Top 5 SNES Games I Missed as a Kid

I'm nearly 25 years old. I think I got a NES when I was around 7, so I have quite a few memories of the fun to be had with just a two button controller. But my heart will always belong to the SNES. I was a little older, and could therefore better appreciate what I was doing. Barely. I was still just an ignorant kid, so I inevitably made more terrible game choices than good ones. With that said, here are 5 SNES games I wish I had discovered when I was younger.

5. Earthbound. Quirky humor. A modern setting. And a supremely bizarre story. That's all I need. If I could only read Japanese, I could get all 3 Mother games (as they're named in Japan) on the GBA. But I don't. So I'll (hopefully) wait for a release on the Virtual Console.

4. Final Fantasy IV. Unique among the games on this list, I actually beat the GBA remake of this game about a year ago. I totally loved it. It's a classic SNES game, although I think I like Final Fantasy V a little better. But since I was completely oblivious to the original release, FFIV makes it on to my list.

3. Super Metroid. I just finished Metroid Fusion, which was much more linear than other Metroids, but still most satisfactory. I loved the reinvention of Metroid with Metroid Prime 1 and 2, and consider those to be two of the best Gamecube games. I also think Metroid Prime 3 will be one of the best games of the year of ANY system when it's released next month. But I missed every single one of the older Metroids. This game stands out as a classic that should be required playing for everyone, regardless of personal preferences. With the Virtual Console, I should be able to finally delve into this game in the not-too-distant future.

2. Chrono Trigger. This is a classic RPG that many gamers consider the "best game of all time." I've actually played maybe 1/3 of this game a few years ago. The last thing I remember is going back to 65 million B.C., or whatever year the prehistoric time period was called. What I have played of this game was simply amazing. I definitely want to finish it, and it fully deserves its place in the upper echelons of gaming. Hopefully, there will be a Virtual Console release or a port (like the Final Fantasies) that I can purchase, and finally finish this one-of-a-kind game.

1. Final Fantasy VI. Ahh. The other RPG that many gamers also hold up as the best of all time. I've never even played it. Well, to be fair, I've played a little bit of the beginning a few times, but that hardly counts. This game is still high on my list of "Games-To-Play," even 10 years after its release. With an epic story, a large and colorful cast of characters, and many RPG characteristics that have carried Square (now Square Enix) into the 21st century, how could I have been stupid enough to miss this game? I was just a stupid kid. Luckily, I've ordered the GBA remake and will finally play this classic game within the next couple of months.

Honorable Mentions: Actraiser (I've been hearing a lot about this game since it's release on the Virtual Console); Super Castlevania (see #3 above); and Secret of Mana (I played the infinitely disappointing Secret of Evermore instead).