River City Ransom, in my mind, crossed genres as both a fighting game and an RPG. While following the line of a traditional beat-em-up, it is also set in an open world which the player is encouraged to explore while moving onwards in the game. The graphics, while being pretty basic, were good at the time of the game's release in 1989, and the longevity of the game is demonstrated by its having been released for multiple other platforms since the original for NES.
