SNES What are the best and essential Super Famicom games released exclusively in Japan?

[Jeff]

Ganbare Goemon 2, 3, 4 & 5
Super Bomberman 3, 4 & 5
Marvelous: Mouhitosu no Takarajitsu
Jikkyou Oshaberi Parodius
Ghost Sweeper Mikami Joreishi wa Nice Body
Godzilla: Kaijuu Daikessen
Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon games
Sutte Hakkun
Mario & Wario
Mario no Super Picross
Kirby Super Star Stacker
Magical Pop'n
Tokimeki Memorial
Tales of Phantasia
BS Zelda no Densetsu
BS F-Zero Grand Prix 2
Wonder Project J- Kikai No Shounen Pino
Wrecking Crew 98

 

[Kestrel]

I want to say... Genealogy of the Holy War? Was that the one big Fire Emblem that was never (officially) translated into English?

Beyond that, I'm personally very fond of that one Gundam F91 shmup.

 

[miguk miguk]

I'll just recommend those that are translated, fanslated, or are otherwise playable for EN speakers. Tackle the Starters first, then go on to Intermediate next, and do Advanced if anything in it catches your fancy.

Essential Starters:

• Clock Tower
• Dragon Quest (I+II, III, V, & VI)
• Fire Emblem (3 games)
• Ganbare Goemon (4 games, though Mystical Ninja was released in US)
• Live-A-Live
• Rendering Ranger R2
• Rockman & Forte
• Romancing SaGa (3 games)
• Shin Megami Tensei (I, II, if...)
• Star Ocean
• Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together
• Tales of Phantasia
• Tengai Makyou Zero
• Terranigma (had an EU release, but get the Pixel Freemaster for NTSC)
• Trails of Mana (Seiken Densetsu 3)
• Treasure of the Rudras (Rudora no Hihou)
• Umihara Kawase

Intermediate:

• Albert Odyssey
• Arabian Nights
• Bahamut Lagoon
• Brandish 2
• BS Zelda no Densetsu (all 4 quests)
• Chatting Parodius Live!
• Do-Re-Mi Fantasy: Milon's Quest
• Front Mission
• Glory of Heracles (3 & 4)
• Kaizou Choujin Shubibinman Zero
• Last Bible III
• Magical Pop'n
• Majuu Ou
• Mario's Super Picross
• Metal Max Returns
• Neugier
• Panel de Pon
• Psycho Dream
• Super Aleste
• Super Famicom Wars
• Sutte Hakkun
• Torneko no Daibouken: Fushigi no Dungeon
• Ys (IV & V)

Advanced:

• Dark Half
• Der Langrisser
• Dragon Squadron: Danzarb
• Famicom Tantei Club Part II
• Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
• Legend of Zelda: Ancient Stone Tablets
• Majin Tensei (1 & 2)
• Megami Tensei: The Old Testament
• Metal Slader Glory (NES/Famicom version is EN-translated)
• Radical Dreamers
• Tenshi no Uta Shiroki Tsubasa no Inori
• Wizardry (IV, V, & VI)
• Wonder Project J - Kikai no Shounen Pino

Bonus (play the retranslations for a more accurate JP experience):

• ActRaiser
• Breath of Fire II
• Demon's Crest
• E.V.O. - Search for Eden
• Illusion of Gaia
• Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Redux hack)
• Soul Blazer
• Super Castlevania IV (uncensored)
• Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

 

[Zemus]

Dark Kingdom and Wondrous Magic are the only ones I can think of that haven't been translated.

 

[Sayo]

Bit of a broad question isn't it? It's hard to know what kinds of games are essential because everyone like something different.
I personally recommend everyone to try Gokinjo Boukentai at least once and Ihatovo Monogatari.

 

[Jeanfranc]

Wizardry (IV, V, & VI)

Don't forget Wizardry: Story of Lylgamyn.
Kentaro Haneda's music and Jun Suemi illustrations and monster design make these the best versions of the first three wizardry out there

 

[miguk miguk]

Dark Kingdom and Wondrous Magic are the only ones I can think of that haven't been translated.

There are plenty that haven't been. Check the repo and you can find them.

 

[Zemus]

There are plenty that haven't been. Check the repo and you can find them.

