Secret of mana, another unfinished classic?

[Aussie2B]

I honestly have to wonder if that 40% quote was referring to file size, not something nebulous and hard to apply a percentage to like "content". And we all know that the biggest eaters of data on CD games in that era were things like redbook audio and FMV. It's very possible that we didn't lose much in terms of sprites, areas, and things that involve actual gameplay. Theoretically, we could've lost story told through FMV, but games of this kind back then always told the majority of their story with in-game text and sprites. A CD version of Secret of Mana may have been very similar, just a little flashier, like Sega CD versions of regular Genesis games.

It'd be great if somebody could dig up the source of the quote and those who understand Japanese could have another crack at it to see if anything's been lost in translation.

[SparTonberry]

Some of the marketing for FF7 had a fair bit of spite in it (the picture of the Junon Cannon/Sister Ray with the caption "Bring the guys who make cartridge games a cigarette and a blindfold" comes to mind).

Was that Square or was that Sony's responsibility? I think Sony would've had a hit bit more hostility towards Nintendo than Square.

[WulfeLuer]

I...actually haven't see the whole ad in person. I've seen a few scans of it floating around, but oddly the magazine or trade it seemed to be omitted. It was a direct screenshot, so even if the ad was by Sony (who did have a beef and was now a direct competitor) I have a rough time seeing it getting published with at least tacit approval by Square.

I'm not really trying to say that the whole fiasco began a wholesale corporate insurrection by Square against Nintendo (though it did start Sony's feud). Just that it was a very prominent link in the chain leading to the future split. it's a fair bet that it did have some effect on localization of other properties ("Well Nintendo will want to censor the crap out of this and that, and now we'll have to gut the thing too, not worth it for a few bucks from those gaijin twits").

[Edmond Dantes]

I'm surprised no one has pointed out the games biggest issue, imo, enemies who are attacked and receive damage are immune to damage for the next couple of seconds.

That's only because for some reason you're required to wait a second between attacks. Not sure why they made it that way but its clearly intentional.

I'm surprised something like thiis was overlooked as when getting 100% or having a charged bar only for your attack to bounce the enemy backwards with no damage, it's really a huge oversight. You're basically forced to to wait for an ally to attack and then wait until the enemy lands and starts moving to make sure neither you or an ally wastes an attack.

THIS however I have never noticed. In fact in my experience, I've seen cases where one attack registers, the enemy gets hitstunned... then the minute they come out of hitstun the other attack registers and they go into hitstun again, if the second attack doesn't kill them.

Plus there's the whole easily beating bosses by just constantly casting a spell on them while they're in hitstun, which seems to argue against this invulnerability you've noticed.

In general I haven't had a lot of the bugs people have complained about. I've had the pathfinding get characters stuck but never in a way where I couldn't just go back a screen and get them back to me, and I never had the sprite disappear on me at all. Though I think this is a case where the game had multiple revisions and I had a later one (Final Fantasy VI had that as well, where there's glitches you can do with Relm's paint ability to get items, but this glitch was fixed in later printings).

Oh, and people who hate Secret of Mana have no heart. Yeah the story is cliche at times but honestly the "everything must be original!" mindset is sometimes blinding. Back then, having any sort of focused plot at all was novel.

[Haoie]

IMO Seiken Densetsu 3 is a thousand times better. It's just so much more refined.

[celerystalker]

I've never been a fan. I own it, and have since it was current, but it just kinda dragged for me with levelling weapons for different characters and such. It was kind of in the back seat for me, as I much preferred Zelda, Soul Blazer, Illusion of Gaia, Brain Lord, and even Lagoon for similar games on the system. I was pretty pumped to try its multi-player component, but it just wasn't as much my deal in the end. I should give it a shake again soon... I bet it's been 15 years since last time I tried digging into it again.

A brief aside, I always kinda resented how Mana banged Nintendo Power and got it pregnant with, like, three straight issues of massive coverage.

[Aussie2B]

The funny thing about that Nintendo Power coverage is that it was well after the game came out. They barely cared at all about Secret of Mana at first. I guess later they must've had a slow period with nothing notable to cover, and maybe the counselors were getting tons of questions about Secret of Mana.

[celerystalker]

Yeah, it was weird, and when they decided to go in on it, they went bananas.

Another funny thing... even though I don't particularly care for the game, I loved its rain forest cover art. At one point, I framed the poster it came with and had it on my wall for years. Visitors would always comment on it, and reminisce about the game, and I'd make some exaggerated joke about how it sucked and the poster was the only good thing about it.

[Aussie2B]

Yeah, Hiro Isono really was an amazing talent. Here's some of his other work: http://visualmelt.com/Hiro-Isono

It's a damn shame that the art is zoomed in and blurry on the title screen of the American and European versions of Secret of Mana. It's a lot more striking in Seiken Densetsu 2.

