In a day where the only classic console RPG people talk about is Final Fantasy, some often forget about about this gem.
The Breath of Fire series was one of Capcom's finest back in the day of 16 bit. And while it's disappointing that the series has pretty much since fallen off, it left behind some endearing memories, best of which being the second game in the series.
BoF2 holds many of the staple elements in classic RPGs. You control a party of up to four characters and face off against various random encounters and bosses throughout an epic storyline. BoF2 is one of few RPGs in which the random encounters that are of your level can easy kill you if you are not careful in each fight. This is an interesting difference to games like the Final Fantasies of that era in which many random encounters could be defeated with minimal damage by simply mashing the A button and issuing normal attacks from all you're characters. In BoF2, the generally higher difficultly of each fight forces you to pay attention and be more strategic. Overall the game holds up fairly well, and offerers a surprising amount of challenge, and an entertaining story to boot.