Secret of Mana for SNES

-

Review #485

Secret of Mana

The most overrated SNES game

SNES 1993 Square Adventure Adventure › Overhead
Secret of Mana screenshot for SNES
Screenshot used for review/reference purposes.
3 / 5

Gameplay

Toes the line between adventure and RPG. Actually, this game is firmly in the RPG genre but it looks and plays like an adventure game so I'm leaving it here to be compared with Zelda. That said, it is one of the grindiest RPG games I've ever come across. Leveling up your characters AND all 8 weapons and how ever many magics is an absolute chore. I get that it's not entirely necessary to get all weapons and magics powered up for all three characters, but it's there and the completionist in me must do it! And that makes me angry at this game.
There's also the oft-maligned 20% draw distance problem. I think it's there because of the 3P multiplayer feature but still...it's unbelievably annoying.
Also, the utterly incomprehensible hitboxes of enemies and random attack results are infuriating. Combat is a chore in this game.
Still, movement is crazy fast so backtracking isn't as annoying as it is in most adventure titles.

4 / 5

Level Design

Simple, mostly-linear levels make it easy to find your way around, even without a map.
Sign posts help you find your way around as well.
Biomes are unique and memorable.
The only downside is the complete lack of puzzles. The game is just a series of fetch quests and the aforementioned grinding. There's some nice variety in where you perform these activities, but it's still just a lot of the same things going on.

4 / 5

Theme

Typical King Arthur mythos with a kid pulling a sword from a stone and then needing to save the world. Also, it's an RPG with only three playable characters and minimal character development. However, the presentation is top-notch.

5 / 5

Art Style

Beautiful pixel art. An overuse of bright, pastel colors.

5 / 5

Audio

Some of the very best music on the SNES. There are couple of awful songs but 95% are stone cold classics that I could listen to while working.
Fear Of The Heavens
Phantom And A Rose - haunting
Into The Thick Of It and The Color Of The Summer Sky- the most chill exploring music ever

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

About this Site - Sep 2025 Update

-
Hey gamers. I first published this blog in July 2024. That initial release included my thoughts about every game that was released in North America during the 16-bit era.  At the time I was underway with the second, and final, phase of this project - to play and review every 16-bit title playable by an English speaker, regardless of region. As of right now, that goal has been reached. What lies before you is a heap of reviews for every game I could play on the following consoles: Super Nintendo/Super Famicom (1204 total) North America (716) Japan (450) Europe/PAL (38)  Sega Genesis/Mega Drive (849) North America (704) Japan (94) Europe/PAL (51) Sega CD/Mega Drive CD (158) North America (141) Japan (12) Europe/PAL (5) TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine (255) North America (95) Japan (160) TurboGrafx-16 CD/PC Engine CD (163) North America (44) Japan (119) ...
Read more

Super Hydlide for Genesis

-
Image
Review #4565 Super Hydlide Easily the worst game of the 16 bit era Genesis 1990 Seismic Adventure Adventure › Overhead X 2 / 100 You've been warned Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 0 / 5 Gameplay Zelda clone... in theory. Includes an unbelievably annoying weight system, limiting both what you can carry and what your character can use as a weapon. If you’re overloaded, you are unable to move. After buying a few things at the weapons shop I thought the game was broken. I had to Google it and read about this weight mechanic. So stupid. It makes the game nigh unplayable. Even with a minimal inventory of a knife, a helm, and two food rations I could barely walk. The game has a clock and calendar and it took me 12 game hours to walk from the Shop to the exit to attempt combat. By that...
Read more

Chrono Trigger for SNES

-
Image
Review #109 Chrono Trigger Only by mastering time itself do you stand a chance against Lavos. SNES 1995 Square RPG RPG › Japanese A 100 / 100 Classic Screenshot used for review/reference purposes. 5 / 5 Gameplay Battle system is special. There's an optional Active Battle System and an innovative Single and Team techniques system. No grinding necessary. An assortment of sidequests and minigames like the actions you take at the Millennial Fair which influence how the trial plays out. One thing that I greatly appreciate is that you are never alone in a one-character party. You are joined by 3 other playable characters within the first hour of play. Being able to switch your party members on the fly is also a welcome quality of life feature. No random battles. The Game+ feature! What an awes...
Read more