Lufia & the Fortress of Doom (Super Nintendo, 1995)

This game has its own style and feel which distinguishes it from the more popular games of the time. When compared to Final Fantasy III(US) as most 16-bit RPGs are, Lufia's graphics and character cinematics don't reach up to the same caliber of sophistication, though do not let the title "Not the best game ever" deter you from giving this game a round of play.

One of Lufia's strongest elements is the musical score, which noticeably captures the mood, pace, and characterization presented by the game. A quick search on YouTube, and we can easily see that the music from this game has 'struck a chord' with many of the game's fans.

The story line is typical, save the world, though the situation is not. Instead of 1 evil force, you are challenged by four, each being more dangerous than the next. The game also begins 100 years prior to the main storyline, which is memorable purely because it was, and probably still does, remain an uncommon plot device in video game RPGs.

The gameplay is turn-based combat, which may deter most players due to lack of any sort of battle action, though for those who do enjoy this method of combat, the basics are easy to pickup and soon you'll be vanquishing foes without much hesitation in your actions. Random encounters seem to be a bit on the high side for an RPG, which is possibly why the game takes as long to beat as it does. Some battles will leave you frustrated as you try to figure why everybody just died, while other battles just seem like time fillers between story arcs.

If you loved Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy I-VI(JP), Dragon Warrior, even the Zelda games, Secret of Mana(or Evermore), Earthbound, Super Mario RPG, and felt like you need more games in your life, then you should without a doubt be playing the Lufia series. If you hit on guys who sound like girls playing Halo 3 on Xbox Live, you'll be bored to tears.