Watch out for that Tree!
Written: Oct 07 '02 (Updated Aug 24 '06)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Loads of weapons, colourful graphics, superior music. Everything really!
Cons: It will end you know.
The Bottom Line: A perfect mixture action and role playing, don't miss it!
|
|
|
| StarSoldier1's Full Review: Secret of Mana for Super Nintendo |
SERECT OF MANA (Square, Summer 1993)
It was only a matter of time but there is finally a review of the legendary Secret of Mana here on epinions, read on to see why this game is so special:
Serect of Mana was quietly released by SquareSoft in the third year of the SNES and the North American market was still a little unsure about RPG's at that moment so it didn't get a lot of attention over here, unfortunately. "So what is this quiet but large 16 meg game about anyways?" Secret of Mana wasn't your typical RPG by the masters at Square though because this game tries to be a more action oriented game kind of like a Zelda or a Soul Blazer plus it's one of the few three player RPG's with the complete package of awesome music and good fantasy-like graphics. The Secret of Mana sure deserves a look.
A hero or a Outcast?
This game is actually the sequel to the somewhat hard to find Final Fantasy Adventure on Gameboy by the way. The real Japanese name of Secret of Mana is actually Seiken Densetsu 2, so yes, this is really a sequel.
The story begins as our hero (he is even simply called the Hero in the instruction booklet but I just call him Ryan for obvious reasons) is fooling around with his so called friends near some dangerous cliffs. After Ryan suddenly falls into a pond than he soon finds a strange sword with a magical aura around it, not too far away. The new sword though gives Ryan a really bad rap after monsters invade his once peaceful village and are hero is given all the blame and is force to leave his home and never ever come back. Ryan's only hope now is to discover why the sword was called to him and defeat the real evil behind the monsters; a great wizard that's wants to conquer the world. Ryan is not alone though because will find a tough as nails princess and a hard on his luck sprite to help him on his dangerous mission. "What is the Secret of Mana?" You'll find out.
"3 player RPG, that's actually Good!"
What makes Secret of Mana so special is its brilliant mixture of Action/Adventure plus what's Square is most famous for; Role Playing! You'll find a good deal of slashing and dashing here like in the Legend of Zelda a Link to the Past but as the heroes kill more and more enemies like Robbits and Heckhounds than you might just get some experience on the way. The game is also unique for it's many weapons available like axes, swords, whips, spears, and more at the player's command and who could forget the awesome three player mode, eh? Rare for a RPG but don't worry because it's still a awesome single player despite the cool multi-player option.
The control are easy to manage as the characters can run, attack, use items, and more. The menu system can get a little annoying at times though especially if there are three of you switches and searching through your different inventories, thus slowing down the heart pounding action a little but it's no big deal. The characters can even move while they're charging a powerful strike so you're not a sitting duck for the enemies. Square did a good job with the controls.
"Show offs!"
"Who could forget that awesome opening intro with the three characters behind the giant lust green tree?" Secret of Mana really shows off a great game in a colourful fantasy based universe. The colours are very bright and sometimes there is nice bit of detail but in it's age the graphics are a little dated thanks to the small characters and repetitive backgrounds especially compared to the later Secret of Evermore (this game actually uses some rendered graphics) and Chrono Trigger (that game actually uses some artwork from the head DragonBallZ artist). The game still looks way above average with some cool animations and each new different land looks unique too.
graphics: 7/10
I really love the music here in the game but it's highly fantasy based so don't except a lot of hardcore heavy metal or loud techno sound tracks in here. The sound gets such a high score from me because Square is so serious in creating the best music in their games and there are over 15 outstanding tracks of their professional work here alone. It's hard to explain the music here in a written review, but trust me, it fits the game perfectly. Even the sound effects which are great especially when you wrack away at your enemies.
sound: 10/10
"The Secret is out!"
The Secret of Mana can still be found on eBay sometimes but it should cost about anywhere from $15 to 40 bucks because it's not really a super rare game out there like a Super Turrican 2 or a Final Fight Guy but it still won such rave reviews and high praise that more people are willing to pay the big bucks for this great game. Well worth the price though because it's maybe the best example of a Action/RPG ever produced. Forget about the disappointing so called sequel Legend of Mana for Playstation, Secret of Mana is far more action oriented and that's the main draw of this game. I was really angry when Square canceled the North American release of the Japan only Seiken Densetsu 3, it looks like the perfect sequel to this game, but I guess this makes Secret of Mana truly one of kind. I could not stop playing it till I see every new land, hear every rich sound track, got every 8 charging strikes, and learned the secret of mana. Secret of Mana is a very addictive title and it's just a blast to play!
SECRET OF MANA overall rating: 88/100
*Battery back up game
For 1 to 3 players
StarSoldier1 2002
http://www.videogames101.com
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
StarSoldier1
|
 - Top 500 |
|
Member: Ryan Genno
Reviews written: 284
Trusted by: 165 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.