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THE BEST GAME FOR SNES!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: June 03, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game is great! 3 people playing at the same time.. in a RPG format, it's awesome! defanetally get this if you are going to hang on to your Super.

The Greatest Game of all Time

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: June 23, 2001
Author: Amazon User

my life was predictable dull until by some marvelous chance the most brilliant game of all time. an rpg but with three characters filled with emotion and superb music..this game must have been the inspiration for todays huge rpgs.....as an rpg with multiplayer option it was perhaps the beginnings of the desire from millions to play rpgs online....if you have a snes or an emulator this is the best game ever..if i didnt already have it i would be downloading it right now..please if you like rpgs or just great stories, buy this game it will change the way you look at rpgs...it will make you believe in games again..what ever happened to the great gameplay of rpgs...this was the best example of japanese brilliance in the early rpgs...thank you square

Great game, ok gameplay.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: June 23, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I never realy liked the gameplay, because you always have to wait to charge your sword to attack in a legitiment manner. But, suprisingly, the game is sick! Amazing! The fact that the CPU helps a little deeper in the game advances it much.. If you got a SNES, and no good games, get Secret of Mana!

Second best RPG ever made.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: July 04, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game is one of the best ever, on any platform, from NES all the way to PS2, surpassed only by Chrono Trigger. Unfortunately, the sequels to this game absolutely butchered it, removing all the features that made it great. However, despite what happened to future versions, gamers can still enjoy the original and best.

The graphics of this game are good, looking very colorful, stylized, and very rich, as if they were drawn and painted by hand, and your adventures take place in a wide, diverse range of environments, from caves to deserts to lush green wilderness and waterfalls. The music is wonderful, always inspiring and fitting the mood, from the eerie and strange song of Thanatos' castle, to the slow, wintry theme of the Ice Palace, to the heroic theme of the battle with the Mana Beast. The story is great with all of its plot twists, and it manages to be linear and coherent without dragging you along by the nose. The three characters are very likeable, especially that quirky little Sprite.

But, the gameplay! Despite all else, this is where the game really excels. Secret of Mana has been compared to Zelda because of its real-time battle system, but I believe it surpasses Zelda in all sorts of ways. Instead of one character, you now have three, and they can fight extremely well because of a wonderful feature known as the Action Grid. This allowed you to set all actions of a character, including whether they should fight aggressively, stand back and defend themselves, or use hit-and-run tactics (this works EXTREMELY well--watch your allies step in, whack the enemy, then deftly back-flip out of range before he can counterattack), and you can even set whether they will use their stronger special moves and what level of special move they should charge up to. This is the best idea for computer AI that I've ever seen in an RPG, and it was absolutely STUPID of Squaresoft to remove it from the later games. In Seiken Densetsu 3 (Secret of Mana 2, Japan only), your allies all mindlessly rush in and attack, even if the enemy is much stronger than they are, resulting in healers and mages in your party getting creamed in battles. In Legend of Mana, your allies are absolutely brainless, simply staggering around the battlefield like drunkards, only bothering to fight if the enemy happens cross paths with them. Another example of Squaresoft throwing away what was perfectly good in an attempt to be "new" and "original." The saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," comes to mind when I think of Squaresoft's latest games.

You have 8 different weapons to choose from, so there is a weapon for everyone's taste. Weapons are upgraded, and as they are upgraded, new special attacks can be learned. For your allies, their mana powers can also be made more powerful by use.

Some complain about the time delay between attacks, having to wait for the meter to recharge, but I think this is a good feature. It adds some strategy to the game and maintains its status as an RPG and not a beat-'em-up. You can also use your quick, weak attacks to simply distract an enemy while your allies hit them with mana power.

And, by far, one of the best features of this game is the multiplayer aspect. Three players can get together and control the three characters, and the fun never ends.

Simply put, among action or adventure RPGs, this is the best, no contest. Among RPGs as a whole, this is second only to Chrono Trigger.

(Second) Best SNES game ever.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 22, 2001
Author: Amazon User

The mana series is one of square's best for the super nintendo. SOM has some of the best, if not the best graphics for SNES, the gameplay is very easy to pick up and go, yet very detailed and interesting. The spells are some of the most memorable of any game with the very cool eight elemental spirits. The story is a basic government trying to take over the world that has been done about one million times by now, but back then the story was fresh. The game is so breathtaking that you will want to play this through several times and the whole multiplayer add tons of replayability. The only game better than this for SNES, or ever is the released only in Japan sequel, Secret of Mana 2, or as it is really known, Seiken Densetsu 3.

you clumsy person! you've stumbled to my review! XD`

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 9
Date: September 08, 2001
Author: Amazon User

...

