Paper Mario

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars is a 1996 role-playing game developed by Square and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. This groundbreaking collaboration blends Mario's platforming world with Square's RPG expertise, featuring an original story where Mario teams with Bowser and new allies to recover seven stars from the villain Smithy.

EarthBound, known as Mother in Japan, is a role-playing video game developed by Ape Inc. and HAL Laboratory, and published by Nintendo. The game follows Ness, a young boy with psychic abilities, and his friends as they journey across the world to collect melodies and defeat the cosmic horror Giygas.

The game that defined Japanese RPGs, Dragon Quest (known as Dragon Warrior in North America initially) introduced core mechanics that became genre staples: turn-based combat, experience points, and equipment progression.

The first JRPG sequel expands the adventure with three playable descendants of Erdrick. Journey across continents to defeat the malevolent Hargon in this groundbreaking title that introduced party mechanics and ship travel to the genre.

The epic conclusion to the Erdrick Trilogy, Dragon Quest III follows a young hero destined to defeat the archfiend Baramos. Featuring a revolutionary class system and expansive world, it set new standards for JRPGs and remains one of the most influential games in the genre.

Dragon Quest IV is a landmark JRPG that introduced a revolutionary chapter-based narrative structure. The game follows multiple protagonists whose stories eventually converge in an epic quest to save the world from the evil Necrosaro.