Illusion of Gaia

Illusion of Gaia is an Action RPG released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

Plot
A comet filled with evil energy is approaching the Earth halting evolution and humanity's progress. Will, a young teenager with psychic abilities is chosen by the divine being known as Gaia to save the world by finding 6 Mystic Statues across several ruins across the world. Along the way, he is aided by several friends, including Kara, a princess he falls in love with and Neil, a young inventor and Will's cousin.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) The ruins Will visits are real life locations.
 * 2) Awesome boss fights.
 * 3) Puzzle solving is easy to figure out if you use some common sense.
 * 4) Good soundtrack.
 * 5) Unlike most RPGs, Will does not level up through experience points but by killing every enemy in an area.
 * 6) A sidequest involves locating red gems which grant rewards based on how much you collect.
 * 7) Enemies drop dark gems which if you collect 100 of, grant an extra life. Yes, this is an RPG that has extra lives.
 * 8) Great story.
 * 9) Good character development with most of the characters.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Most areas cannot be revisited so if you missed a red gem, tough luck.
 * 2) A mercenary named the Jackal is hired by Kara's evil parents in their plan to conquer the world and is built up to be extremely dangerous. However when he finally shows up, you just activate a booby trap and kill him.  Kind of anti-climatic don't you think?
 * 3) Although you get extra lives, you don't come back at full health.

Reception
According to user ratings on GameFAQS, Illusion of Gaia was ranked the 3rd best Action game for the SNES.