Secret of Mana

I can't explain why I like this game so much, having owned it for over 7 years I've played through it at least that many times. No other video game before it (or after it) has compelled me to play so much. It appealed to me mostly because of it's dramatic story (which playing now, I realize has suffered from a poor translation,)and its imaginative environments. The music in the game is also top notch, some of the scores are very haunting well others...aren't. Essentialy the plot follow that of a young boy who pulls a sword from a stone and is then thrust into an adventure to save the world from ultimate destruction, their are of course plot twist (for instance the identity of his mother is quite shocking.) I don't want to say much more on the game, if you see it in a store you probably should buy it... it's really that simple!

This game was a favorite of mine when I was younger. It was hard to find, but unlike a couple of others my parents were able to find this one kind of like Xenogears, by searching everywhere for it! Others I have missed out on or have gotten later in life thanks to the internet. This one is made by the same company as Final Fantasy and they would go on to make more games using the format of game play this one does. This one, however, is the best game I have played to use this particular format. It is not even close as the story is very well done and the worlds varied enough to keep you playing. The format is a top down perspective with real time combat. I am usually more of a fan of turn based combat, but this one's real time is actually pretty good. So for all of you out there (and I know there are a lot) who do not care for random battles, you are in the clear with this one. This one has a boy going on an adventure that gets very complicated as near the end you are battling a strange cult along with two companions...a young girl and a sprite trying to save the world from disaster. The visuals are wonderful in this one for the time and like I said the story is simple to start, but then keeps getting better. Something about role playing games that feature crazy religious cults...I do not know, they always have the more interesting stories. The fighting, while better than a lot of games featuring real time and multiple characters, can get a bit repetitive at times. This is mainly when you are trying to level up your weapons. Speaking of weapons, you get a wide variety here and every character can use every weapon. You level the weapons up for each character by fighting with said weapon. The music is also good in this one too, so minus the repetitive nature of the combat this game is a very grand adventure.

Made by the same people who have brought us Final Fantasy games for the past 30yrs Secret Of Mana is a true masterpiece which came years before it's time.

Telling the story of a boy who by uprooting a mysterious sword brings trouble to his home village, they respond by exiling him and thus his story begins.

First of all unlike the Final Fantasy titles the combat is live action not turn based, what also sets it apart is the fact that it was multi-player.Our hero, the lady and the sprite are characters you can switch between or play with side by side with your friends.

Each character is highly cutomisable, from spells to the weapon categories everything could be tweeked.

The story? Flawless. The playability? Excellent. And the soundtrack? One of the best I've ever heard, one particular bossfight theme is one of my all time favourites.

So many great moments,so many fantastic boss battles and the 3D graphic moments were outstanding when released.

Secret Of Mana is in this persons opinion one of the greatest video games ever made.

The Good:

Fantastic soundtrack

Flawless RPG elements

Multiplayer is excellent

The Bad:

Can't think of a sausage

Things I Learnt From This Game:

Flammie should have appeared in more Square titles

Moogles get everywhere

This game really is worth the ridiculous prices out there.

The graphics really are great for the SNES, though the magic spells don't look particularly great. However, the map looks spectacular. 7/10

The combat system it fairly good, but it does get a bit repetitive after a while. This does take a while though, with many weapons and spells at hand. 9/10

This game is dangerously addictive, once completing the game you'll find yourself wanting to play it again. The adventure lasts for a very long time, taking approximately forty to sixty hours to complete the first time. Completing the game fully (full stats) takes even longer. 10/10

Single Player-The game is pretty fun alone, but the bad AI path-finding might get fairly annoying after a while. Luckily this doesn't happen too much and isn't much of a problem. Multiplayer-Sadly this game is only possible with two players and not three. However, it's great with two, as it makes the game easier and a lot more enjoyable. This is definitely a game I'd recommend. It really shows off the SNES's power and Square Soft/Enix's skill.

Secret of Mana (Seiken Densetsu 2 in the USA) is the continuation of Final Fantasy Adventure (also called Mystic Quest) which was made for the gameboy. It still follows the same concepts of the Tribe of Mana. The Mana Tribe are a group of people who must maintain balence in the world. To do this they must make sacrifices. The men of the tribe become the Mana Sword and the women of the tribe become the Mana Tree. The Mana Knight uses the sword to protect the tree from evil. The characters do not have set names in this adventure, you name them yourself which is pretty nifty.

There are several things that make this a great game.

[1]Storyline: the characters are well made, the dialogue is simply awesome. Its a very long game and this makes it fun. Most people spend days if not weeks on this game. Its not short by any means at all.

[2]Weapons system: You acquire a plethora of weapons, each weapon you must level up just as you level up your characters via experience points. The weapons also go through changes using the Mana Orbs that you get after you beat each boss. You can do special attacks with each weapon depending on how leveled up it is and how long you charge it with the attack button.

[3]Magic system: You choose from a great host of Elemental Spirits to cast your offensive, defensive, and healing spells. Each time you use a spell you level up that elemental. There's also a bit of an easter egg, you can level your magic's up to level 8.99 and you'll notice a change to each spell. For instance if you get Gnome up to level 8.99 and cast "Earth Slide" you'll see the mud ball is larger and has a face. Salamando's "fireball" turns into 3 serpent-like fire dragons that encircle your enemies. Sylph's "Air Blast" changes from 3 blades of air to a large yellow tornado.

[4] Color!: Some games just aren't colorful enough, S.o.M. is definately not one of them! All the colors as well as the characters themselves are very vibrant and bright, even those gothie badguys.

[5] Travel: You do lots of travel in this game, a good bit of it is on foot. You're other method of travel is by cannon. The game map is flat the same way it is in T.o.P. and Secret of Evermore but still pretty neat looking. Later in the game you get Flammie, the legendary White Dragon. How cool is riding on the back of a dragon eh? Kinda makes ya' feel like Bastian from Never Ending Story.

This has to be one of the best RPG games Square ever made. To be honest, I'd rather play the older stuff than the newer fancy-schmancy Final Fantasy X2's or Everquests or Zelda: Windwakers. So its 3-Dimensional.. big whoop! Give me 2D game sprites and decent gameplay. I'm an emulation puritan and damn proud.

If you liked this game, try to find translated versions of Seiken Densetsu 3 and Tales of Phantasia. Also try Tales of Destiney for the Playstation (it has a story very similar to S.O.M.'s) You definately won't be bored with those games. In fact you just might get obsessed with them like me ^_^ Though sadly it seems like there is a lack of sites to get emulated games nowadays, good thing I've got my collection backed up on CDR.

Preserve our video-game heritage!