Ah, I loved SoM. It's probably the most beautiful game on the SNES, both visually and regarding its soundtrack.
I don't think it held up that well gameplay-wise though. I mean, it is rather repetitive..there are nearly no puzzles and not much of a complex story or characters. It's all hack-n-slay dungeon crawling.
Another negative in hindsight are probably the boss fights. If you just spam the magic the boss is weak to the fight is usually over in a minute or so and you won't have taken any damage at all.
This got me thinking...we were planning on shooting for a Chrono Trigger style of graphics after our current games, but it might be a better idea to use Secret of Mana as the target instead. Looks nearly as good but easier to do.
Oh and as much as I love Secret of Mana, I always had a sweet spot for the original Game Boy game. Probably because of all the great chiptunes.
Either one, really. I think they both look fantastic, which is amazing for how old the games are. What about CT graphics makes them harder to do?
This got me thinking...we were planning on shooting for a Chrono Trigger style of graphics after our current games, but it might be a better idea to use Secret of Mana as the target instead. Looks nearly as good but easier to do.
Oh and as much as I love Secret of Mana, I always had a sweet spot for the original Game Boy game. Probably because of all the great chiptunes.
Either one, really. I think they both look fantastic, which is amazing for how old the games are. What about CT graphics makes them harder to do?
CT graphics tend to be more detailed than SoM's and are less obviously tile-based. Both games do a good job of hiding their tile-based nature with stuff like irregular dirt & grass patches though.
I bought a reproduction English SD3 cart from someplace (it uses that old translation that was completed ~2000) and have been playing that with a friend. Looks really nice on my tube tv with S-Video out from the snes provided by a gamecube AV cable.
Sadly, the copy of Secret of Mana I thought was mine turned out to be my brother's, and he took it with him when he moved out :P I shall have to procure another. I really like the boss music when you're fighting Lich, but I have no idea what the track is called. That's the fight where he's the ghostly skeleton doing shadow magic on you and pretty much the only way to win is by spamming the light beam spell.
This got me thinking...we were planning on shooting for a Chrono Trigger style of graphics after our current games, but it might be a better idea to use Secret of Mana as the target instead. Looks nearly as good but easier to do.
Oh and as much as I love Secret of Mana, I always had a sweet spot for the original Game Boy game. Probably because of all the great chiptunes.
Either one, really. I think they both look fantastic, which is amazing for how old the games are. What about CT graphics makes them harder to do?
CT graphics tend to be more detailed than SoM's and are less obviously tile-based. Both games do a good job of hiding their tile-based nature with stuff like irregular dirt & grass patches though.
EDIT: I don't think there's a track in the game that is bad; even the overly peppy ones that aren't my favorite.
That's from the icy forest where you meet Santa Claus, right?
..I still don't know what was up with that. Santa Claus in a JRPG is just plain weird.
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GoodKingJayIIIThey wanna get mygold on the ceilingRegistered Userregular
I have a lot of fond memories of this game. I had the cart for a long long time and then I lost my SNES and adjoining stuff in the moves. Disappointing, but I hadn't played it much in a while either.
This game though, I could always come back to. I want to play it again, hopefully I'll see it again at some point in the future.
I read an interesting thing a while back which took a bit of a more detailed look at tiles from SD3 (which has a lot in common with SoM, considering they're the same franchise) and FF6. They talk about illusion of depth, and making it hard to see where one tile ends and the next begins. And now you can read it too: http://gas13.ru/v3/tutorials/sywtbapa_de-mystifying_greats_1.php
SoM (and SD3) had some pretty amazing music, and if you're into VG remixes, there's quite a hefty number of those inspired by the games, as well.
I'd probably be remiss if I didn't mention Meridian Dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Vo6hTc5on0
If all else fails, use fire.
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anoffdayTo be changed whenever Anoffday gets around to it.Registered Userregular
This got me thinking...we were planning on shooting for a Chrono Trigger style of graphics after our current games, but it might be a better idea to use Secret of Mana as the target instead. Looks nearly as good but easier to do.
Oh and as much as I love Secret of Mana, I always had a sweet spot for the original Game Boy game. Probably because of all the great chiptunes.
Either one, really. I think they both look fantastic, which is amazing for how old the games are. What about CT graphics makes them harder to do?
CT graphics tend to be more detailed than SoM's and are less obviously tile-based. Both games do a good job of hiding their tile-based nature with stuff like irregular dirt & grass patches though.
I definitely didn't realize SoM was tile-based.
I didn't realize CT was tile based either.
Man, I really want to play some SNES rpgs now. I don't have Mana though. Should I play Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG, or Evermore?
This got me thinking...we were planning on shooting for a Chrono Trigger style of graphics after our current games, but it might be a better idea to use Secret of Mana as the target instead. Looks nearly as good but easier to do.
