A uniquely lighthearted and quirky take on the RPG genre, Earthbound delivers an experience full of charm and humour in a genre usually associated with a leaning towards the morose, which helps to make it stand out somewhat in the crowd.

Without doubt the best beat-em-up on the SNES. Konami took their years of experience with the series and honed what they'd learnt to create a highly polished, fast and fun game, the move set and general controls were excellent and responsive, and the whole thing was held together with a narrative which allowed for loads of variation in the levels and enemies.

The third game in Quintet's unofficial series of action RPG's that started with Soul Blazer and continued with Illusion of Gaia, Terranigma heralded a return to the roots of the series, playing somewhere between its two forebears. I would say that in my opinion this is the best of the three games, its just a shame it was only released in Japan and Europe in small numbers as the game is now seriously overpriced on Ebay.

For me this is the greatest action game on the snes bar none and serves as a real unappreciated gem, Super Turrican 2 contains all the action of its predecessors now "taken up to 11", it has set piece after set piece, amazing graphics and loads or interesting ideas and elements.

A nice amalgamation of different game play styles, Mystical Ninja manages to admirably merge platforming and RPG elements with scrolling beat-em-ups and mini games into a cohesive whole. It contains loads of charm and humour, a great 2 player co-op and game play that contains loads of variety and masses to do.

Square did an unprecedented job here with fleshing out the world and characters of the Mario series, i'd imagine that many (myself included) probably thought that Mario's world would make for a pretty limited RPG storyline but this really isn't the case as the game is full of a lot of charm, and even though Mario himself does little talking his actions and manner are very expressive. The game play as a whole is the usual RPG set-up (though a bit simplified), but this time with an isometric viewpoint with minor platforming elements. The simpler RPG elements make the game suitable to those new to the genre.

A phenomenal game when it first came out, F-Zero was one of the only console racing games of the time which gave you a real feeling of fast racing in 3D. The courses and music were both excellent and as a 16-bit racer the game was only really bettered by Super Mario Kart.

Mario and friends came back for their second main branch SNES game with this cool change of pace. Yoshi's Island's biggest feature is its highly original and distinct graphics style which looks fantastic. Game play wise it incorporates an interesting low penalty energy system (similar to the one used in the Sonic the Hedgehog series) whereby you're safe so long as you're carrying Mario but after taking a hit you lose him and are sent into a mad rush to recollect him, this system helps to lessen the frustration factor, and along with the more linear level designs compared to its predecessor make the game much easier (whether for better or worse depends on personal preference)

On release this game really set the bar for all RPG's that followed, with a big scope, excellent storyline and some truly timeless music, FFIV blew away the competition. This was where the Final Fantasy series really started on its road to uber stardom.

Personally in the original Mega Man X I felt a little weak and underpowered starting out, not so with this sequel which also saw massive improvements in graphics and far more polished and interesting exploratory elements, now forcing you to really check every nook and cranny of every level to get hold of those precious upgrades.

With the new consoles rapidly approaching Nintendo needed something to try to show that the SNES could still compete, and along with Donkey Kong Country this was exactly what they needed. Technical achievements aside though, the all important game play was still there in spades too, with the game giving off the feeling of controlling a spaceship in battles reminiscent of those from Star Wars.

After the impressive original Rare came back with an even better Donkey Kong game, including better designed levels with much more rewarding game play, a more interesting theme and longevity which far exceeded that of the first game.

An action RPG with really beautiful atmosphere, a great storyline and excellent music, Secret of Mana not only excelled in most areas but also included the totally unprecedented feature of an awesome three player co-operative option. The game includes loads of charm, be it the quirky transportation (being fired out of a cannon) to riding on the back of a dragon. Well worth hunting down with a multi-tap.

Epic storytelling at its best, Final Fantasy's story was engrossing, twisting and memorable. It doesn't end there though as the game play was fully honed, with more features than ever and an elegant battle system, there were masses of characters all with their own nuances and personalities, and really memorable set pieces. The game was just extremely ambitious in scope.

Nintendo really had a challenge on their hands to try to better the superlative Super Mario Bros 3, what they came back with was the same classic game play but now with the fantastic addition of Yoshi, a nice minimalistic graphics style, and most importantly masses of different exits which made the game play much deeper than its predecessor (though to my mind, Super Mario Bros 3 still has the edge in charm)

The game which single handedly rescued and re-popularised the one on one fighting genre, with deep and most importantly fun game play as well as a cast of interesting characters, Street Fighter II took the gaming world by storm, and who would've thought that the arcade game could be converted to the SNES quite this well?

After much thought, I've decided to place Chrono Trigger above Final Fantasy VI as the best RPG on the SNES, mainly due to the fact that I like the way that Chrono Trigger eschews the usual melodrama of many RPGs for a more lighthearted, and exciting swashbuckling style. The usual RPG game play is also well represented along with awesome music and the game also brought a bunch of new interesting elements of its own to the RPG genre.

An amazing design that built on the original in so many ways, very much like Super Metroid this game also excelled in all aspects, game play, graphics and sound. The adventure was pretty long but managed to be a lot of fun from start to finish and finding all the secrets added a level of longevity to the game. Still easily the greatest Zelda game ever made and pure 16-bit perfection in every way.