Secret of Mana – Best Multiplayer RPG
Along with Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI, Secret of Mana formed a trifecta of RPG perfection on the Super Nintendo that I have yet to see be duplicated in the 20 odd years since. While not the strongest of the three, it offered something completely different, multiplayer. These three games are why Square was, and still is held in such high regard. Though sadly, they’re a shadow of their former selves.
While Chrono and FFVI had a traditional battle style, Mana was completely real time, much like a Zelda game, but with more RPG elements layered over it. Players started the game with only one character, the hero (I named mine Goku.) Eventually he had a girl and genderless sprite join him. Each character was equal enough in strength, but different enough to offer a unique play style. When playing alone, you could easily switch between characters while the other two were computer controlled. Players could join in, controlling the other characters. This was a little problematic as the console only had 2 controller ports. The stupid multitap was needed for three.
The party used 8 different weapons that each character could level up and master: sword, axe, spear, bow, glove, whip, boomerang, and javelin. Some were better than others. Magic was also a large part of the game. As players freed elements, they gained access to their power: water, fire, wind, earth, dark, light, moon, and life. The boy used no magic, but was stronger with weapons and leveled them faster. The girl and the sprite were the only two to use magic. The girl’s was more healing oriented while the sprite was more combat centric.
Another feature of the game that set it appart was the circle menu. When players brought up the menu, it formed a circle of icons around the player. It was intuitive and fun to use. Other than Secret of Evermore and a few of the Mana games, it’s rarely been used since. Another difference was how the world was traversed. With the exception of continents, all the maps were connected, meaning there was no overworld map to prance around on after you exited a town. To expedite this, later in the game you can summon a dragon named Falcor Flammie to fly around the world.
Gameplay is always king, which is proven here. I don’t remember anything about the story. Even reading over the ‘plot’ (I use that term loosely) description, it’s very vanilla. The characters are nameless, with almost no personality. Something about killing some evil something. Doesn’t matter. One of the better moments, the final battle, requires both the sprite and girl to cast a spell on the boy, turning the sword into the legendary Mana sword. How could you not feel like a badass?
In Japan, the game is known as Seiken Densetsu 2, or Legend of the Holy Sword 2. The first game was released on the Gameboy in the States as Final Fantasy Adventure. The gameplay set the standard for the Mana series, but wasn’t perfected until Secret. The original was eventually remade on Gameboy Advance as Sword of Mana. It was passable. The next and last true game of the series, Seiken Densetsu 3, was never released outside Japan, though fan translations exist. There have been a few more Mana games since then, like Legend or Heroes of Mana, but it’s been a pretty steady plummet in quality. The gameplay has gone straight out the window, with new entries ranging from dungeon crawlers to tactical RPGs. None are really worth the time.
Thankfully, the original Secret of Mana has been released on the Wii’s Virtual Console. Now it’s easy to play through the game with 3 players (something I’ve never done). Avoid the IOS version, it’s almost impossible to control. This game is completely worth the time and investment. And it’s not difficult either, letting less game inclined people join in. I loved playing this game with my friends as a kid and look forward to doing so again.
Did you play Secret of Mana on the SNES or VC? What’s your least favorite weapon (javelin, hated that thing)? Comment below!
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I played the game for 6 hours without saving and died. May or may not have broken the controller.
Seeing as I was the first to read this, other than Anthony of course, I shall comment first and say. “Splendid review. I’ve only played this game briefly as a young teen, but didn’t stick to it long after getting my hands on another title that won me over. I would however like to revisit and actually compete it some day.
It’s definitely worth playing, even now. Hope on the VC and download it, you won’t be disappointed! It makes me long for the days when gameplay was king, which this has in spades.
I have played Sword of Mana, but didn’t get too far in it. I remember liking Children of Mana on the DS.
Other than the three SNES games, every Mana game was different, and in my opinion, worse. Legend of Mana on PS1 was decent. This is definitely worth playing. The other games, not so much.
