Secret of Mana 20th Anniversary Thread

Alright, just wanted to say that I am trying this again. Ive owned this game for ages on the Snes, but never beated it because I didnt like how you controlled all three characters at once, but after nostalgia-ing in this thread, I will finally try to get through it - 20 years after it was first released. Just inserted Randi as the boys name to do it the canon way :)
 
Morfeo said:
Alright, just wanted to say that I am trying this again. Ive owned this game for ages on the Snes, but never beated it because I didnt like how you controlled all three characters at once, but after nostalgia-ing in this thread, I will finally try to get through it - 20 years after it was first released. Just inserted Randi as the boys name to do it the canon way :)
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Let us know how it goes!
 
Correctomundo said:
Just finished my 15th or so replay a couple months ago. Easily one of my favorites.

Who else got the centerfold to show up?

NVdmP2r.png
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That's nothing. I got Popoi to turn into an NPC who walked in position, breaking the game. That's the real secret of the Mana Fortress.
 
120v said:
there are much worse games out there, but it's an action platformer that has nothing in common with SD gameplay. the lore is there and all fan servicey, but it's has no business being sieken densetsu 4... it really makes you wonder what they were smoking

and even if it was a spinoff the game is still pretty mediocre
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Till this day I never played it. I remember being really excited about it but was letdown by all the horrible reviews it was getting. So I didn't even bother getting it.

I want to play it just to see how it is though.
 
One of my favorite games of all time that I still play once in a while. The last time I played it however, I decided to mix things up for fun.

 
I could only ever finish the end boss with the Midge Mallet or Moogle Belt exploit. Was it even possible to complete the game conventionally (without endless powerleveling)? If so you guys get mad respect from my 12 year old self.
 
One of my all time favorites and remains very playable due to the simplicity. No heavy handed story telling, no overly annoying characters. Focus on combat and exploration of a colorful world. Only real negative was leveling the magic system. I played the hell out of the sequel, too. Which is probably better overall, but yet it lost some of the charm from the previous game.

Probably mentioned somewhere in the thread, but I remember seeing a PC UT engine mod/build based on Secret of Mana years ago. There were only a handful of screenshots, but they sure were spiffy at the time.
 
spekkeh said:
I could only ever finish the end boss with the Midge Mallet or Moogle Belt exploit. Was it even possible to complete the game conventionally (without endless powerleveling)? If so you guys get mad respect from my 12 year old self.
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The game did seem broken in this regard. Even the official hints instruct you to power level your spells outside of an inn by casting them repeatedly.

I really wanted to like this game, but the combat was very boring. Attacks not at full strength were a waste of time. Each enemy can only be hit by one attack every few seconds. This resulted in combat that proceeded as attack, wait, attack, wait, attack, wait. Meanwhile, only one party member can attack at a time, so two people are standing around doing nothing.

Also, magic seemed extremely overpowered. The bosses were also overly tough. This game definitely required overleveling. The common enemies were too easy, and the bosses extremely tough.
 
I loved SoM, I really did, but it sorely needs a good remake. As good as it was, the game didn't live up to its full potential since parts of it had to be cut or sized down for the cartridge. Even as a kid I thought this.

And now I have the Mana Fortress theme stuck in my head. Awesome start to a Friday!
 
EmreBFG said:
I loved SoM, I really did, but it sorely needs a good remake. As good as it was, the game didn't live up to its full potential since parts of it had to be cut or sized down for the cartridge. Even as a kid I thought this.

And now I have the Mana Fortress theme stuck in my head. Awesome start to a Friday!
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Considering how Sword of Mana is looked at by almost everyone as an inferior remake of Final Fantasy Adventure, I propose a riot if SquareEnix announces a Secret of Mana remake. I absolutely don't trust this current Square Enix that hasn't been able to make a good Mana game in 20 years to be able to capture what made SoM special in a remake.

I replayed FFA over 10 times but couldn't force myself through Sword of Mana once. Every conversation is extremely long winded, slow, and dull. It's a classic example of more not always being better.
 
Lothar said:
Considering how Sword of Mana is looked at by almost everyone as an inferior remake of Final Fantasy Adventure, I propose a riot if SquareEnix announces a Secret of Mana remake. I absolutely don't trust this current Square Enix that hasn't been able to make a good Mana game in 20 years to be able to capture what made SoM special in a remake.

I replayed FFA over 10 times but couldn't force myself through Sword of Mana once. Every conversation is extremely long winded, slow, and dull. It's a classic example of more not always being better.
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You realize it's not "Square Enix" as a whole to blame, right? It's cool and easy for everyone to claim this about every game today but it's not true.

Koichi Ishii did ALL of the Mana games. He chose the genre shifts and style of the later games and, well, they sucked. But they were true to his vision and ideas for the Mana world.

