Phantasy Star System: Sega Master System US release: 1988 If Dragon Warrior was an appetizer to the wonderful world of turn based RPGs, then Phantasy Star was the 6 course meal. It took the standard formula and ran with it, creating a delightful game with beautiful first person dungeons and a large variety of characters to interact with. The monsters had battle animations, putting Dragon Warrior to shame. I still think the game looks fine today - of course, I'm not that picky on graphics. Download Phantasy Star

Miracle Warriors: Seal of the Dark Lord System: Sega Master System US release: 1988 An underrated RPG, Miracle Warriors: Seal of the Dark Lord never really got the attention it deserved. Maybe it was because of that wretched title, or the crummy way the characters moved around the map. However, it's a solid little RPG, with yummy turn based combat, so give it a go if you haven't heard of it. Download Miracle Warriors

Dragon Warrior System: NES US release: 1989 The first title pretty much started it all on the consoles - Dragon Warrior I. Although it released in Japan in 1986, it took until 1989 for it to be localized. This was the first console RPG I ever played, and once I saw the battle system, I was hooked. Finally, some more options besides just shoot, shoot, or shoot! If you've never played an RPG, you should start here just to get a glimpse of where it all started. It's pretty primitive compared to later entries. If you can get past the (now) awkward interface, you'll enjoy it. Download Dragon Warrior

Sweet Home System: NES US release: 1989 This is a translation, as it was a Japanese only release. It's an interesting, resident evil kind of precursor. Primary characters can die, and there's a lot of scary stuff that goes on in the mansion. It's a lot darker than your traditional Japanese RPG, especially for this era. The interface is pretty crummy, and the graphics are nothing to write home about - if you can overlook that, you might find yourself intrigued about finding out the history of the mansion and its inhabitants. Download Sweet Home

Ultima: Exodus System: NES US release: 1989 Goodness gracious! This is one heck of a nice conversion from the PC version. Unlike the rather painful Sega Master System Ultima, FCI realized that the power of the NES was a good background to make a few graphical and interface improvements. As such, it's a lot prettier to look at and a little easier to move around. Though still painfully slow by modern RPG standards, this game set afire the RPG world. I played this thing for hours, trying to unravel the secrets. Download Ultima Exodus