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THE LIBRARY

Collector guides, cover censuses, and edition answers, documented issue by issue. Every page answers one specific question, completely.

← Back to RPG: SNES on the Library shelf

RPG: SNES

33 shelfs
Chrono Trigger Japanese box art
The SNES RPG Gallery
Seventeen Super Nintendo and Super Famicom role-playing games, cover first, with the Japanese and Western boxes side by side wherever both exist, and the missing Western boxes named as missing.
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Dragon Quest V Japanese box art
The History of Dragon Quest V
One hero from birth to fatherhood: monster recruitment, the marriage choice, and 1.3 million copies sold in a single day in Japan.
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Dragon Quest V Japanese box art
Why does Dragon Quest V span three generations?
Because Horii built a life, not a quest: the father searches, the son answers, and the party spans thirty years.
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Dragon Quest VI Japanese Super Famicom box art
The History of Dragon Quest VI
Heartbeat's first entry in the series, two worlds that explain each other, and the trilogy ending America waited fifteen years to read.
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Tales of Phantasia Japanese box art
The History of Tales of Phantasia
Wolf Team's singing cartridge: a rejected Enix pitch, a Namco contract, and a staff walkout that founded tri-Ace.
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Tales of Phantasia Japanese box art
How did Tales of Phantasia fit a sung theme song on a cartridge?
A 48-megabit cartridge, a sound system called Flexible Voice Drive, and Yukari Yoshida singing Yume wa Owaranai.
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Secret of Mana Japanese box art
The History of Secret of Mana
The cancelled CD-ROM launch title, the forty percent that was cut, and the three-player action RPG that resulted.
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Super Mario RPG American box art
The History of Super Mario RPG
Square and Nintendo's 1996 collaboration: the making, the SA-1 chip, timed action commands, the scores, and the two series it started.
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The History of Lufia II
The History of Lufia II
Neverland's prequel built out of puzzles: Maxim's first war against the Sinistrals, the IP skills, the 99-floor Ancient Cave, and the scores.
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Breath of Fire Japanese box art
The History of Breath of Fire
Capcom's first traditional RPG: Inafune's characters, the Square Soft American release and Woolsey translation, the scores, and the series it founded.
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Breath of Fire II Japanese box art
The History of Breath of Fire II
The direct sequel 500 years on: town building, shaman fusions, the church that eats prayers, its famously rough translation, and the scores.
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The History of Tactics Ogre
The History of Tactics Ogre
Yasumi Matsuno's branching war story: the making, the massacre choice, the ports that carried it West three years late, the scores, and the legacy.
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What Inspired Tactics Ogre?
What Inspired Tactics Ogre?
Matsuno on record: the Yugoslav Wars on the evening news, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and Queen, with interpretation labeled Tier 2.
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Live A Live Japanese box art
The History of Live A Live
Tokita's seven-era omnibus RPG: seven heroes, seven manga artists, Shimomura's first major score, its Japanese failure, and its worldwide remake.
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Live A Live Japanese box art
Why Did Live A Live Take 28 Years to Reach the West?
A 270,000-copy disappointment, a localization chief's on-record doubts, fallen-through revivals, and the HD-2D style that finally unlocked it.
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Terranigma European box art
The History of Terranigma
Quintet's resurrection epic: raising the continents, reviving life itself, its Japan and PAL releases, the American release that never happened, and the scores.
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Terranigma European box art
Why Was Terranigma Never Released in North America?
Enix closed its US branch before localization finished; Nintendo published it in Europe instead, and the rights tangle that froze it for thirty years.
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Bahamut Lagoon Japanese box art
The History of Bahamut Lagoon
Square's newcomer team and its dragons you raise but do not control: the making, the Japan-only release, its fan translations, and the scores.
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Romancing SaGa Japanese box art
The Squaresoft Japan-Only Gallery
Five Super Famicom games Square never sent West, cover first, with the missing Western boxes named as missing.
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The History of Seiken Densetsu 3
The History of Seiken Densetsu 3
Ishii and Tanaka's six-hero Mana sequel: three heroes chosen from six, light or dark classes, Kikuta's score, and its 2019 arrival as Trials of Mana.
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Why Did Seiken Densetsu 3 Take So Long to Reach the West?
Why Did Seiken Densetsu 3 Take So Long to Reach the West?
Planned in 1995, cancelled in 1996 over bugs, cartridge space, and cost, and released as Trials of Mana just under twenty four years later.
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Romancing SaGa Japanese box art
The History of Romancing SaGa
Kawazu's Free Scenario System: eight protagonists, no experience points, a million Japanese copies, and a 2005 remake as its first Western door.
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The History of Front Mission
The History of Front Mission
Tsuchida and G-Craft's wanzer tactics game: Square said no robots, Amano drew the cover, and 500,000 Japanese copies followed.
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SOJ gold owl
Why Did Front Mission Reach the West Backwards?
The West started at part three in 2000; the wanzer original arrived twelve years late, expanded, on the Nintendo DS.
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Treasure of the Rudras Japanese box art
The History of Treasure of the Rudras
Square Osaka's fifteen days before the end of humanity, built around a mantra system in which players write their own spells.
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