Support NeoGAF

[Paperclip Killa]

The SNES was filled with some of the best Jrpgs out there, 2D especially.

Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6 are usually the top two games that are mentioned the most.

This is usually followed by Mother, Final Fantasy IV, Super Mario RPG, and Secret of Mana.

But you also have great underrepresented games such as:

Breath of Fire 1 and 2
Secret of Evermore
Lufia
Illusion of Gaia
Soul Blazer
Tactics Ogre

That's just a small sample of the Jrpgs available.

With that said, what Jrpgs on the SNES do you think deserves to be crowned the best on the console? What are the main reasons why you placed it on a pedestal above the others?

 

[reinking]

IMO, Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen. It just clicked with me.

 

[Knightime_X]

For presentation, I would go with Crono Trigger.
Fun factor it's Final Fantasy 6, easily.

There simply isn't a top seat for 1 game.

 

[dave_d]

I'd go with Earthbound/Mother 2. Pretty much it gave me huge nostalgia for the way things were for me as a kid in the 80s. (When we could go off with our friends all day, just be home for dinner.) Also since it solved the problem of "random" encounters so perfectly I wonder why no game has copied it.

 

[Drell]

Does TRPGs count ? Because I want my GOATs, FIre Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War and Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 to be represented.

 

[TexMex]

Breath of Fire 2 was going to be my answer. Definitely put more time in it than the other obvious picks (which are also all great).

 

[Pegasus Actual]

I ain't picky, I'll go with any SNES Final Fantasy (well not that Mystic Quest bullshit or whatever it was). God no on Chrono Trigger, the graphics were better-ish and that's about it.

I didn't put much time into the others and some of them I played well after the fact. Earthbound and Super Mario RPG I didn't play till the 2010s. Did finish Mario, which was fine for what it was. Didn't get that far in Earthbound, wasn't really feeling it.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

 

[Rentahamster]

Chrono Trigger

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Chrono Trigger.
It’s still one of the finest JRPGs ever made thanks to its almost perfect pacing. The fact that the game has virtually zero bloat can’t be applauded enough. There’s no extra boss that can only be beaten through extreme grinding, or accurately planning a strategy that will see you using the same exact moves again and again and again during the course of a 30+ minute battle.

The there’s the fantastic cast, the excellent storytelling (the SNES translation was very solid too), the art, the music… Chrono Trigger‘s quality and balance are still largely unmatched in the genre, 27 years later. FF6 doesn’t hold a candle to it.

 

[gokurho]

FF6 obiously

 

[MasterDerico]

Illusion Of Gaia imo.
Chrono Trigger was od too, of course.

 

[SeraphJan]

Tactics Ogre is way ahead of its time especially in terms of how narrative was presented in video game at the time, its consider the best SRPG for Super Famicon in Japan

 

[cireza]

My pick is Shiren the Wanderer. This is a roguelike, by the way.

 

[Ozzie666]

Where is the love for Spike Mcfang ?

FF6 or Chrono

 

[Punished Miku]

Chrono Trigger.
It’s still one of the finest JRPGs ever made thanks to its almost perfect pacing. The fact that the game has virtually zero bloat can’t be applauded enough. There’s no extra boss that can only be beaten through extreme grinding, or accurately planning a strategy that will see you using the same exact moves again and again and again during the course of a 30+ minute battle.

The there’s the fantastic cast, the excellent storytelling (the SNES translation was very solid too), the art, the music… Chrono Trigger‘s quality and balance are still largely unmatched in the genre, 27 years later. FF6 doesn’t hold a candle to it.

Cosigned. It's up there for a reason.

FFVI has some killer moments though. I think it definitely holds a candle to it. That candle is still held approximately 6 inches lower though, but it's up there!

 

[cash_longfellow]

Chrono
FF6 and 4
Illusion of Gaia
Breath of Fire 1 and 2
Lufia 1 and 2
Also Secret of Mana

No particular order, these all have an equally special place in my heart…but if I had to pick one I’d say FF4, but super close with Chrono.

Oh shit, and I forgot about Ys

 

[DelireMan7]

Chrono Trigger.
It’s still one of the finest JRPGs ever made thanks to its almost perfect pacing. The fact that the game has virtually zero bloat can’t be applauded enough. There’s no extra boss that can only be beaten through extreme grinding, or accurately planning a strategy that will see you using the same exact moves again and again and again during the course of a 30+ minute battle.

