Half Minute Hero

Occasionally, I play a game that turns a genre on its head and makes me think about things in a totally new way. Half Minute Hero is one of those games.
The basic premise of this game is that you have to save the world in 30 seconds. And then, again. Many, many times. In the main game mode, Hero 30, there are 51 levels. In each one, you have to kill an Evil Lord who is casting a spell to end the world. You have, in each level, 30 seconds before the spell goes off, and game over. And yet, each one contains... most of the elements of a standard JRPG. Dialogue, combat, equipment, items, inns, treasure, and, in some, even gaining party members. So, how the hell does that work?! Well, first, on normal, time is stopped in towns, letting you have a bit of breathing time to buy items, equipment, and get quest hooks. Yep, quest hooks. Secondly, you can actually rewind time back to 30 seconds left, IF you have the money. Yeah, you're working with the Goddess of Time to save the world. But, she's greedy, so you have to pay up. Most levels are well designed enough such that going for the strictest time possible is a challenge, rather than what's expected of the average player, though the levels are still tough.
Finally, the coolest thing, I thought, about Hero 30 was that many of the levels had multiple ways to finish them, some even leading to branching level paths. In some ways, this is the least linear JRPG I've ever played. Some levels are beatable in clever ways and also grindy ways, etc. The game warns you about branching paths, and tends to indicate different ways of doing things via the titles you can earn for each map.
Then, there are 3 other modes that have different mechanics - Princess 30, which is SHMUPlike, Evil Lord 30, which is RTSlike, and Knight 30, which is actionlike. Each one is 30 levels, where you have a 30 second time limit, though, for Knight 30, you're fighting *for* the time to run out. Each level is short, sweet, and challenging. And, as in Hero 30, there are ways to give yourself a bit more time.
Finally, the game ends with 2 more Hero modes. Hero 300 and Hero 3. The former is the story's epic climax, the latter is a balls hard challenge where you have, well, what it says on the tin... 3 seconds before the world ends. That was a fun mode ... in both a sarcastic, dear god, why and in a ... wow, that was fun to work out sort of way. The game, via takikng out the random, makes each level a bit of a puzzle, though one that involves reflexes to do well. An RPG that requires reflexes is an amusing thing, too.
It's an amazingly well done deconstruction of RPGs, and I loved it.