The Super Nintendo has one of the most complete libraries in gaming history, including absurdly long games that can keep you chipping away for months and months. Although it predates the era of checklist open-world epics, the SNES still had plenty of RPGs, and a few were considerably longer than Chrono Trigger or even Final Fantasy 6. The longest SNES games can feel like they last forever, both in good and bad ways.
Unlike its predecessor, which had a habit of relying on cryptic or confusing design to extend its playtime, SNES RPGs offer a more substantial way to pass your time. However, fully completing these campaigns often requires a lot of grinding, deep exploration, and a tolerance for pain, and the hours quickly stretch into what feels like an eternity.
I’m focused on how long it takes to do basically everything in a game, within reason. So, not just the main story.
- Only one entry per franchise.
- I used HLTB’s completionist time as a reference.
- Only SNES games that can really be completed. Therefore, no sports titles, Sim City 2000, or Civilization.
- We are generally counting single-save runs. The first game will explain what I mean.
1
Tactics Ogre Makes Us Cling Together For More Than 115+ Hours
Welcome To Hell (But A Nice One)
Average Times:
- Main Story – 40 Hours
- Main Story + Extras – 60 Hours
- Completionist (Single Route) – 120+ Hours
Technically, Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together on the SNES is the short version, since the PSP 2010 remake adds a lot of content that expands the completionist time. However, make no mistake about it: the original SNES masterpiece is a massive beast of a game. Tactics Ogre has three routes – Law, Neutral, and Chaos – that diverge enough to be worth experiencing if you are a big enough fan; however, tackling just one story route (Law) in its entirety should still require over 100 hours.
Besides playing the main story, Tactics Ogre has substantial optional content that can be downright life-consuming. The Hell Gate is a 100-floor dungeon that you can completely ignore if you want, but completionists don’t have that choice and must spend dozens of hours fighting through this end-game content. Unfortunately, Hell Gate is a terrible way to grind levels for the main story and to level up weak units; consequently, you need to drop plenty of hours into the Training Mode.
More than anything, Tactics Ogre has the pacing of a 1995 tactical RPG and lacks the QOL features of modern grindfests (or re-releases of classics). Basically, you cannot fast-forward battles or skip animations. The full experience, every single time.
2
Majin Tensei 2 Will Keep You Negotiating For 100+ Hours
Well, A Strategy Megami Tensei Game Isn’t Going To Be Short
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Average Times:
- Main Story – 60 Hours
- Main Story + Extras – 65 Hours
- Completionist (Neutral Route) – 115+ Hours
I love writing these retro console articles because they let me learn about and talk about games barely anybody remembers. Nowadays, Atlus’ Megami Tensei mainly boils down to SMT, Persona, and Devil Summoner, but the franchise has tried out so many different spin-offs. Majin Tensei is among the most forgotten, partly because none of its SNES, Sega Saturn, or mobile entries were ever ported outside Japan.
While still containing SMT staples like demon negotiation, Majin Tensei 2 is a grid-based strategy RPG that is in absolutely no rush to get to the point. Although the combat is quite good and even accessible, battles have a habit of stretching into frustration, largely because enemies move at a pretty glacial pace. As this is a Megami Tensei game, Majin Tensei 2 doesn’t pull any punches, and you will find yourself having to replay late-game stages that can take around an hour to complete.
Like Tactics Ogre, Majin Tensei 2 also has multiple routes, each with different endings. If you want to truly do everything, you will probably need to dedicate a year to the game.
3
Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War Demands 80+ Hours For An A-Rank
A SNES Game That Requires Mastery And Commitment
Average Times:
- Main Story – 50 Hours
- Main Story + Extras – 60 Hours
- Completionist – 85 Hours
Unsurprisingly, Fire Emblem delivered one of the SNES’s longest games, although Genealogy of the Holy War might not initially seem that expansive since it has fewer maps than other entries in the franchise. Rather than focusing on quantity in numbers, the tactical RPG emphasizes scale instead, with each chapter requiring you to seize multiple enemy castles. Each time you do, your success triggers an event that changes the map’s circumstances and extends the battle.