The there’s the fantastic cast, the excellent storytelling (the SNES translation was very solid too), the art, the music… Chrono Trigger‘s quality and balance are still largely unmatched in the genre, 27 years later. FF6 doesn’t hold a candle to it.

What this guy said.

 

[Gp1]

Without Chrono, which probably is the best JRPG of all time, I would go with Tactics Ogre.

Way ahead of its time and one of the first "adult" console games.

 

[Captain Toad]

Final Fantasy VI over Chrono Trigger for me. But there are so many great ones.

Even more when you add stuff we never actually got on Super NES in the west, but got later on other platforms like Final Fantasy V and Dragon Quest V and VI.

 

[poodaddy]

No discussion needed, it's Chrono Trigger.

 

[AV]

I'd rank the only ones I've played as:

1. Chrono Trigger
2. Final Fantasy VI
2. Earthbound
3. Super Mario RPG

Played all these as an adult, no nostalgia attachment at all.

 

[Kokoloko85]

I wont count Tactics ogre because its a TRPG and I just love them over everything.

Id say Earthbound. It really is a special game.
FF6 and Chrono in joint 2nd place

Theres also Secret of Evermore, live a Live.

Snes and PS1 are just the goats at JRPG’s. Sega Saturn also is amazing for JRPG’s

 

[Punished Miku]

Now that I actually played Live A Live, it's probably 3rd place honestly. Playing that at the time would have been nuts I'm sure.

 

[AngelMuffin]

FF IV for me.

 

[saintjules]

The first 3 true JRPGs I played were (played in order)

Super Mario RPG
FFVI (III in the US)
Chrono Trigger

I wish more JRPG games did more timed hits like how SMRPG and Legend of Dragoon did. Those were fun mechanics.

 

[Duchess]

Chained Echoes.

No, wait ...

 

[Sethbacca]

FF6 >>>>> Everything else

 

[AJUMP23]

Link to the Past in an RPG right? Because that wins.

I would say FFVI, Secret of Mana, and Chrono Trigger.

 

[Myths]

CT then FFV. Then FFVI.

 

[Ulysses 31]

FF III easily, then Super Mario RPG(never plat Chrono Trigger).

 

[Imru’ al-Qays]

Chrono Trigger hasn't aged a day - it feels like a modern game, there's none of that old school jank.

 

[Fbh]

Generic answer but Chrono Trigger for me. It's such an awesome game.
It has a great cast of characters, a fun world with an interesting concept even by current standards (exploring a fantasy world during various unique and very different time periods), the combat system is really fun with a focus on team-up attacks that gives your party a true sense synergy, it has timeless visuals with a great art direction, the perfect and still unmatched pacing for a JRPG and amazing music.

It's also amazing how modern it feels in many ways, it is nearly 30 years old and you can play it right now on original hardware and it almost feels like a game from a different time than the rest of the SNES catalogue :
- No random encounters
- No battle transitions, all fights take place in the actual world
- New Game +
- Multiple endings

Like there's old JRPG's I love like FFIX but that game came out 5 years later on more powerful hardware and it's honestly a torture to go back and play it without some 3X Speed option that you get in modern ports (or emulators).

 

[gaming_again]

Secret of Evermore is way underrated but Chrono Trigger is the undisputed don.

 

[Jack Package]

Illusion of Time (Gaia) and Terranigma are my favourites by far.
Being in the UK, we were starved for JRPGs and the like, so those two kind of blew my mind in terms of their scope.

They were magical, and why SNES-era is my favourite.

 

[Holammer]

Earthbound, Final Fantasy 6 & Breath of Fire 1-2 if I narrow it down to the best.
This may sound like hate speech, but I never got into Chrono Trigger. I had a Super Wildcard so my cup runneth over and I played other games.

 

[Graciaus]

Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6 are easily the best two.

Ignoring those easy two I would say Lufia 2 is my favorite. The capsule monsters, puzzle dungeons and the 100 floor rouge dungeon were great.

 

[Trunx81]

In the end it´s personal preference. I grew up with the games available in Europe, therefore played FF6 and CT very late via emulation.

