Desperately seeking Seiken Densetsu 3/Secret of Mana 2

[kale]

So, I apologize in advance if this type of post is not allowed.

I'm pretty new to the whole repros scene, though I'm a long time retro gamer. I have been searching far and wide for an English reproduction of Seiken Densetsu 3 (on a cartridge, not a ROM). I know such things exist as I have seen many images or mentions of them, but have yet to find a place where I could actually buy one.

So here's what's going on: my little brother recently enlisted in the military, he's being shipped abroad after Christmas, his favorite in the world growing up was the Mana series. I wanted to get him the game he was never able to play as a kid, since he's taking the SNES with him. Thus far I have managed to find a place to get everything else I wanted, including a totally unexpected copy of Radical Dreamers for my sister (thanks gamereproductions.com!!), but absolutely not Seiken Densetsu 3.

I've tried to PM pootle about it, but his box, unexpectedly, is full.
Any help would be most appreciated and a life saver!!! Thanks.

-K

[sgxftwx]

this is the only one I could find, and the cheapest too. Also its japanese(not sure if they made a US version)

http://cgi.ebay.com/SFC-SNES-SEIKEN-...item53de04276f

[gokugohandave]

Secret of Mana is Seiken Densetsu 2 in Japan. Seiken Densetsu 3 is Secret of Mana 2 in Japan, but never came to the states. Sword of Mana is the first one, and never came to the states, until the GBA release.

That auction is for the japanese version of Secret of Mana, not Secret of Mana 2, which never came to the us and is called Seiken Densetsu 3 in Japan. There is a thread in classic gaming called "my recent repro carts", read and enjoy.

[badinsults]

If you go for the SFC cart, keep in mind that Japanese SFC RPGs are like Madden games in the US. They get remade and re-released so often that you can buy the carts for a buck or two now.

[Leo_A]

Why not buy him a SuperNes Powerpak cart? Then you can load the rom and everything else besides a few exceptions (Such as the SuperFX titles), and then he will be able to play this on real hardware and have a lot of other games available without bringing multiple cartridges along.

[Aussie2B]

Sword of Mana is the first one, and never came to the states, until the GBA release.

Yeah it did, as Final Fantasy Adventure on Game Boy.

If you go for the SFC cart, keep in mind that Japanese SFC RPGs are like Madden games in the US. They get remade and re-released so often that you can buy the carts for a buck or two now.

Not so much Seiken Densetsu 3, though, given that it never was remade/ported, never left Japan, and is fairly in-demand by Westerners. I'd imagine it's cheaper in Japan, but Americans trying to buy it online will usually have to pay 20-40 bucks for a complete copy.

[Ze_ro]

I'm pretty sure the OP is looking for an english translated reproduction, NOT a Japanese language SFC cartridge....

--Zero

[gokugohandave]

Aussie forgot about FF Adventure, I even have it. Yeah he is looking for an english repro but I only know of a few people thatll do that one, shadowkn55, pootle, Lios and Kogami? I forget his name.

[badinsults]

Not so much Seiken Densetsu 3, though, given that it never was remade/ported, never left Japan, and is fairly in-demand by Westerners. I'd imagine it's cheaper in Japan, but Americans trying to buy it online will usually have to pay 20-40 bucks for a complete copy.

Although that may be true, you can almost always see Seiken Densetsu 3 in those cheap SFC cart lots that pop up all the time on Ebay. The game was a huge seller, and you should not pay $10 for a cart only copy.

[kale]

Thanks for the replies so far everybody. Hi Ze_ro, yeah, I'm looking for an English reproduction cart. I'm trying to find someone who would other be willing to make it or sell it for me. And of course, I'm willing to pay.

I assume you actually need a Super Famicon to play original SD3 carts in Japanese? We do not yet have one, and while it'd be awesome, it seems to me that an RPG would be a particularly difficult thing to play in Japanese. Will SFC carts play on anything else? Like say, the FC twin?

Thanks!

[kale]

Yeah, Pootle's box is full and I hear that he's generally really hard to get ahold of, and understandibly so given what I've seen of his work.

I haven't yet PMed shadowkn55 or Lios, thanks for giving me their names. Kogami's work I've seen and he's amazing!! But does he do English translations? I guess I'll ask and find out.

[Aussie2B]

I assume you actually need a Super Famicon to play original SD3 carts in Japanese? We do not yet have one, and while it'd be awesome, it seems to me that an RPG would be a particularly difficult thing to play in Japanese. Will SFC carts play on anything else? Like say, the FC twin?