He is George Lucas. He struck gold and got lucky one time, but subsequently swung and missed every time he tried to move beyond his original success.
 
I still remember this game very fondly.

Me and my best friend at the time were on an entire week vacation to a ski resort. In the day, we were skiing. But every single night until very late we would be all over this game in coop. It is funny because I remember exactly that my friend brought his super nintendo with two games. We initially began with FFVI (32 MEGABITS !!! cartridge) and then we decided to give SOM (just mere 24 megabits lol. them bits were very important back then) a shot. We never touched FFVI again for that whole week. It was all about SOM.
It might actually be the best week of my whole life as I remember every tiny details about it and it has been like 20+ years. I remember the hotel, the ski resort, the slopes we were skiing on and of course every part of that wonderfull game. One of the last dungeon with the ninjas. Those awesome awesome ninjas. Oh god I remember soo much. Flavie. My sweet little dragon all grown up. The memories, them be flowing.

It is funny because this weekend, I'm actually going to this very friend's wedding. I'm sure we will talk about those years when we had soo much time to appreciate the golden years of gaming.
 
EmreBFG said:
I loved SoM, I really did, but it sorely needs a good remake. As good as it was, the game didn't live up to its full potential since parts of it had to be cut or sized down for the cartridge. Even as a kid I thought this.

And now I have the Mana Fortress theme stuck in my head. Awesome start to a Friday!
Click to expand...

It didn't simply have "parts of it" "cut or sized down". It had one of the most popular RPGs in video game history, Chrono Trigger, de-merge from it:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=75064699#post75064699
 
I keep a little tiny soft spot in my heart for this game for a very odd reason- I was an obsessive gamer when I grew up in the 70s and early 80s and lost interest around the time of the Crash. Years later I started up again, when the SNES launched. For a good while after that, I was pretty clueless. It was still a few years before I'd access the internet, and I wasn't really aware that gaming magazines existed. I'd just go to Toys R Us or The Good Guys or whatever and look at the games until something jumped out at me. Eventually one day I was in a 7-11, and when I walked by the magazine rack I noticed a cover with a huge Sonic the Hedgehog on it. By this time I had a Genesis too, and Sonic was one of my favorite games. The magazine was EGM, and the cover story was Sonic CD. I bought it on the spot, my first gaming mag since the original Electronic Games back in the 80s. (no relation whatsoever to EGM, BTW) Anyway, that issue also had a big preview article about an upcoming game called Secret of Mana. It caught my attention because A) it looked beautiful and B) it looked like a clone of Zelda ALttP, which was probably my #1 favorite game at the time. I drooled over that preview many a time. I still have that magazine somewhere.

The sad irony is that I didn't actually play SoM until a few years later, when I bought a copy from JParish. I guess I'd waited too long... I played it maybe up to about 75% completion, and then just stopped. I remember drooling over it in the magazine a lot more than I remember actually playing it.
 
I bought it a few months back, but I haven't played it that much yet. I think I'm going to wait until winter, maybe Christmas and then play it through :)
 
Mory Dunz said:
Um, which boss is this?

I've beaten this game so many times and I don't even recognize him. Is he a side boss?
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Depending on who your main character is, you fight different final bosses.

Carlie/Kevin: Dark Lich
Duran/Angela: Dragon Emperor
Lise/Hawk: Archdemon
 
I fondly remember getting Secret of Mana from my parents for making straight-As that year (I got one game per year, and only if I did well in school). I think it was $69.99 at Toys R Us.

I used to wake up at 5:30am just to play it a little bit every morning before I had to get on the bus to school. I can't imagine waking up early to play a game now, even though I don't go into the office until 10:30am these days.
 
ElectricKaibutsu said:
I had to stifle a laugh in a restaurant.
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My goal was to take a screenshot of every funny thing said throughout the whole game using funny names, but I got distracted by something (new game probably) then when I came back to it I couldn't remember where I was supposed to be going next. Happens to me in old RPGs a lot unfortunately.
 
spekkeh said:
I could only ever finish the end boss with the Midge Mallet or Moogle Belt exploit. Was it even possible to complete the game conventionally (without endless powerleveling)? If so you guys get mad respect from my 12 year old self.
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In Secret? Sure, why couldn't you?

Are you talking about Thanatos or the Mana Beast? Because the beast is just a gimmick fight with Mana Magic. Thanatos is a pain in the ass, but if you save all your walnuts you just spam fireball and Lucent beam as usual.
 
Played for a bit today on my Wii U and it really took me back. There is such a pleasantness to the colors and design of the world. It's also the only game in the Seiken Densetsu series that really clicked with me. I think it mostly has to do with the physics of the combat. It always felt the most precise in SD2, with the hit detection on enemies feeling solid. Other games afterward had varying levels of clumsiness in this regard.

Also, flying around the world on Flammie was the ultimate mode 7 moment for me. It was quite a rush.
 
