Summary
- SNES RPGs like The Adventures of Hourai High offer gameplay that holds up to this day.
- SNES RPGs, like Albert Odyssey, were not widely released but still deserve recognition.
- SD Gundam Gaiden: Knight Gundam Monogatari is a unique RPG on SNES with a silly twist.
The NES was Nintendo’s greatest achievement, which helped revive the console market. This then led to the Game Boy, their first portable, and their console successor, the SNES. For many, SNES titles remain some of the best games that hold up to this day, thanks to their improved gameplay loops, enhanced graphics, and, in some cases, more compelling stories.
Best SNES RPGs With Open-World Elements
Though limited in terms of the open-world aspect, these incredible SNES RPGs still showcase some of the best elements the genre has to offer.
RPGs are great examples that are as easy to go back to today as they were in the 90s. Even though the SNES was popular globally, that didn’t mean every game was released on a wide scale or even released at all. These RPGs still rip, but they are a bit more obscure than most.
8 The Adventures of Hourai High
Move Over Persona
- Developer: J-Wing
- Publisher: J-Wing
- Released: April 19, 1996
- Platform: SNES
The Adventures of Hourai High is a Japanese SNES RPG that takes place on an island with an exclusive academy on it that players will parachute onto at the start. Everyone has their allegiances and players, as a newbie, will go through each club to take them down a peg or two and make their way to the top.
Fighting club members are one thing, but there are also mutated animals to deal with on this mysterious island. Persona fans who like school-based RPGs should look this one up, as fans have translated it into English.
7 Albert Odyssey
Two Missing Games
Albert Odyssey: Legend of Eldean
- Released
- August 9, 1996
- Platform(s)
- Sega Saturn
Sega Saturn RPG fans probably played Albert Odyssey: Legend of Eldean, or at least heard about it in the 90s, which is a decent turn-based RPG. What they may not know is that there were two SNES games that preceded it.
The first Albert Odyssey is quite different, too, as there are strategic elements involving invading kingdoms on the world map. There is a fan patch for it, but not the sequel so far. Either way, tactical RPG fans who like weird systems should check out the first Albert Odyssey.
6 Arcana
Heart Of The Dungeon Crawler
Arcana
- Released
- March 27, 1992
- ESRB
- t
- Developer(s)
- HAL Laboratory
- Genre(s)
- RPG
Arcana is a relatively obscure RPG for the SNES that was surprisingly released on the console in North America despite its Japan-heavy vibe. Players control a Card Master named Rooks, who can summon other party members on his travels. Players will traverse through dungeons in first-person with their party of four, fighting animated cards along the way.
8 Best SNES RPGs That Never Came To America
While there were many incredible RPGS on the SNES that got released in numerous countries, these games never made it out of Japan.
Like Fire Emblem, players have to be careful about progressing their party members as Arcana is a linear experience going from dungeon to dungeon, which makes it more challenging, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
5 Brain Lord
An Enix Enigma
Brain Lord
- Released
- January 27, 1994
- Platform(s)
- SNES
Brain Lord is not a descriptive title for the game, and the box art for North America doesn’t help either. It can best be described as a top-down action RPG with an emphasis on puzzles, which may be where the inspiration for the title came from.
Despite the big blocky frame of the hero, players will move quite fast through dungeons, and the weapon range is decent for a SNES game. There are no humanoid party members, but players can summon faeries and use other magic while in combat. It’s not Enix’s best RPG on the SNES, but it does occupy that hidden gem territory.
4 Brandish
Another Series Of Missing Sequels
- Developer: Nihon Falcom
- Publisher: Koei
- Released: August 11, 1995 (Japan, SNES Version)
- Platforms: SNES, PC
Brandish is another series that has some mysterious sequels lying in wait in Japan. Brandish wasn’t a huge RPG on the SNES in North America, but some may have played it. There was a sequel released in Japan on both Japanese computers and the SNES called Brandish 2: The Planet Buster, and yes, there is a fan patch.
It was a top-down action RPG that played more like a classic roguelike of the 90s. It was a fairly big RPG series for Japanese players, at least as there were two more sequels on PC. The first game even got remade for the PSP, which was released outside of Japan, but Westerners probably didn’t know that existed either.
3 Emerald Dragon
Release The Dragon
- Developer: Alfa System (SNES Version)
- Publisher: MediaWorks (SNES Version)
- Released: July 28, 1995 (SNES Version)
- Platforms: PC, SNES, TurboGrafx-16
Before players were tearing it up as the Dovahkiin in The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, they were a Dragonborn in Emerald Dragon. Releasing only in Japan, players assumed the Dragonborn Atorushan, who transformed into a man to aid a young girl’s request in the human world.
8 Most Influential SNES Games, Ranked
The 90s were a high point in video games thanks to these SNES classics, that influenced gaming for years to come.
While Atorushan gains party members, only he can be controlled in battle, which operates like small-scale tactical encounters. The AI-based system is not ideal, but party members are smart enough for an SNES game. From the colorful sprites to the expressive anime-inspired character portraits, this RPG is waiting to be discovered, and there is a fan patch.
2 Inindo: Way Of The Ninja
Before Assassin’s Creed: Shadows There Was…
Inindo: Way of the Ninja
- Released
- July 19, 1991
Assassin’s Creed: Shadows gave fans a ninja and samurai RPG rolled into one that they have been wanting for a while. It was far from the first samurai or ninja RPG, though, as there was a decent one on the SNES called Inindo: Way of the Ninja.
Players were a lowly ninja at the start who tried to make alliances to take down the evil Lord Nobunaga, a tale that Assassin’s Creed: Shadows will find familiar. It doesn’t have the flashiest combat on the SNES, but it is unique in its setting, and it did release on the SNES in North America along with other platforms.
1 SD Gundam Gaiden: Knight Gundam Monogatari - Ooinaru Isan
Mechs Going Medieval
- Developer: Tose
- Publisher: Angel
- Released: December 21, 1991 (Japan)
- Platform: SNES
The SNES is absolutely flooded with Gundam games or other anime games that fans have probably never heard of, including RPGs. One of the strangest is SD Gundam Gaiden: Knight Gundam Monogatari - Ooinaru Isan, which makes the most sense from an RPG point of view but less sense as a Gundam game.
It’s framed like a Dragon Quest adventure, except that familiar-looking mechs will be clad in armor or have horns like they are monsters. It’s very silly, and unfortunately, there is no fan patch yet.
8 Best RPGs Where You Can Absorb Abilities
From the glory days of the PS1 to modern consoles, there’s an RPG for every player who loves to steal their enemy's powers.