I've admitted — multiple times, in fact — to not being a fan of RPGs (role-playing games) for the longest time. Sure, every once in a while, a title came along that I loved despite its RPG elements, but by and large, I wasn't all that sold on the genre, knowing full well that it was a personal issue. Now, however, things couldn't be more different. Playing Elden Ring, and subsequently, the entire Soulsborne collection, I've grown a deep love for the genre.

Similarly, back in the early 2000s, I loved playing on the Famiclone and the knock-off SNES I bought with some hard-earned pocket money, but the games I mainly played were racers, beat-em-ups, sports games. Story-based, longer experiences, especially on the SNES, were something I avoided, and there's a strong reason why. The consoles I consumed these 16-bit games on were always shipped with 100, 200, or 400 games in one cartridge, which meant that my eight or ten-year-old self always had 399 other games to play, which proved to be more instantly gratifying for me as well as any friends I had over.

Of course, there were exceptions to the rule — long RPGs that required tens of hours of my time, but I ended up giving them that anyway, because they just wouldn't stop being insanely exciting and addictive. Games that made me play them — and keep playing them — despite the allure of something like Top Gear 2 or Super Punch Out!!

4 Super Mario RPG was a revelation to me

"Wait... the world could end? And Bowser is a friend?"

Before I played Super Mario RPG for the first time in the late 2000s, I had played plenty of Mario games prior. And yet, Super Mario RPG caught me completely off guard. I was still in my "beat 'em ups and racers only" phase, sure, but this game made me pause, because I'd come looking for a regular Mario side-scrolling game, and instead, I got talking Mario characters, building alliances, fighting turn-based battles, and diving into a plot that went much deeper than saving a princess I only saw at the very end of a game. Bowser not being the final villain was so surprising to me, and even more so when it turned out to be some guy named Smithy.

Super Mario RPG, to me, felt alive. The dialogue was engaging, the world looked like a claymation dream, and every single character felt like they had a purpose. The turn-based combat, despite getting exhausting and boring at times, still worked in places. As a kid who was yet to go on AAA adventures that would consistently take tens of hours to finish, Super Mario RPG acted almost like a gateway drug. It taught me to care about stats and equipment, and proved to me that Mario could do way more than jump on goombas and turtles.

3 Terranigma is a tale that's resonant even today

I don't think I'd ever have been able to play Terranigma on my knock-off console had it not shipped in the bootlegged 400-in-one cartridge I'd purchased. Now, having grown up, I realize that it will always be an underrated SNES gem, no matter how much praise anyone throws at it. At first, it just looked like another Zelda-style top-down action game, and I even stopped playing it after the first few minutes. However, a quick revisit made me realize how different it was, and how it was a game where you become literally responsible for resurrecting the world. I wasn't saving a princess, or a village, or even a kingdom anymore — I was rebuilding entire continents, reviving animals, and bringing back civilizations from the brink of extinction in this tiny 16-bit game I randomly decided to give a second chance.

Something about Terranigma that really stood out to me at a time when I was enjoying a summer break from eighth grade, however, was its vibe. The game had this melancholic, almost haunting tone to it, and yet, it felt endlessly beautiful. Every town you helped grow felt like a small personal win, and started feeling warm and like home. Combat, thankfully, was not turn-based. It was fast and fluid, and that made things so much better for me, because it sort of bridged my comfort zone of beat-em-ups with full-blown RPG mechanics. I didn't know it then, but Terranigma, in hindsight, was teaching me to love complexity. It taught me that games aren't always about getting stronger, but rather, doing something meaningful. That's why Terranigma has been at the top of my mind ever since playing Death Stranding 2 — almost two decades apart, both games made me feel better about connecting people.

2 Earthbound is one of the most endearing RPGs ever made

Three kids on a road trip to save the world

One of my favorite personal gaming stories is how I ended up playing Earthbound, and it basically happened because I took a loo break and my friend decided to click on the weirdest-sounding game he could find. Once he got going, he was the one who lost interest rather quickly, while I couldn't wait to start the game afresh once he left. This was a game where you were a kid in a modern-day suburban town, using baseball bats and yo-yos to fight enemies who weren't monsters, but rather stray dogs, hippies, and aliens. To save the game, you'd have to locate a phone and call your dad — how do you not love that?

Earthbound was a rare, funny game. It never took itself too seriously, and yet, possessed an emotional undercurrent that I may not have fully appreciated, but could definitely sense. A bunch of kids on a road trip, trying to stop an all-powerful alien from taking over and ruining the world — this was Earthbound's premise, and it was impossible not to get hooked on to. The final battle still remains with me to this day, because it was such a sucker punch to the heart of an eighth grader.

RPGs didn't always have to be swords and sorceries — that's what Earthbound taught me. They could be offbeat, modern, and above all, funny. And they could still hit you in the feels when done right.

1 Chrono Trigger deserves its place on the throne

One of the greatest RPGs ever, Chrono Trigger has aged perfectly, 30 years later

This. This was the one. The game that not only made me respect RPGs through and through. A senior from school — who, incidentally, had been present at the time I bought the SNES — told me to play Chrono Trigger, no matter what happened. The reverence with which he talked about it naturally made me try the game, and while I fully expected to be underwhelmed, I wasn't. Not even close.

To this day, Chrono Trigger remains one of the most finely-crafted games I've ever played, and needless to say, it has aged immensely well. The time travel mechanic, the pacing, and the seamless transitions between exploration and battle — all of it made me love the game. Still, it was the storytelling that set this game heads and shoulders above everybody. Everything you did mattered. Every character had an arc, and every choice felt meaningful. Akira Toriyama's art was unmistakable, and my love for all things Dragon Ball endeared Chrono Trigger even more to me. To explain it in the best way possible, Chrono Trigger felt like reading a novel, playing an anime, and being part of an adventure movie, all at once.

I remember Chrono Trigger as one of the first games that really instilled in me the patience for dialogue boxes and inventory screens. It showed me how powerful the RPG format could be, and even though it took me a month to complete, I didn't think of a single second as wasted.

Other 16-bit RPGs never clicked with me the way these did

There were others, of course. Prime among them all were Final Fantasy IV, V, and VI, all of which I gave a shot. What can I say? They never resonated with me, and I couldn't bring myself to care about the characters or the world. Heck, I even jumped straight into the next one even if I didn't like the first one, hoping something would change or click, but to no avail.

Now that I've rediscovered my love for all the SNES games I grew up playing, and more importantly, the ones I missed, I do plan on playing other popular titles that everybody recommends. At the top of the list, which I can't wait to try out during an 8-hour flight, are Secret of Mana and Tales of Phantasia, which I fully hope to enjoy thanks to RetroArch on my phone.