Unlike Tactics Ogre or Majin Tensei 2, Genealogy of the Holy War doesn’t have branching paths or even a post-game dungeon, so you are mainly just playing through the 12 chapters. However, completion essentially requires earning an A-rank in Tactics (finish the campaign in under 399 turns), Survival (0 permanent deaths), Experience (1K+ level-ups), and Combat (maximum of 3 losses).
Find the odd one out before the timer hits zero.
4
Might and Magic 2 Keeps You In Another World For Around 80 Hours
A SNES Game That Plays Like A PC Dungeon Crawler
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Average Times:
- Main Story – 50 Hours
- Main Story + Extras – 67 Hours
- Completionist – 80+ Hours
Finally, a break from grids… well, top-down ones anyway. While Might and Magic 3 on SNES is very different from the PC version, Might and Magic 2 is just a straight-up old-school dungeon crawler, charming warts and all. With no handholding or an automated mini-map, along with enemies who don’t give a rat’s ass about your adventure, you are dropped into CRON, an unforgiving world that chews up and spits out heroes at a dime a dozen.
By the standards of the era, Might and Magic 2‘s world is absolutely gigantic. The outdoor overworld features 20 individual maps (in a 5×4 grid), and that doesn’t cover the towns, castles, caverns, or the four elemental planes. This might not sound too big on paper, but you are given very little in the way of direction, and you will often find yourself stuck in battles against dozens of enemies at once. It’s tiring.
5
Ogre Battle Keeps The March Going For 80 Hours
The Endless Battle To Preserve Your Reputation
Average Times:
- Main Story – 25 Hours
- Main Story + Extras – 40 Hours
- Completionist – 80+ Hours
The SNES loved its tactical/strategy RPGs, and for good reason. While they might be exhausting to complete in their entirety, every game in this article ranks among the best releases of the ’90s, with Majin Tensei 2 being the only exception (it’s still good, though). Because Yasumi Matsunohelped create both, Ogre Battle and Tactics Ogre can, at times, be seen as a duo, but they are pretty different games.
A real-time tactical hybrid that kind of plays like a prototype grand strategy game, Ogre Battle takes you on a grueling journey across 25 maps, where you spend most of your time plotting long treks while trying to avoid ambushes. Combat happens automatically, so preparation really determines the outcome of a battle.
Ogre Battle infamously features invisible systems that ultimately decide which of the 13 endings you get, and the requirements for the good one are strict. I’m not going to go into what is actually required, as it’s too complicated, but you’ll need high Reputation and Alignment, both of which can plummet quickly.
6
Dragon Quest 6 Keeps You Exploring The Realms For 60+ Hours
It’s A Fun 60 Hours, At Least
Average Times:
- Main Story – 40 Hours
- Main Story + Extras – 50 Hours
- Completionist – 65+ Hours
Yeah, this was the point when Dragon Quest really said “to heck with it” and started crafting never-ending JRPGs. While not quite as massive as DQ7 and DQ8, DQ6 is still a demanding playthrough, even if you just want to finish the campaign. Fortunately, it is Dragon Quest, so the campaign is relentlessly endearing, even if you have to put up with some notorious difficulty spikes and slow-as-hell repetitive actions like battle animations or even transferring items.
Completing DQ6 entails mastering all the classes, which involves completing hundreds of battles with them, and you also need to finish off any optional stuff like the Slime Arena and collect all the mini-medals. Oh, right, there’s also a post-game dungeon that has an extremely difficult superboss. Oh, right again, you need to beat Nokturnus in under 20 turns to unlock a secret ending.
Special Mention: Romancing SaGa 3 Can Take 50 Or 150 Hours
Average Times:
- Main Story – 30 Hours
- Main Story + Extras – 40 Hours
- Completionist (One Route) – 50 Hours
OK, this one is a special case, as Romancing SaGa 3 is simultaneously the longest SNES game and not long enough to rank in this article. Let me explain.
Like a few other games mentioned earlier, Romancing SaGa 3 offers multiple routes; however, here you choose from eight protagonists, each with a different intro (though five are fairly similar). After that point, the game largely plays out the same regardless of who you picked, and the replay value comes from experimenting with its robust systems. If you wanted to really “complete” everything, you would need to do eight playthroughs, which would require 150+ hours. However, one run lets you see almost everything.