Oh and as much as I love Secret of Mana, I always had a sweet spot for the original Game Boy game. Probably because of all the great chiptunes.
Either one, really. I think they both look fantastic, which is amazing for how old the games are. What about CT graphics makes them harder to do?
CT graphics tend to be more detailed than SoM's and are less obviously tile-based. Both games do a good job of hiding their tile-based nature with stuff like irregular dirt & grass patches though.
I definitely didn't realize SoM was tile-based.
I didn't realize CT was tile based either.
Man, I really want to play some SNES rpgs now. I don't have Mana though. Should I play Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG, or Evermore?
The answer, naturally, is all of the above.
Chrono Trigger is widely regarded as the best of those though, and with good reason. It's a fine game.
I love games that look like this, and since I've never played this one, should I go ahead and pick it up from the Virtual Console?
Honestly, absolutely.
I obviously have an absurdly strong bias here; but I can't imagine anyone who just enjoys games wouldn't be able to jump into Secret of Mana and enjoy themselves. The radial menu only is a negative if you're playing multiplayer, and pretty much nothing about the game is dated IMO. The only thing that takes like, a minute, to get used to is the delay in attacking waiting for 100% and not spamming, but it's not a thing, really, at all.
Yeah, one of the best games ever, easily, IMO.
EDIT: And just FYI, that screenshot in the OP has some filter or something, probably from an emulator. The actual game has distinct sprites, even the VC one (no VC games have any "smoothing" filters like you see in, say, the Genesis packs or XBLA releases).
I love games that look like this, and since I've never played this one, should I go ahead and pick it up from the Virtual Console?
Honestly, absolutely.
I obviously have an absurdly strong bias here; but I can't imagine anyone who just enjoys games wouldn't be able to jump into Secret of Mana and enjoy themselves. The radial menu only is a negative if you're playing multiplayer, and pretty much nothing about the game is dated IMO. The only thing that takes like, a minute, to get used to is the delay in attacking waiting for 100% and not spamming, but it's not a thing, really, at all.
Yeah, one of the best games ever, easily, IMO.
Playing Secret of Mana, and especially Secret of Mana 2, with 2 or 3 people is magical. The equipment system isn't that annoying, and it's offset by the sheer joy you get when you play these games. I think they're much better than any 2D zelda, and that speaks volumes considering how much I enjoy LTTP and LA. The 2 SNES secret of mana games (and even Final Fantasy Adventure) are among the best games to ever grace a nintendo console, regardless of era or developer.
EDIT: And just FYI, that screenshot in the OP has some filter or something, probably from an emulator. The actual game has distinct sprites, even the VC one (no VC games have any "smoothing" filters like you see in, say, the Genesis packs or XBLA releases).
No, the Turbo Grafx games on the VC have a terrible filter applied to them.
I don't know if it was a problem with the PAL conversion, but I remember a couple of early bosses (The werewolves and the Tiger, I think) that kept stunlocking me when I fought them. Just hitting me, then hitting me again while I was still going through the hit animation, and keeping it up until I died.
I got so annoyed with those fights I just gave up on the game.
I went back to it years later on an emulator, and didn't have the same problem though.
Out of curiosity, was anyone sick enough to actually farm all 10 mana orbs from the Mana Fortress?
My friend and I did over a weekend, passing the controller between us when we got bored. It was tedious as fuck, but it made the end of the game so easy.
As far as single player games go, I'd say Link to the Past is still a better game than any of the Secret of Mana games. Not that it matters since all of them are great.
Speaking of which, if you like Secret of Mana, you should definitely play Ys 7. It's like a turbo-charged Secret of Mana.
As far as single player games go, I'd say Link to the Past is still a better game than any of the Secret of Mana games. Not that it matters since all of them are great.
Speaking of which, if you like Secret of Mana, you should definitely play Ys 7. It's like a turbo-charged Secret of Mana.
As far as single player games go, I'd say Link to the Past is still a better game than any of the Secret of Mana games. Not that it matters since all of them are great.
Speaking of which, if you like Secret of Mana, you should definitely play Ys 7. It's like a turbo-charged Secret of Mana.
More like a half-hearted Ys I & II.
Could never get into Ys 1 & 2. Ys 7 is great though.
I played the Ys I remake on the DS a few years ago and I couldn't get into it. At all.
It was just so..bleh. Mediocre all around.
That's because you played literally the worst Ys game ever made. The Ys DS remake is awful. Play the PSP version instead. Or, go proper and play the PC version.
Out of curiosity, was anyone sick enough to actually farm all 10 mana orbs from the Mana Fortress?
Every time I play through the game.