I guess that’s really up to your taste in RPGs. I honestly find Final Fantasy to be one of the dullest game experiences I’ve ever had. Secret of Mana was fun, but I wouldn’t consider a top 10 or even top 20 RPG.
Which Final Fantasy’s have you played? With so many entries into the series, they’re not all winners. Secret of Mana was more about the gameplay. I don’t think many modern games compare as this is more unique.
I’ve played all the Final Fantasy games. I hate them all equally. The 13 series being the worst of them. As far as the gameplay of Secret of Mana goes it was alright I guess, but the game itself is forgettable to me.
My favorite RPGs have more customization and deeper stories. Most of my favorite games are from the 90’s, but there are some gems today. Dragon Age Origins and The Witcher series are all I can think of for right now.
Final Fantasy games are all the same. Sure the story is different, but every installment suffers from bad dialogue. cheesy/predictable characters. and little to no customization. That and it’s way to anime inspired for my taste.
When you say played, did you dabble or complete? I only ask because, if you hated them so much, why bother playing any past a few? Sound like you’re not a fan of JRPGs. I only say that because the FF games are primarily the archetype for the genre.
What are some of your favorite RPGs? I’d like to understand your P.O.V.
I played through parts 7,10,13,13-2, and 13-3 and I’ve put a few hours into the rest of them. I got to the end of the game in part 9 and called it quits.
I like some JRPGS. Just not Final Fantasy. Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon were good games.
Games like Dragon Age Origins, Divinity, Planetscape, and Baldur’s Gate could be considered among my favorite classic games.
Games like Skyrim, and The Witcher are among my favorite modern RPGs.
And the answer to your question is I played them because my friends would recommend them to me. If a JRPG can make sense and have decent dialogue than I could see myself enjoying it. Final Fantasy has none of those things and it is the most repetitive combat I’ve ever played in a game.
Well there’s your problem, you’ve played some of the worst entries in the series. The 13’s are all terrible. I enjoyed 10 a great deal, but I could see it being divisive. As for 7, it’s very much a game of it’s time. I put a post up about it last week. At the time, everything it did was considered groundbreaking. Now, those same touted features are considered annoying, and left behind. Unless you played that before 2001, I don’t see you enjoying it.
Everything past 7 was diminishing returns, so I completely understand the series leaving a bad taste in your mouth. I think 6 is the best entry in the series. If you already have a negative outlook, this isn’t likely to change it so I can’t really recommend it. But, if you ever want to consider, try 6 (go for the PSN version).
It’s funny, Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon (which I didn’t care for) were both created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the man who created Final Fantasy. Granted, he didn’t have much to do with the titles past 7 I believe. It’s odd you’d enjoy he’s latter work but not his earlier.
Sounds like you have a great list of some top notch RPGs though!
I played Final Fantasy 6 and hated it to be completely honest with you. I’m just not into Final Fantasy. Almost a year ago I wrote my reasons why I don’t like the games if you’re interesting in reading it.
http://drakulus.com/2013/08/25/my-thoughts-on-final-fantasy/
I could have added a lot more to that article if I wanted to, but I think everyone gets my point :].
I like how you took the time to thoughtfully articulate why you don’t appreciate those games. Though I can’t agree with you on many points, I can see where you’re coming from and don’t fault your logic.
Everyone has a different opinion, that’s what makes conversation so interesting! It would be boring if we all thought the same. I’m glad you’re able to rationally and respectfully state a different opinion. I don’t see that too often on the internet so I wanted to take the time to say thank you.
I look back fondly on the FF games I did enjoy, and remember the emotions it generated for me, the awe, the frustration, the sense of accomplishment, and more. While the FF game obviously don’t ignite the same feelings for you, I hope there’s a game that does. 🙂
There are many games that do. I try my best to play every genre there is. I do sort of like the FF MMOs and I love FF tactics. I just don’t like the core series itself.
I’ve learned there’s too much good to waste your time with the bland. I’d avoid any more mainline games if I were you.
