Final Fantasy III (or FFVI, if we're being technical—blame the weird numbering when it first hit the West) is one of those SNES RPGs that just sticks with you. You start off with this eerie opening scene in the snow, controlling these weird armored soldiers with magitek powers, and within an hour, you're thrown into a rebellion, opera houses, and a cast of characters who actually have personalities—something rare for the time.

The job system is gone here, but each character has their own unique skills, which makes party-building way more interesting than just swapping classes. Sabin suplexes trains. Cyan does samurai delayed-slice nonsense. Terra... well, she's basically a magical nuke. The sprite work is gorgeous, the soundtrack slaps (Kefka's theme still gives me chills), and the story goes to some surprisingly dark places for a 16-bit game.

It's not perfect—the second half drags a bit if you don't know where to go—but even now, it holds up as one of the best in the series. Just don't forget to steal from bosses. Always steal from bosses.