Secret of Mana (Super Nintendo)

https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2016/12/12/secret-of-mana-super-nintendo/

I've always found it a bit odd how game series are sometimes reorganized as they make their way from Japan to Europe or North America. Take Secret of Mana for instance. It was originally released in Japan as Seiken Denetsu 2 which of course was the sequel to Seiken Denetsu. Seiken Denetsu, however, was released in North America as Final Fantasy Adventure and in Europe as Mystic Quest.

Secret of Mana is an action RPG developed by Square for the Super Nintendo. Like many such games of the time it features an overhead perspective. I've always liked this POV for RPGs going back even further to games like the Gold Box AD&D series which also featured a top down perspective, at least for parts. Combat is a sort of real-time, turn-based hybrid. One particularly unique aspect of Secret of Mana is its multiplayer capability. A second or even third player can join in at any time. There are three characters that the player (or players) can control at any time. Two are controlled by the computer during single player activity but the player can switch characters any time.

The plot of Secret of Mana is a rather complicated affair. Ultimately, it is about the battle of technology vs. magic, of which mana is the source. As a side note, Secret of Mana was originally intended to be a launch title for the Super NES CD-ROM add-on. When that device ended up not being released, up to 40% of the game was cut so that it could fit on a cartridge. Many of the developers did not even want to continue the project when they learned that a CD-ROM version was not a possibility. All things considered, it's good that management chose to continue the project. Despite whatever was cut, Secret of Mana ends up being an excellent game and one that any JRPG or Square fan should love.

Fortunately, this game has seen numerous re-releases that make it a little easier to find and play. An enhanced iOS version was released in 2010 and an Android version in 2014. The original version was released for the Wii U's Virtual Console in 2013. A port for the Nintendo Switch was released in 2019 as part of the Collection of Mana. In addition, it was one of the games included on the Super NES Classic Edition released in 2017. In any case, this is definitely a game you should check out though my preference will always be for the original SNES version.