3. Super Ninja Boy (SNES)
And we are right back to another SNES action RPG. Super Ninja Boy in particular Ive added here because it has one of the better multi-player drop-in drop-out mechanics that Ive ever seen, especially for a game of such an old console generation. Really, if you like ninjas then you should have played this one though. It offers a unique save feature, and introduces a combination of an RPG with platforming elements back when you either had a game doing one or the other (like Super Mario Bros RPG and then Super Mario Bros). It was occasionally criticized for taking elements from the Super Mario Bros side-scrolling platform, including tossing fireballs, but has such a unique combination of both platform and RPG that it really does a better job at it. A few of the battles are even turn based too, despite it often just called an action Role-play game. Once again this game fell victim to the idea that you just can't make a game that incorporates elements of different genres of a game. People often asked whether it was an RPG or a platformer or what? But that's what happens when we make such a rigid design of how games are supposed to be with genres, people get confused when they don't stick to that. And it wasn't that this game at all failed at incorporating multiple elements together from different genres, it actually flows incredibly well to change from action to turn based or into a side-scroller, and it's fun, not to mention it was one of the few role-playing games that allowed you to have multi-player through-out it. The worst part is, who doesn't want to be a ninja? Honestly I had more fun with this game than Super Mario Bros and I was able to get absorbed into it more than Final Fantasy because you got to be a ninja with an interesting and amusing story-line that kept me interested. But that's just me, I like my games with a bit more humor than the average fantasy role-play tends to have.