Good Side-Scrolling RPG's?

[MrEco]

I'll second the vote for Odin Sphere. Also Prinny: Can I Really Be The Hero? if you have access to a PSP.

[chupon]

I'll second Valkyrie Profile on PS1. Worth the price of entry. Amazing sprite work. Beautiful backgrounds. Wonderful music. Great engrossing and well thought through story. And terrible horrible voice acting. The pauses between speakers kills me.

It's worth $60.00 I'd say if you can find it for that price or less then pull the trigger. And as far as I know the only difference between it and the PSP release is added CGI in the PSP and obviously the newer release changed some of the religious cult symbols.

Either way you can't go wrong though. A must play for 2D RPG enthusiasts.

[MidnightRider]

Wonderboy has to have the most confusing numbering of any game series. I mean geez, there's TWO Wonder Boy III's, both of which are completely different games!

Plus Wonder Boy V Monster World III, can there be a more confusing title?

Wonder Boy V Monster World III = Japanese Wonder Boy in Monster World. That particular title shouldn't be relevant to non-importers.

Also, not to be a jerk, but rather for clarification, this topic seems to be full of lacking understanding of the line between adventure and RPG. Not to say the topic creator wouldn't like the suggestions, but if they're looking for RPG elements, suggestion of Wonder Boy & Popful Mail may as well be suggesting Metroid. River City Ransom and this game: http://www.romhacking.net/trans/226/ = beat em ups, and Prinny is a flat out platformer. Hell, can you even consider River City Ransom to have RPG elements, when stats are only improved by the items you buy?

Now, if Wonder Boy, Popful Mail, Metroid, and especially Castlevania from the last decade or so, which actually utilizes RPG elements, are acceptable to you, then the term "metroidvania" is one you'll want to look into. Might lead to some freeware games you'd find enjoyable as well.