There's not a 10th for the Sword (without glitching); it "caps" at the Dragon Buster I think.
That was always sad to me. I mean, it was still on par with the other ultimates without a last orb, but yeah.
Oh right, nine. I think got to missing two of them (the glove off the Moon Lords and... I forget the other).
Yeah, 9 levels of every weapon (so 8 orbs? I think?) except sword. It's been awhile.
I loved the special versions of each spell that started occuring when you hit max level.
The giant gemstone, the boulder with a joker face on it, the weird snaking beams of light... For some reason they just made me feel some damned badass.
I love games that look like this, and since I've never played this one, should I go ahead and pick it up from the Virtual Console?
Honestly, absolutely.
I obviously have an absurdly strong bias here; but I can't imagine anyone who just enjoys games wouldn't be able to jump into Secret of Mana and enjoy themselves. The radial menu only is a negative if you're playing multiplayer, and pretty much nothing about the game is dated IMO. The only thing that takes like, a minute, to get used to is the delay in attacking waiting for 100% and not spamming, but it's not a thing, really, at all.
Yeah, one of the best games ever, easily, IMO.
Playing Secret of Mana, and especially Secret of Mana 2, with 2 or 3 people is magical. The equipment system isn't that annoying, and it's offset by the sheer joy you get when you play these games. I think they're much better than any 2D zelda, and that speaks volumes considering how much I enjoy LTTP and LA. The 2 SNES secret of mana games (and even Final Fantasy Adventure) are among the best games to ever grace a nintendo console, regardless of era or developer.
EDIT: And just FYI, that screenshot in the OP has some filter or something, probably from an emulator. The actual game has distinct sprites, even the VC one (no VC games have any "smoothing" filters like you see in, say, the Genesis packs or XBLA releases).
No, the Turbo Grafx games on the VC have a terrible filter applied to them.
Didn't know that about the Turbo Grafx on the VC. I never had one, so the games have never really interested me to check out.
Regarding multiplayer in Secret of Mana; yes. My friends used to go rent super bomberman because it was the only way to get the 4 player adapter that we knew of without buying Super Bomberman (which we should have...), just so we could play this 3 player.
So much fun.
I only made the commend re: radial in multiplayer because it can get annoying; particularly on bosses where whoever is playing the Sprite will just spam the shit out of spells (timed properly to immunity frames, of course) to keep the boss locked as much as possible. The rest of gameplay though, a ton of fun.
Once we started having lan parties as we got older, we always dreamed (and I still do, honestly) of playing Secret of Mana multiplayer, online, everyone with their own screen, freedom to roam; not pausing other players when the radial is brought up etc.
Damnit, SE, re-release/make Secret of Mana with some modern tweaks.
I played the Ys I remake on the DS a few years ago and I couldn't get into it. At all.
It was just so..bleh. Mediocre all around.
That's because you played literally the worst Ys game ever made. The Ys DS remake is awful. Play the PSP version instead. Or, go proper and play the PC version.
Ah, okay then..I heard so many good things about the series and wondered what all the fuzz was about when I played it myself :P
Though I loved Secret of Mana back in the day, I'm scared to play it now. Sure the graphics still look good and the music is excellent but I remember having a few annoyances with the gameplay even back then that I imagine would be amplified today. Namely, the magic system (which requires you to pause the game to use and requires a lot of grinding to LV-Up) and how the combat is a bit looser than say the 2D Zelda games.
People seem to be glossing over a major issue of this game; the hit detection is terrible.
Eh; yes and no. The hit detection isn't actually bad; its that each enemy has immunity frames that last different amounts of time. It just takes getting used to/remember when different enemies are immune. It can make it feel like bad hit detection because you can just wack at something and nothing happens, if they're "immune".
But generally, aside from that, if it shows you hitting something, you hit it.
Out of curiosity, was anyone sick enough to actually farm all 10 mana orbs from the Mana Fortress?
Every time I play through the game.
There's not a 10th for the Sword (without glitching); it "caps" at the Dragon Buster I think.
That was always sad to me. I mean, it was still on par with the other ultimates without a last orb, but yeah.
Oh right, nine. I think got to missing two of them (the glove off the Moon Lords and... I forget the other).
Yeah, 9 levels of every weapon (so 8 orbs? I think?) except sword. It's been awhile.
I loved the special versions of each spell that started occuring when you hit max level.
The giant gemstone, the boulder with a joker face on it, the weird snaking beams of light... For some reason they just made me feel some damned badass.
Out of curiosity, was anyone sick enough to actually farm all 10 mana orbs from the Mana Fortress?
Every time I play through the game.
There's not a 10th for the Sword (without glitching); it "caps" at the Dragon Buster I think.
That was always sad to me. I mean, it was still on par with the other ultimates without a last orb, but yeah.
