characters, allowing the player to choose any of them as the main character, each with their own story and goals (and even some exclusive bosses), and choose two other party members. It also has a branching class system. Link Seikendensetsu3 screen
GWINGENDLESS Shin Kidō Senki Gundam Wing: Endless Duel Fighting Pretty rad fighter based on one of the many Gundam series. Good even if you know fuck all about Gundam. No moonrune skills required, but a fan translation is available. Link GW Endless Duel
SMT SFC Shin Megami Tensei RPG Japan and USA have a conflict that ends with the world being wrecked from nuclear war and currently in a war of demons and angels. You get a demon summoning program from Stephen Hawking to stop the madness and help angels, demons, or mankind to "win" the war and remake the world. A first person RPG inspired by Wizardry, except you have people and monsters from myth and legend as your allies instead of knights and wizards. If you liked this, then check out the sequel, which also has a complete fan translation, and is just as solid as the first game. Be sure to get the "Orden" patch to fix a bunch of bugs. Link Smt
Shin Megami Tensei 2 SNES cover Shin Megami Tensei II RPG Plays much like the previous game, with the story picking up from where it left with you controlling the chosen one who must now lead humanity after the apocalypse of the previous game and defeat God himself. Link Shin Megami Tensei 2 SNES screenshot
SMTif Shin Megami Tensei If... RPG A spin-off of the main SMT games which simplifies the combat systems and alignment choices, set in a alternate scenario where the apocalypse in the first SMT game never happened (hence the "If..." in the title). This game is pretty much the spiritual predecessor to the Persona series. Link Smtif-8
Shin Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-tachi no Banka Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka
(The New Hot-Blooded Tough Guy: The Eulogy of Kunio and Co.)
Beat Em' Up The second prequel to the famous River City Ransom, in this iteration you control Riki, Kunio, his Girlfriend (and Riki's girlfriend) respectively. You can swap between these four characters, and each have special moves (they don't start with the moves from the get-go). They are reminiscent of some of the specials from Double Dragon Sepcial on the NES. The plot is good, and there are fuckwin bike chase sequences. Check it out. Link 7z4.3
862142-frontbox large Shodai Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-Kun
(The Original Hot-Blooded Tough Guy Kunio)
Beat Em' Up The first prequel to River City Ransom, it differs greatly. This game incorporates heavy RPG elements; as in you must investigate, use trains, walk around, fight in random mob encounters, level up your chaarcters, amiong other things. The combat is less polished than in Kunio-tachi no Banka, but it's still fun. There's also chikans and female chikans who sometimes use grapples on people (or your character), and then they start dry humping that person (I'm not making this shit up). This is among other funny (yet strange) hijinks. This game is a definite must try, especially if you love River City Ransom. Link 1375613-21851
Shounen-ashibe Shōnen Ashibe: Goma-chan no Yuuenchi Daibōken
(Boy Ashibe: Goma-chan's Amusement Park Adventure)
Platformer You play as a cute, motherfucking seal. Now that I got your attention, yes you indeed play as a seal, jumping about the simple levels while collecting enough apples, pink bunnies and other cute stuff to open the level exit. There is a Super Mario Bros. 3 style overworld map where you can choose the map and a route you want to go. You pound trees to make objects fall down, but watch out for the damn cute bears, moles and other critters, because they want you dead! It's the ultimate chill-out game! Just requires a d-pad and two buttons. Shounen Ashibe - SNES SCREEN
Star-ocean-snes-cover-front-jp Star Ocean Action RPG After Wolf Team split up due to disagreements with Namco during over Tales of Phantasia, half of the studio went to form Tri-Ace. This has a similar feel to Tales of Phantasia, except with the basis of a Sci-Fi story (sorta). You play as this dude with a monkey tail who's trying to save his people from some disease that turns them to stone. Convoluted story and fun for all the wrong reasons, but very great battles for the time. Had a cool sequel on the PS1, an "MMO" for PS2, and a KAWAII UGUU sequel for next-gen systems. Remade on the PSP in English. Link Star ocean-1
Super Jinsei Game SFC Cover Super Jinsei Game
(Super Game of Life)
Life Simulation A life simulator games that allow you to pick your own career. The games were released between 1994 and 1996 and consisted of: Super Jinsei Game, Super Jinsei Game 2, and Super Jinsei Game 3. All three of these games were based on the original Jinsei Game which is a board game in Japan. The element of luck was used in Super Jinsei Game and Super Jinsei Game 2. In the third game (Super Jinsei Game 3), a shift from luck to skill was emphasized as the game wanted to realistically represent the player rolling the wheel. These games started out with the player being a toddler and ended in senior citizenship. Although never translated, the game saw many remakes. Super Jinsei Game ScrShot
Sutte Hakkun SFC Cover Sutte Hakkun Puzzle / Platformer

Sutte Hakkun was originally distributed via Satellaview / Nintendo Power in Japan, but it got a cartridge release late in the console's lifespan. The player absorbs blocks to move them around the level. Hakkun can insert different color inks into the blocks to move them in various directions. Its the player's goal to navigate across the levels to obtain rainbow shards. On the Satellaview, players competed with points. Certain actions like creating a quick save or moving the character subtract from your point total. Player's performance was tracked on a leaderboard and a few event versions were created with special puzzles.

