15. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996)
Super Mario RPG is a big game in the history of the Super Nintendo. It was developed by SquareSoft who licensed characters from Nintendo in what ultimately became a swan song, not only for Square’s incredible run on the console following classics like Final Fantasy 6, Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger, but also their parting gift before moving their direction over to Sony’s PlayStation.
Unfortunately it’s one we didn’t get in the PAL territory but it was very well received in the US and Japan. Coming so late in the SNES’ lifecycle it stands out graphically, with 3D rendered characters and use of the isometric view point. Of course, a game this big couldn’t just run on standard SNES technology and is one of few games using Nintendo’s SA-1 (Super Accelerator) chipset in the cartridge itself to power the game.
It’s Mario meets Final Fantasy in one of the greatest adventures the big M has experienced outside of the main Mario Bros series of games, and is much loved by fans of Mario and the RPG genre, going on to leave a strong legacy, inspiring loosely connected series like Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi. It may well be a first time play through for many PAL gamers and one you should seriously consider as a priority when receiving your SNES Classic Mini.