Constant Limit

Another great hit from Squaresoft, Secret of Mana follows the story of a young boy who reenacts the similar Excalibur/Pandora’s Box where he pulls out an old rusted sword that he finds stuck in a rock in a waterfall (Excalibur) releasing evil from the sword (Pandora’s Box). The evil was sealed within the old sword and now threatens the Mana Tree, which is the source of life in the world. You must fight against the forces of Thanatos, who has discovered the evil’s reawakening and is planning to exploit the unleashed evil to destroy the Mana Tree.

Final Fantasy + Zelda = Secret of Mana

An easy comparison to make about this game is that it is the result of taking Final Fantasy’s levels/experience and pairing it up with Zelda’s action gameplay. In Secret of Mana you control the hero similar to Link in Zelda in that you fight enemies in real-time rather than the traditional turn-based method found in Final Fantasy. In order to make the gameplay quick and responsive, Final Fantasy’s menu system has been replaced with a circular/ring system that allows the player to easily access everything that they need without taking them away from the action.

Music: 9

The music is well done, as expected from Squaresoft. Some notable tunes include the boss fight theme and the Dark Lich theme.

You can follow the links here to listen to them:

Boss Music Theme

Dark Lich Theme

Mana Fortress

Graphics: 9

Several of the magic spells look really nice, especially the level 8 ones. There are some really large enemies that occupy the entire screen includings slimes and the final boss, the Mana Beast. The color pallete is bright and cheery and keeps the overall mood of the game positive.

Gameplay: 9

You can easily switch between characters and each one attack similarly. The AI (artificial intelligence) for the other party members lets you set to them to be offensive and defensive depending on the current situation. The weapon orbs are really fun to get because you can upgrade your weapons and increase their strength. The one major problem that I have noticed is trying to charge your weapon to level 8, which takes too long. Using magic against enemies is faster and does just as much damage.

Overall: 9

A really good game to Squaresoft’s version of the Zelda series (IMO). Although Secret of Mana is not as popular, it still proves that Squaresoft is capable of creating good title besides Final Fantasy.