Link Sutte Hakkun
Tactics ogre snes Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together RPG / Strategy Sequel to Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen. If you like tactics games, then you'd do well to check this one out. It's one of the more balanced games in the genre. Like Tales of Phantasia and Star Ocean, if you don't expect much from a humble SNES cart, then prepare for the amount of quality and content here to blow you away. There's a quite a large number of jobs, maps, squads of enemies, and multiple endings to keep you busy for a long while. The PS1 (roughly the same) and PSP (vastly improved) versions got US releases, but the Saturn version (which had some extras of its own) is also Japan-only.

Fun fact: like its predecessor, the title comes from a song by Queen.

Link Tactics
Tales of Phantasia SFC boxart Tales of Phantasia RPG The first game in the Tales series, you play as Cless Alvein, the son of two great heroes, everything goes to shit, and you need to beat up a godlike dude named Dhaos. Good action in an RPG. Only released in Japan, but a fan translation is available. Better version was released for the PlayStation with better battle sprites and a completed fan translation available. Has an officially released English GBA port akin to the PS1 version, but is unarguably the worst version (the UK localization is a little better). Tales of Phantasia Narikiri Dungeon X for the PSP will contain a minor update of the Full Voice Edition (also on PSP) called Tales of Phantasia X as well. Link Tales of phantasia
TengaiMakyoZero Tengai Makyou ZERO
(Far East of Eden ZERO)
RPG A spin-off / prequel to the Tengai Makyou series from the PC-Engine CD. Much like the other games in the series, it has a more comedic / light-hearted approach to the story, also featuring a similar battle system.

This is by far the largest cartridge on the Super Famicom, thanks to a special graphics chip and a battery which makes events play in real time. Thanks to all this dark sorcery it made this the hardest game in the system to translate, but after a very long time a fan-translation was finally completed!

Link Tmz9
Umihara Kawase Umihara Kawase Puzzle / Platformer A game that initially went under the radar, Umihara Kawase is a Japanese cult classic. A surprisingly innovative game with mind-fucking puzzles that revolve around you (the titular Umihara Kawase) using a rubbery fishing line to grapple to platforms and fling yourself to safety. Speed runs of this game are encouraged, but just trying to get to the end itself can be a real challenge on a new player. Noted for its moe main character, extremely trippy visuals/enemies which are all some sort of fish, stunning challenge, and the fact that it's rare (and expensive) as balls because it hardly sold in its home country. There was a remake/sequel that has been updated a billion times. Link Umihara Kawase screen 2 copy
Undercover Cops SFC cover Undercover Cops Beat 'em up It's a port of the arcade game, the sprites are a bit smaller, the backgrounds have less animations and it's only for one player now, but the game is still pretty solid. The character designs and stages are pretty cool and everything has a great post-apo vibe. Link 36216-Undercover Cops (Japan)-2-1-
Wizardry I-II-III Title Wizardry I-II-III: Story of Llylgamyn RPG A vastly improved remake of the original trilogy of the Wizardry series, the grandfather of hair-pulling RPGs, released very late in the console's life. Physical copies might be hard to find since it was only available for the Nintendo Power rewritable kiosk system. Stock ROM is 95% in english. Translation fixes the other 5%.

Also available for PC, Saturn, and PS1. Latter two have the same stock english translation.

Link Wizardry I-II-III Screenshot
Wizardry 6 SNES Cover Wizardry VI: Kindan no Mafude
(Wizardry: Bane of the Cosmic Forge)
RPG Another entry in the insane Wizardry series updated for masochist console players. Link Wizardry 6 Screenshot
Ys5Cover Ys V: Ushinawareta Suna no Miyako Kefin
(Ys V: Kefin, the Lost City of Sand)
Action-RPG Kind of a transitional title in the series, it features a more traditional combat style which would later be refined in the sixth title. It has the problem of looking like every other SNES RPG and being kind on the easy side, but it otherwise has a story as epic as the other titles in the series and a soundtrack which while weaker compared to other Ys titles is still fantastic.

A second release of this game exists, named Ys V Expert, which ramps up the difficulty.

Link Ys5sfc-20
Fourth Generation
Consoles Philips CD-i - Commodore CDTV - Pioneer LaserActive - Sega Mega Drive - SNK Neo Geo - Super Nintendo Entertainment System - Funtech Super A'Can - NEC TurboGrafx-16
Handhelds Bit Corporation Gamate - Nintendo Game Boy - Sega Game Gear - Hartung Game Master - Atari Lynx - Welback Mega Duck - Watara Supervision
Computers Commodore Amiga - Atari ST - BeOS - Fujitsu FM Towns - Sharp X68000