Without any ranking, my faves:

Secret of Mana
Played it with a friend of mine and it´s till this day because of the multiplayer my favourite SNES memory. Still got the cartrige with our savegame, trained like crazy in the mana fortress to get everything to level 99.
The gameplay doesn´t hold up that much nowadays, especially the fighting system and lots and lots of bugs. But music, art and HEART of this game really was a fantasy book coming true for me as a young boy.

Young Merlin
Mostly unknown and more an adventure. My dad brought it home from a sale when a video rental shop closed down. It may not look great, but I liked it a lot and as a beginner "RPG", it was ok.

Final Fantasy 6
Talking about "a book coming to life": FF6 really hit the park with its narrative, different story arcs and compelling characters. Especially with one of the best enemies in video game history. Not one later FF title hit this kind of depth again.

Chrono Trigger
Story, graphic and music a masterpiece. Sometimes you seem to notice that it was intended for another medium (CD) and they had to cut some arms to get it done on cartridge.

 

[NeptuneCL]

Super Mario RPG

 

[Fuz]

There's actually no discussion here, it's Chrono Trigger.

 

[Shifty1897]

I would respect a lot of different answers here, the SNES was a JRPG powerhouse and I played as many as I could find. For me, though, it's got to be Chrono Trigger.

 

[Celine]

My personal top 6:

1) Terranigma
2) Chrono Trigger
3) Earthbound
4) Dragon Quest V
5) Final Fantasy VI
6) Super Mario RPG

There are other good RPG on SNES like Illusion of Gaia, Secret of Mana, Tales of Phantasia but those six are the best ones in my opinion (I didn't take in consideration strategy RPG like Fire Emblem and Tactics Ogre).

Only tangentally related but Squaresoft's games graphical evolution during the SNES era (in between late NES game and early PS1 game) was impressive:

 

[JC 1080P CRT]

I'd rank the only ones I've played as:

1. Chrono Trigger
2. Final Fantasy VI
2. Earthbound
3. Super Mario RPG

Played all these as an adult, no nostalgia attachment at all.

My list is similar to yours, just changing the order around for me:
1. Chrono Trigger
2. Final Fantasy VI
3. Super Mario RPG
4. Earthbound
5. Secret of Mana

Played through 1-4 as an adult, and currently working on 5. I played 1-3 as a kid and made it fairly far, but only beat 3 as a kid.

No nostalgia about it, I think these games all hold up.

 

[Handel]

FFVI stands head and shoulders above the rest. It's cast of characters is arguably the best in gaming, great plot twist with the villain "winning", epic final boss with GOAT boss theme Dancing Mad, and a fun battle system where each character has their own unique ability, like say...a suplex :

 

[DGrayson]

There are still a lot I havent played, Terranigma, Earthbound, the SNES Dragon Quests.

Out of the ones I have played I would probably say

1. FFVI
2. Chrono Trigger
3. Secret of Mana
4. FFV
5. Mario RPG

 

[E-Cat]

No love for Tales of Phantasia?

 

[PanzerCute]

FF6 obiously

That game will never cease to amaze me. So ahead of its time.

 

[lostinblue]

Final Fantasy 6 (best Final Fantasy game to this day), Chrono Trigger, Dragon Quest V, Dragon Quest VI and Tales of Phantasia.

I also really like Super Mario RPG. But I feel it's not an all time great, it's just charming.

All are all time greats on their own merits.

No love for Tales of Phantasia?

Plenty, the SNES version is still the best version. Best art, best charm. And the game had like 3 "enhanced ports afterwards with chibi characters, and basically blander decisions.

EDIT: Earthbound is great too.

 

[Pallas]

I’m going to throw in a lesser known, Japan exclusive SNES title that was published by Squaresoft.

Rudra no Hihou(Treasure of the Rudra)

 

[Scotty W]

Chrono Trigger.
It’s still one of the finest JRPGs ever made thanks to its almost perfect pacing. The fact that the game has virtually zero bloat can’t be applauded enough. There’s no extra boss that can only be beaten through extreme grinding

Agreed.

If you play the DS version, they ruined this. It features confusing and grindy missions and a super cheap boss. Thankfully it can be left alone, but including this content in game was an astonishing lapse of judgement.

Also, Super Mario RPG