I just want to add that Spirit of the Night is one of the most evocative songs I have ever heard.

I have never played Secret of Mana or any other Mana games. I've heard the OST and it seems pretty good, but that song is just one of the best I have ever heard. It relates to me in some unknown level. Inspiring, even.

I really miss having these tropical and lush settings in video games. Everything that's a fantasy nowadays with a tight single player experience has medieval influences in some sort. I remember playing Chrono Cross and feeling how atmospheric that game was, and although some sections were just stupefying with the crazy story, I have never enjoyed a game as much as that one. I think that's why Avatar sticks to me to this day. It was so organic and different.
 
My absolute video game dream was a complete HD remake of secret of mana done with the same graphics as bastion. It would just look so incredible. That, or a secret of mana 3 game with a full story made by the bastion developers.

This has made me want to replay bastion.
 
Waaaaat. I just found out about that thread. My avatar says it all : my favorite game of all time. It's really something special for me, hard to explain. But I've beat it so many times, I know it by heart :)
Even though it's not really needed (as the original game is still so awesome), I would kill for a real, proper respectful 2D or 2.5D remake of SoM. On 3DS. In the meantime, I NEED Secret of Mana on the 3Ds eShop. This just has to happen FFS.

Favorite music for me is A Wish ~ Crystal Forest Theme... That shit, the second it starts playing gives me the chills.

One of the top comments actually says something that's pretty spot on about the game and what it makes me feel :

I want to go back in time to sitting on my living room floor, back in my old house before the bank took it from my parents, back when mom and dad had good jobs and the economy wasn't a terrible shit hole. Back before I had to pay taxes or work daily. Wake up to go to school, live for the weekends, drink soda without worrying about my teeth. Push that plastic Secret of Mana cartidge into the Super Nintendo, push the slide forward, then spend hours not caring about anything. Not a worry. Memories~
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Phat Michael said:
My absolute video game dream was a complete HD remake of secret of mana done with the same graphics as bastion. It would just look so incredible. That, or a secret of mana 3 game with a full story made by the bastion developers.

This has made me want to replay bastion.
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Please, stahp. This is too painful to know that will never happen T_T
 
The reason SOM is so timeless and beautiful is the battle system. Without random battles and turn based fighting, the game really stands strong. The ability to have real time battles and switch characters on the fly was so awesome at the time.

I loved FF6 at the time but going back now to those frequent random battles Is just so tiresome. The ring system and battles in mana were just fantastic.

Right now, secret of mana Hd remake by Super giant doing the art and an illusion of time game with the same premise would be god like.
 
This thread made me start up a new game. I'm at the crystal forest now.

So enjoyable to play. I love the music and the gameplay. Getting new orbs and magic mana seeds makes you want to grind for that completionist in me. It does get overwhelming with the amount of orbs though and one does kind of give up after a bit.
 
Am I the only one who thinks the game is too long?

This thread makes me want to play again, but I can't stomach a 25 hour quest again.
(25 hours according to how long to beat)
 
Natetan said:
This thread made me start up a new game. I'm at the crystal forest now.

So enjoyable to play. I love the music and the gameplay. Getting new orbs and magic mana seeds makes you want to grind for that completionist in me. It does get overwhelming with the amount of orbs though and one does kind of give up after a bit.
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I love the sound when you kill the bosses and how they flash red. Also loved the "got swords orb" sound.
 
danielcw said:
Am I the only one who thinks the game is too long?

This thread makes me want to play again, but I can't stomach a 25 hour quest again.
(25 hours according to how long to beat)
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the whole joch fetch quest does push itself. mighy have been nice if they cut out two mana seeds and two weapon orbs worth of game content. which basically would have meant get flammie and go straight to the underwater fortress i guess.

i did just grind all my spells to level 7 and am off to get the dryad mana seed.

after all these years i never realized how useful mp absorb is. basically dont need walnuts anymore, and can just destroy everything with magic.
 
Why is it so hard for S-E to do rereleases on every platform? It's basically free money for those guys. Mana on DS? Yes please. Mana on Vita? Yes please. Mana on PSN/XBLA? Yes please.

I could live without new translation, but would greatly appreciate it.
 
Legend of Mana was so excruciating for me after having playing SoM and SD3. It was good but it lacked many of the good things in its predecessors. I hope SE does the series justice some day.
 
danielcw said:
Am I the only one who thinks the game is too long?

This thread makes me want to play again, but I can't stomach a 25 hour quest again.
(25 hours according to how long to beat)
Click to expand...

Yes. It wasn't long enough. I'd have played another 20 hours of exploring new environments.

Note that more WAS planned, but was cut because of the Nintendo CD drama at the time.
 
jaxword said:
Yes. It wasn't long enough. I'd have played another 20 hours of exploring new environments.