I’ll give any game a at least one chance lol. I don’t just play RPGs. Actually my favorite genre right now has to be strategy games. Followed by FPS games [ not COD or Battlefield].
I try to play what interests me. About the only thing I don’t like is bro shooters and sports titles. RPGs are just my bread and butter.
I love sports, RPGS, shooters, music, and a whole lot more. I don’t like to restrict myself to one genre.
I don’t either. makes you limited.
I played an english-patched ROM of Seiken Densetsu 3 before I played Secret of Mana, so I wasn’t too high on this game when I finally tried it. Everything good in this game was simply better in the sequel, and I still think that this is on the top of the list of games that should have been released internationally.
I’ve heard the third entry was easily the pinnacle. I don’t know why they did so many experimentally games with the series afterwards. As my only taste of the true series mechanics, I enjoyed it.
If you enjoyed SoM, you’ll definitely enjoy SD3. In my opinion, that game holds up to this day pretty well.
My only problem with that is the added hoops I’d need to jump through. I suppose I’ll add it to the ever growing “list.”
So, I had this long comment typed out and then the browser told me the comment could not be posted, LOL.
Anyway, I agree – this was a great write-up about a game that is fantastic to play, even today. As a whole, too, I find the Mana series to be vastly underrated and there are great games for it that people just never seem to have played. Like, Legend of Mana on the PS1 – I found that one had a great story. And Sword of Mana, which was a remake of the original Final Fantasy Adventure (TECHNICALLY the first game released in the series), was amazing because it brought the flavor of the two SNES Mana games into a remake of the classic adventure.
Have you ever played this game’s follow up that was released in Japan as “Seiken Densetsu 3?” It came out in 1995 on the Super Famicom/SNES in Japan, and obviously has been fan-translated since. Sadly, it never got officially localized, but it is worth playing if you can get your hands on it (I won’t mention how, but you can figure that out). It has multiple character arcs to play the game through as, which is wonderful. 🙂
Thank you for reading my post. I’m glad you enjoyed it. I enjoyed Legend of Mana, though it seemed to be a completely different game from the ones on SNES. Yes, I played the FF Adventure games. They always stuck out as odd to me when I was younger, until I found out they were Mana games.
Thegaminggeek suggested the same thing. I’d love to play it. With two of you recommending, I might have to make the time to play.
SD3, as another person here has noted, is much different. The gameplay is the same, but the graphics and music are much better, and the fact that there are multiple story arcs to enjoy is great too.
Sword of Mana though redoes FF Adventure, and makes it much closer to the usual Mana experience, so it is definitely worth playing. In fact, since I own the game, I might actually just do a live-stream or Let’s Play series on that one – I think it could be a lot of fun to record 🙂
That was one thing I thought Secret of Mana was lacking, story arcs, or story really. The characters seemed pretty bland overall.
I haven’t played any of the Mana games past Legend on PS1. A live stream would be pretty fun. 🙂
Imagine SoM but with 6 different characters. You can choose any of the 6 to be the main character – their stories start differently, and they have different end game bosses and endings as well. You get to choose another two of the six to be your party members – their own stories will be intertwined with your main character’s. For each character, you have a class tree that goes up to three levels – you start as the beginner class, get to choose between an upgraded Light or Dark class, and from there get another choice between Light or Dark (so you’ll be either Light-Light, Light-Dark, Dark-Light, or Dark-Dark).
I replayed SD3 from start to end a lot of times, each time choosing a different main character, different supporting characters, and different end classes for each character. That’s how good Seiken Densetsu 3 was.
I must admit, that does sound enticing. Choosing the different characters is sounds similar to what Dragon Age employed. I’ve always been interested with that concept in games. The branching scenario paths in FFVI was one of my favorites. I know Sage Frontier tried to do something similar, as did Wild Arms. The former was terrible and the latter use the concept briefly.
I could see how easily this encouraged multiple play-throughs. Hmmmm, you are certainly tempting me.