Crystalis

Crystalis is SNK's post-apocalyptic action RPG, and for a lot of players it is the best game of its kind on the NES. You wake from a cryogenic sleep a century after a nuclear war and set out to stop the Draygonian empire from finishing what the bombs started.

Its combat is real-time swordplay in four directions, with four elemental swords - wind, fire, water and thunder - that each charge up for a powerful attack and each counter a different set of enemies. Charging is the core decision: a charged strike does far more damage but leaves you standing still, and the game is full of rooms where stopping is fatal. Progression is a mix of levelling, equipment and the classic Zelda-style item gates, and the world opens up as you gain the means to cross barriers. Its presentation, with large sprites and a vast overworld, was at the top of the NES range.

• ▸Four elemental swords - wind, fire, water and thunder - each with a charged attack
• ▸Real-time directional combat with enemy elemental weaknesses
• ▸Zelda-style item gating across a large overworld
• ▸Level-based progression combined with equipment and magic