[celerystalker]

Yeah, Hiro Isono really was an amazing talent. Here's some of his other work: http://visualmelt.com/Hiro-Isono

It's a damn shame that the art is zoomed in and blurry on the title screen of the American and European versions of Secret of Mana. It's a lot more striking in Seiken Densetsu 2.

I really like his color choices, which really give a rich, almost damp feel to his forestry, and the darker backgrounds make it feel like anything could be in the depths. That sort of detail and richness really make me feel like a kid, when my imagination wasn't as bound and wondered what could be behind those trees.

[SparTonberry]

That's only because for some reason you're required to wait a second between attacks. Not sure why they made it that way but its clearly intentional.

I've assumed they didn't want the player spamming the attack button.

[WulfeLuer]

I always loved the critters, the locations, and the amazing soundtrack. The Ice Palace was a particular standout; yes it was fairly generic castle fare with a different coat of paint, but something about it and the wondrous "A Bell Is Tolling" just made me wander back even without monsters to farm with. Matango was a nifty idea for a town, the 'Ruins' were actually spooky, and the Mana Fortress (with "Leave Time For Love") is still very high among my list of favorite final dungeons.

And this was the game that threw killer chairs and books at me, that was always good for some laughs.

[kainemaxwell]

Yeah, Hiro Isono really was an amazing talent. Here's some of his other work: http://visualmelt.com/Hiro-Isono

It's a damn shame that the art is zoomed in and blurry on the title screen of the American and European versions of Secret of Mana. It's a lot more striking in Seiken Densetsu 2.

I would have bought a flammie plush in a hot minute. A lot of the art of him made him look plush-like. 😎

[WulfeLuer]

I'll take a Flammie, a Black Rabite, a Captain Duck (whatever the hell their name was), and if I ever start trading online again, a Mr. Moti for the pics. Somewhere out on the interwebz is a way to make that dream come true at the low low cost of one firstborn.

[SparTonberry]

I would have bought a flammie plush in a hot minute. A lot of the art of him made him look plush-like. 😎

S-E hasn't made them already? That's a surprise.
(though I guess they were focused on the more "mascot-ish" FF characters: Chocobo, Moogle, Tonberry and Cactaur)

[Kid Fenris]

I really like his color choices, which really give a rich, almost damp feel to his forestry, and the darker backgrounds make it feel like anything could be in the depths. That sort of detail and richness really make me feel like a kid, when my imagination wasn't as bound and wondered what could be behind those trees.

If you're in Japan or on good terms with someone who is, you can try ordering Secret of Mana posters from Hiro Isono's website. Isono himself passed away in 2013, but someone apparently kept the site going and filled orders as recently as last year.

There's no guarantee that it's still valid, but a poster like that might be worth the risk.

[parallaxscroll]

lots of unused data https://tcrf.net/Secret_of_Mana_(SNES).

Even though I would love to see what Secret of Mana was like on the SNES CD, the released game was wonderful.

Here are a couple of magazine previews (Electronic Gaming Monthly and Super NES Buyer's Guide) under the title Final Fantasy Adventure 2.


http://i.imgur.com/AFEzvTX.jpg http://i.imgur.com/nPpex26.jpg

[Aussie2B]

Excellent news today!

https://blog.us.playstation.com/2017...n-ps4-ps-vita/

It's not the most shocking announcement, since Square Enix had been teasing all along that they'd like to do a 3D remake of Secret of Mana if Adventures of Mana was successful enough, and I guess the latter was because here we are. And they've also talked about the possibility of doing a Seiken Densetsu 3 remake if they were to do a Secret of Mana remake and if it were successful enough, so we're one step closer to possibly getting the first ever official localization of Seiken Densetsu 3. I am a little worried that Secret of Mana's price tag might hinder its success compared to Adventures of Mana. It's a lot easier to convince people to drop $14 than $40, especially when there isn't even an option to buy them physically (and I think there's very little chance of some company like Limited Run Games getting the rights to make a physical run). But I do definitely think the Secret of Mana remake deserves a higher price tag than Adventures of Mana. For one, it's fully voice acted. I found the English dubbing in the trailer cringey, but no worries because it has dual audio. Anyway, I'm super happy about this news.

[kupomogli]

Yeah this voice acting was pretty bad.

They've atleast announced a Japanese retail release for PS4, Vita, and PC(though the PC version will probably be a Steam code.) Maybe the PS4 version at the very least gets a physical release. I don't see why though that Square Enix can't just make the Japanese version as multi language is many other publishers have done recently.

[Tanooki]

I imagine Sony paid for it just like with SF5 and Capcom as there's no logical reason not to drop that thing on the Switch otherwise especially given in Japan you have that emulated collection.