While the first title in the Tales series of RPGs, Tales of Phantasia wouldn’t see a release outside of Japan until 2006 (on the Gameboy Advance), which is a shame considering the quality of the game. This title would be the first 46 Megabit game to be released on the Super Famicom, as well as the first game to feature streamed audio voices, thanks to the power of the “Flexible Voice Driver.” This includes full vocals for the song “Yume Wa Owaranai.”

The plot follows two young men, Cless Alvein and Chester Burklight, who are out hunting when their village is destroyed. When they return, they find their families killed, and Cress vows revenge. Along the way, they make new friends and allies, adding to the party in skill, power, and capability. It sounds stereotypical, yes, but the battle system goes above and beyond. It’s an early build of the Tales combat system, known as the Linear Motion Battle System. Combat is on a 2D plane, similar to a fighting game, where characters can run around attacking one another. The player generally controls one character, while the computer handles the rest.

In Tales of Phantasia, the system is not as refined as it would be in later games, so the player never has total control over their character. But they can make general selections about the AI of other characters, improving the party’s survivability.