No doubt, but there's a value in mentioning the ones you know of personally. We wouldn't need usernames and accounts otherwise.

 

[tigg]

I personally liked
SMT If...

 

[mikko64]

I believe DoReMi Fantasy wasn't mentioned yet. Pretty fun gameplay and charming graphics:

 

[themoon]

The Saga series tho...

 

[χKai]

Ball-Bullet Gun
Weird name for a weird strategy RPG involving guns based on real guns, despite the name Ball-Bullet Gun. I dunno. It's good.

Haven't seen mention of The Amazing Spider-Man Lethal Foes, so there's that if you're into that kind of thing.

I think miguk up there used up most of my ammunition here, but you'd be better off if you could see my list. ?

 

[fishboneKiller]

Snoopy Concert. trust me, it's super underrated and really good. the soundtrack was done by Hip Tanaka, who you might know for his work on the soundtracks for Mother 1 and Earthbound. that's my really obscure pick, but some other cool ones are Live A Live, Clock Tower, and all three of the SFC Shin Megami Tensei games. some people might try to convince you that SMT if... is a bad game but they're wrong.

 

[Bakuma1997]

some people might try to convince you that SMT if... is a bad game but they're wrong.

The game has its fair share of good stuff, but i am NEVER going thru the mess that is Sloth again

 

[fishboneKiller]

The game has its fair share of good stuff, but i am NEVER going thru the mess that is Sloth again

honestly as someone who likes grinding in videogames i didn't mind the sloth grind for the first 4 hours. it was when i hit hour 7 that i started to absolutely hate it

 

[Bakuma1997]

honestly as someone who likes grinding in videogames i didn't mind the sloth grind for the first 4 hours. it was when i hit hour 7 that i started to absolutely hate it

EXACTLY! Even with the shortener patch it was a drag and a half

 

[Grumpy_Old_Man]

"Adventures of Hourai High an rpg with quirky humor and a robust class system .

 

[sambair]

I'm just seconding a bunch of other posts here, but the two that I always think about immediately are Clock Tower and Front Mission: Gun Hazard.

Clock Tower's one of the few "do an adventure game while a guy chases you around" horror games that I like. The game is heavily inspired by Dario Argento movies to the point that the protagonist is a straight-up bootleg Jennifer Connelly.

Gun Hazard is a must-play if you like 16-bit action RPGs, old Squaresoft, and/or the mainline Front Mission games.

 

[PhrawzT]

Goemon series
Super Bomberman series
Mario & Wario
Mario no Super Picross
Dragon Quest series
Panel de Pon
Front Mission
Torneko's Great Adventure
Front Mission
Puyo Puyo 2

 

[Jotaro]

more gems time

- star ocean
- gsweeper mikami
- the rayearth game
- slayers
- super metroid
- the jojo part 3 game
- zelda a link to the past
- fire emblem seisen no keifu
- the gundam wing fighting game
- the g gundam fighting game
- hyper iria
- super ninja kun
- tales of phantasia
- rockman and forte
- the goemon games
- violinist of hameln
- final fantasy 5
- the fighter's history mizoguchi game

 

[Bakuma1997]

Mario and wario doesn't even need translation due to how easy it is to grasp, all you need is your Emulator to support SNES Mouse

 

[χKai]

Mario and wario doesn't even need translation due to how easy it is to grasp, all you need is your Emulator to support SNES Mouse

There's a controller hack available too!

 

[Bakuma1997]

Really? oh well, i am used to Mouse controllers

 

[χKai]

Bit of a broad question isn't it? It's hard to know what kinds of games are essential because everyone like something different.
I personally recommend everyone to try Gokinjo Boukentai at least once and Ihatovo Monogatari.

You raised a good point, here..
Perhaps consider including in the original post what type of genres you're looking for, or in the case you can't figure out the genre for a specific game you already  know you like, put that!

 

[Aeriththeflowergirl]

Final Fantasy V
Seiken Densetsu 3 (Trials of Mana)
Front Mission: Gun Hazard
Dragon Quest III
Terranigma
Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon
Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon R
Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Super S
Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Another Story
Dragon Ball Z Hyper Dimension
Ranma ½: Chougi Rambuhen
Tales of Phantasia
Star Ocean