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SECRET OF MANA Company: Enix Released: October 1993 Genre: Action RPG Graphics: 8.5 Control: 8.5 Sound/Music: 8.5 Storyline: 8.0 Review by: Corbie Dillard ©2008 SUPER-NES.COM

As action-rpgs began to gain in popularity with the Legend of Zelda series, other companies began cashing in on this new trend. Some were good, and some not so good. Enix had already created a hit with their action rpg, Soul Blazer, and it seemed only natural for the other big gun in the rpg world to follow suit. Thus was born Secret of Mana. A combination of the epic square storylines coupled together with this suddenly popular action-style combat. The result: a stunningly original and action-packed rpg for the ages. Square rpgs, as a whole, have generally always been visually stunning. Secret of Mana carries on this tradition with some pretty impressive graphics. Areas are very colorful and have a slightly more "cartoony" look than most other Square rpgs. It's easy to see that Secret of Mana's visuals do share a few similarities to Legend of Zelda, while at the same time it seems to also have a style all its' own. Villages, forests, caves, and palaces are all vibrant and detailed, although the level of variety isn't quite in the same category as a Final Fantasy game. Secret of Mana looks pretty much like you'd expect a light-hearted action rpg from Square to look like, and it shows that Square obviously took their foray into the action-rpg market pretty seriously. Not the best looking game Square released for the Super NES, but impressive still. I've always been a big Square rpg soundtrack fan, but Secret of Mana's music just doesn't impress me the way Square's tunes normally do. Now before you begin sending me more nasty emails, I still think it has a good soundtrack, just not quite on par with Square's usual work. Some tracks resemble the style of Chrono Trigger but just never quite reach that high level of quality. Needless to say the music serves it's purpose and there are at least a handful of tunes that I genuinely enjoyed. Maybe my standards have gotten too high since playing Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy III. Good but not outstanding. As I mentioned above, up until the time Secret of Mana was released, the majority of Square's rpgs were turn-based style. Mana represented a new direction for Square and they pulled it off surprisingly well. You basically have several different types of weapons ranging from swords to spears. When you swing your weapon it hits at full strength if it's fully charged up. Once you've swung it, it has to charge back up to 100%. If you swing before it's fully charged your hit won't do as much damage. This aspect of the combat system makes the game more strategic. You can't just go into this one hacking and slashing. The game also utilizes a new "ring" system. If you press a certain button on your SNES controller you can pull up the ring menus. From here you can quickly and easily select items, equip weapons, and even configure the game's setting to your liking all with one push of a button. The bosses in the game generally all have a set attack and movement pattern so defeating these guys requires not only some agility with the control pad, but also some strategy as well. Although I didn't like the control system as much as the hack and slash of Zelda, I did appreciate it for the strategy it added to the usual action-rpg style of play. Bottom line is Secret of Mana is a great playing game. Although the storyline isn't quite as epic as Square's Final Fantasy series of games, it still offers a fairly long and engaging quest that should keep rpg fans busy for awhile. Secret of Mana manages to take the action-rpg stylings of Legend of Zelda, and add that trademark Square feel to it. So even though this is an action-rpg, it somehow manages to feel a little like a standard rpg due to the increased strategetic elements of the game. The action combat stylings of this game may take some gamers a little time to get used to, but in the end what you're left with is a great action-rpg that will leave you feeling quite satisfied when you've finished it. If you're an rpg fan, you don't want to miss this one.