You can actually play Japanese games on a US SNES very easily. There's no regional lockout in the hardware or the software, so the only thing stopping you are the plastic tabs inside the cartridge slot since SFC games don't have slots in the back of the carts like SNES games do. You can either use some kind of pass-through device or simply remove the tabs, which are so soft that you can just bend them back and forth with a pair of needle nose pliers and they'll break apart bit by bit.

[stonecutter]

Aussie2B is correct about the tabs, I have done this on a US SNES so I could play SD3 as well. Though I didn't play much, as you say, playing a japanese rpg when you can't speak the language is not great in my books

[Leo_A]

I'm not sure what good telling someone how they can play a Japanese rpg in their American console is. The inexensive nature of that particular import or how to get it to work correctly in a American console hardly matters when the game would be unplayable anyways due to the language barrier.

I'm unsure why I'm bothering since my first message was ignored, but I suggest you look into RetroZone's Super Nintendo Powerpak. It's a reprogrammable Super Nintendo multicart that would allow him to have 99% of the Super Nintendo library on a single cartridge (If you selected for a DSP-1 chip to be installed, there is perhaps ~20 US releases that wouldn't work on it) and play them on real hardware.

For just a little more than would you'd likely pay to get a reproduction made of just 1 game if you actually found someone that would produce it, he'd only have to drag 1 cartridge with him overseas with basically the entire SuperNes/SuperFamicom library at his fingertips. He'd be able to load the translated Secret of Mana 2 rom on it, play the Japanese rom if he wanted to play a rpg where he didn't understand a single word for some odd reason, any other rpg translations, and pretty much anything else he'd want to play.

http://www.retrousb.com/product_info...products_id=84

http://www.retrousb.com/downloads/in...ilitylist.html

[Aussie2B]

I'm not sure what good telling someone how they can play a Japanese rpg in their American console is. The inexensive nature of that particular import or how to get it to work correctly in a American console hardly matters when the game would be unplayable anyways due to the language barrier.

Well, one, he asked about what can play Super Famicom games, which is knowledge that can be applied to completely textless games in the future as well, and, two, if I and countless other gamers have played Japanese RPGs without knowing the language, then they're hardly unplayable. Not only are there plenty of FAQs out there, but Japanese RPGs are largely pretty predictable. There's rarely much that can't be passed by simply talking to all the NPCs in a town and spending a couple minutes of trial and error to figure out a battle system. Plenty of RPG players are more interested in battling and exploring than the storyline, so there's no reason to not give a Japanese RPG a chance. Especially something like Seiken Densetsu 3 which is action-based, and, honestly, I'd consider it more of an adventure game than an RPG. It's more akin to Zelda than Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest.

In the end, it's up to each individual person to decide how important having a game in English is to them, but there's no harm in presenting all the available options. It doesn't help anyone to act like these options shouldn't even be brought up.

[Arkhan]

Sword of Mana is the first one, and never came to the states, until the GBA release.

See: Final Fantasy Adventure for GBA.

close enough. rofl.



OP : How is that radical dreamers cart? kinda want one!

[kainemaxwell]

If you go for the SFC cart, keep in mind that Japanese SFC RPGs are like Madden games in the US. They get remade and re-released so often that you can buy the carts for a buck or two now.

Still worth collecting for personal reasons then?

[badinsults]

Still worth collecting for personal reasons then?

Oh certainly, if you enjoy collecting SFC games, by all means (I have a bunch myself). But an SFC RPG that is cart only is not worth $10. I mean, SFC cart only games are really cheap, so it might be a great way to accumulate games.

[Aussie2B]

Practically anything cart-only for Super Famicom is significantly cheaper than complete because you'll find games complete more often than not so loose games are fairly undesirable. There's just a different mindset on this matter in Japan. In America, unless you're talking about collectors, most people threw away the cardboard packaging that came with cart-based games, but even the most casual of Japanese players usually keep the packaging around. I mean, in the US you'd usually get the same money for a game loose or complete if you brought it in to a GameStop or what have you, but I think stores generally pay based on condition in Japan so there's incentive right there.

[mobiusclimber]

That might be true of Gamestop, but for cart only classic games that price does shoot up if you have it complete.

It's also incorrect to say that loose SFC carts are never worth more than $10. Tell that to people who own Rendering Ranger or Fire Emblem 777 Thracia or Umihara Kawase or whatever. There are plenty of SFC games that are more expensive than $10 for the cart only. Just because there's a ton of games that AREN'T worth that much doesn't mean there aren't many that ARE. I hate to use the example but take a look at the NES. Tons of games for the system that are only $1 or $2, but you wouldn't say "you can get any cart only NES game for $2 or less" would you?

If TC is really hard up for this game and doesn't want the PowerPak, there's someone selling a repro of this game on the marketplace forum here for $100.