Note that more WAS planned, but was cut because of the Nintendo CD drama at the time.
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You know, when I was a kid, and the SNES was my first console, I was incredibly excited for the SNES CD. I loved playing Secret of Mana. Knowing that Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger started as the same SNES CD Akira Toriyama project gives me some confidence that via Chrono Trigger, I've probably more or less seen a lot of the ideas that were planned for SOM but were cut. After all, one of the more notable parts of SOM that everyone assumes was a cut feature is an object on the world map that looks like a carousel at a carnival, and Chrono Trigger starts at a damn carnival.

I can't really get too bothered about never getting the SNES CD add-on either, having experienced a lot of unique games on the PS1 that Sony turned it into. That, and knowing that the MSU-1 is an option for BSNES/Higan and physical SNESes with flash cartridges. If people really want an expanded Secret of Mana with CD-quality music, someone needs to take the music tracks from Kikuta's Mana-based albums and hack in new areas for an MSU-1 version, since the iOS port pretty well shows that polished sprite work notwithstanding, S-E is satisfied with the game as-is.

Edit: Speaking of Hiroki Kikuta's Mana albums, did you guys know that last year Kikuta (he being the original SOM/SD3 composer, mind you) and S-E released an album last year called "Secret of Mana Genesis" that is basically a remade version of the Secret of Mana soundtrack with high-quality sequenced instruments and synths that is very much in the spirit of the original?

http://www.destructoid.com/secret-of-mana-genesis-with-composer-hiroki-kikuta-236262.phtml
http://www.square-enix.co.jp/music/sem/page/seiken2_somg/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g54I_1RMXJU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czj0QzbQ564
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/secret-mana-genesis-arrange/id548354190

I feel like that should probably be somewhere in the original post. (And here's to hoping that the remade soundtrack winds up in a future port?)
 
So I'm right before the mana fortress. I always run out of steam here. I think part of it is that so many of the top items are random drops from enemies which is a total boring grind. I mean yeah grinding in this game is pretty fun most of the time, but even i have my limits.

Really drives me nuts when an enemy uses your own strategy against ie cornering you and just continuing to hit you when you cant move.

Would have been fun if they had made some cool event for each of the final weapon orbs and armor instead of just flinging them all as random drops (two for some weapons!). Both chrono trigger and ffvi had really fun end game stuff where you can fly around the world and get awesome stuff. Too bad they didnt do that more. Most places in the game after you go through them once you dont really need to go back again. Would have been fun to have more of a reason to go back to those places once you have flammie.

Basically up until joch fetch quest the game is great. Then the mana fortress and pure land are good. I never really liked the mana fortress. It's cool seeing it move around the map while you fly, but I never really understood why it exists or why you fight a mana beast as a final boss.
 
I am Christina Aguilera said:
You know, when I was a kid, and the SNES was my first console, I was incredibly excited for the SNES CD. I loved playing Secret of Mana. Knowing that Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger started as the same SNES CD Akira Toriyama project gives me some confidence that via Chrono Trigger, I've probably more or less seen a lot of the ideas that were planned for SOM but were cut. After all, one of the more notable parts of SOM that everyone assumes was a cut feature is an object on the world map that looks like a carousel at a carnival, and Chrono Trigger starts at a damn carnival.
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Hah, good point :).

I can't really get too bothered about never getting the SNES CD add-on either, having experienced a lot of unique games on the PS1 that Sony turned it into. That, and knowing that the MSU-1 is an option for BSNES/Higan and physical SNESes with flash cartridges. If people really want an expanded Secret of Mana with CD-quality music, someone needs to take the music tracks from Kikuta's Mana-based albums and hack in new areas for an MSU-1 version, since the iOS port pretty well shows that polished sprite work notwithstanding, S-E is satisfied with the game as-is.

Edit: Speaking of Hiroki Kikuta's Mana albums, did you guys know that last year Kikuta (he being the original SOM/SD3 composer, mind you) and S-E released an album last year called "Secret of Mana Genesis" that is basically a remade version of the Secret of Mana soundtrack with high-quality sequenced instruments and synths that is very much in the spirit of the original?

http://www.destructoid.com/secret-of-mana-genesis-with-composer-hiroki-kikuta-236262.phtml
http://www.square-enix.co.jp/music/sem/page/seiken2_somg/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g54I_1RMXJU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czj0QzbQ564
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/secret-mana-genesis-arrange/id548354190

I feel like that should probably be somewhere in the original post. (And here's to hoping that the remade soundtrack winds up in a future port?)
Click to expand...
Whoa, no I definitely didn't know about this. I'll add it to the OP.
 
Fantastic thread. I never got particularly far in Mana, but I did really like what I plated.

I was frustrated years back when I picked it up for a dollar, only to realize that I had actually gotten Secret of Evermore and confused the two, as I often still do. A good game, sure, but not Mana.
 
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