6. Super Mario RPG
The character of Mario is synonymous with the platform genre, but in 1996, Square teamed up with Nintendo, their console partner of choice in the pre-Playstation era, to create a Final Fantasy-esque RPG starring the character. The result was a surprisingly excellent game, which sees the moustached plumber team up with original creations such as Mallow and Geno, Princess Toadstool and, most impressively of all, Bowser, in order to combat the threat posed to the world by the despicable Smithy. Though there's something strange about fighting everything from Bloopas to Bullet Bills with turn-based combat rather than an offensive repertoire of jumps, this is countered by the fact that the game also incorporates elements of the platforming genre (as well as considerable levels of humour), creating an interesting fusion that has rarely been replicated despite its effectiveness. The Mario series is still going strong twenty years later, but despite Square and Nintendo continuing to maintain a working relationship; there has never been any talk of either a remake of a follow-up (though the original Paper Mario was known as Super Mario RPG 2 for a time). Such a thing would certainly be welcomed, if only to introduce a new generation of Wii and 3DS gamers to the joy and beauty of the RPG genre that is so criminally ignored by most.