Anyway, on to the greatest game of all time ... The Secret of Mana. ^^

SoM has a great plotline and fantastic, intriguing characters. The story advances through a young boy of about sixteen, who pulls out the Mana sword, which protects all life. I won't go into the storyline, cuz' then you won't play the game. ^_^ Hehehe. Anyway, great things in this game that earn brownie points are magic users, sprites and other beings, distant, interesting lands, and hard-to-kick-butt bosses. Did I mention how great and wonderful the story line is? ^^ Seriously. The characters in this game are wonderful. This is definitely one of Square's GREATEST games.

Now is my least favorite thing to say ... negative stuff. Eeww. >< Ok. The least appealing thing I found about this game was the graphics ... I know, I know. I'm terribly cruel. The NES was not your greatest system ever, but hey, it had the best games. The graphics were far behind, as they were based on miniature people with backdrops and little tiny eyes. Still cute though. ^^ The other thing was that ... IT DIDN'T END HAPPY. Poor Dyluck. :( Oh well. Evil Sorcerer Thanatos ... heh.

That about ends my ranting and raving for now. Hope you enjoyed. ^^ Below I've included some information I found in a mythology book from Latin. Also, there maybe a lil tidbit here an' there or something. Whatever. ^^

Thanatos: In Greek mythology, death personified. He was the son of Night and the brother of Sleep and even the gods hated him. He often came after the dead and it was from him that Hercules wrestled Alcestis. Ironic, huh? ^^

Luna: The Roman goddess of the moon, analogue of the Greek Selene.

Jinn or Djinn(SD3): Spirits in Mohammedan mythology, lower than the angels and influencing men for good or evil. They are capable of appearing in human or animal form. Djinn (or Jinn) is the singular form of Djinni or Jinni.

Influenced by the old English meaning of genius as a spirit, ("Henceforth thou art the genius of the shore") the word is often spelled genie, though this is usually treated as a singular.

One of the 3 best SNES SquareSoft games.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: October 09, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This, Crono Trigger, and Final Fantasy III are the three essential SNES RPGs. Although this follows a live action combat system, the gameplay is very well programed. The story is very good, and the game system (magic, fighting, etc.) is well done. This is absolutely a must, I for one hope it gets re-released as so many other games have been lately.

Secret of Mana (Back in Time)

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: October 09, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Well I bought SoM when I was around 6. and my painter stole it so I didn't get to finish the game..

But while I was playing it
I really loved it. It was coolio while I had the chance to play it. The graphics were pretty good but not 100% and the gameplay was awesome. Ok...

Its not the best anymore but back then it was stacks good.

Too good for words to describe!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 03, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game is just awsome. I fell in love with it. No matter how many RPG's i've played Secret of Mana remains my all time favorite!

alot of fun!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 14, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Well, I should tell you that I stoped playing video games years ago due to lack of time and money. But I used to be a video game junkie when I was younger, and Secret of Mana was my favorit RPG (with the possible exception of Final Fantasy 3 for the SNES.) I like Secret of Mana even better then Chrono Trigger which I thought was terribly over-rated, but still good.

This game has alot of heart in it. It's very rich and colorful, and the music fits the settings perfectly and takes the players into the game with the characters. The story is very good and the characters, (most of them) are very likable and are given just enough personality to spice up the game, but the scenarios arn't overly-dramatic, sappy, and drawn out like in the Final Fantasy games. The only character I hated was that little midget that followed you and the girl around throughout the game. I wanted that thing to die! I even re-named him "Stupid."

In this game you get to eat junk food (like candy and chocolate) to give you strengh and energy, (go figure) and a big cat follows you everywhere to sell you goods because he's obviously desperate for business. You also get to meed Santa Clause! Cute huh? Ya, all that plus good diologe and game control gave this game a certian charm that appealed to me. I wish they still made video games like this because most of the dumb RPGs they got out today (like Final Fantasy 10 and what have you) is about the same thing as watching a movie. I'm of the older, 8-bit Nintendo and Atari generation of video games and am probobly one of the few people left that things that graphics and sound have gotten to advanced. The fun factor for these newer videogames seems absent to me, (but then again I hardly play them anymore so what would I know right?) They need to start making games like Secret of Mana and Evermore again......those were the days baby! Also, the ending could have been better too.

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