Oh right, nine. I think got to missing two of them (the glove off the Moon Lords and... I forget the other).
Yeah, 9 levels of every weapon (so 8 orbs? I think?) except sword. It's been awhile.
I loved the special versions of each spell that started occuring when you hit max level.
The giant gemstone, the boulder with a joker face on it, the weird snaking beams of light... For some reason they just made me feel some damned badass.
Yeah, its pretty neat. Every spell changes as you level them up, but if you reach max (not sure if it's just level 8 or if it's 8/99), you have a chance at getting a rare unique spell effect. They're pretty cool; its a nice touch.
Out of curiosity, was anyone sick enough to actually farm all 10 mana orbs from the Mana Fortress?
Every time I play through the game.
There's not a 10th for the Sword (without glitching); it "caps" at the Dragon Buster I think.
That was always sad to me. I mean, it was still on par with the other ultimates without a last orb, but yeah.
Oh right, nine. I think got to missing two of them (the glove off the Moon Lords and... I forget the other).
Yeah, 9 levels of every weapon (so 8 orbs? I think?) except sword. It's been awhile.
I loved the special versions of each spell that started occuring when you hit max level.
The giant gemstone, the boulder with a joker face on it, the weird snaking beams of light... For some reason they just made me feel some damned badass.
Yeah, its pretty neat. Every spell changes as you level them up, but if you reach max (not sure if it's just level 8 or if it's 8/99), you have a chance at getting a rare unique spell effect. They're pretty cool; its a nice touch.
EDIT: 8, not 9 is the cap.
He's talking about the fourth Shade magic spell.
Normally you only have the three spells for the Shadow magic. Dark Gate, Dark Force, and Dark Dark McDarky Dark.
However, if you get really lucky and find a "Shadow Zero" in a treasure chest, you'll unlock an alternate attack for Dark Gate called the Shadow Zero which will happen rarely. That's what the little bumrush was.
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I don't think it held up that well gameplay-wise though. I mean, it is rather repetitive..there are nearly no puzzles and not much of a complex story or characters. It's all hack-n-slay dungeon crawling.
Another negative in hindsight are probably the boss fights. If you just spam the magic the boss is weak to the fight is usually over in a minute or so and you won't have taken any damage at all.
Either one, really. I think they both look fantastic, which is amazing for how old the games are. What about CT graphics makes them harder to do?
CT graphics tend to be more detailed than SoM's and are less obviously tile-based. Both games do a good job of hiding their tile-based nature with stuff like irregular dirt & grass patches though.
Zeboyd Games Development Blog
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire, Facebook : Zeboyd Games
oh my goooooddddd this track
Thank your for posting this, so freaking awesome.
I really need to go listen to the whole soundtrack.
I definitely didn't realize SoM was tile-based.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLK8IrYrZxA
EDIT: I don't think there's a track in the game that is bad; even the overly peppy ones that aren't my favorite.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
Same here, I can't think of any music I don't like in this game.
That's from the icy forest where you meet Santa Claus, right?
..I still don't know what was up with that. Santa Claus in a JRPG is just plain weird.
This game though, I could always come back to. I want to play it again, hopefully I'll see it again at some point in the future.
SoM (and SD3) had some pretty amazing music, and if you're into VG remixes, there's quite a hefty number of those inspired by the games, as well.
I'd probably be remiss if I didn't mention Meridian Dance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Vo6hTc5on0
I didn't realize CT was tile based either.
Man, I really want to play some SNES rpgs now. I don't have Mana though. Should I play Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG, or Evermore?
...ALL sega genesis and SNES games, outside of the odd games which used vector graphics, like flashback, use tiles.
The answer, naturally, is all of the above.
Chrono Trigger is widely regarded as the best of those though, and with good reason. It's a fine game.
Absolutely.
Honestly, absolutely.
I obviously have an absurdly strong bias here; but I can't imagine anyone who just enjoys games wouldn't be able to jump into Secret of Mana and enjoy themselves. The radial menu only is a negative if you're playing multiplayer, and pretty much nothing about the game is dated IMO. The only thing that takes like, a minute, to get used to is the delay in attacking waiting for 100% and not spamming, but it's not a thing, really, at all.
Yeah, one of the best games ever, easily, IMO.
EDIT: And just FYI, that screenshot in the OP has some filter or something, probably from an emulator. The actual game has distinct sprites, even the VC one (no VC games have any "smoothing" filters like you see in, say, the Genesis packs or XBLA releases).
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
Playing Secret of Mana, and especially Secret of Mana 2, with 2 or 3 people is magical. The equipment system isn't that annoying, and it's offset by the sheer joy you get when you play these games. I think they're much better than any 2D zelda, and that speaks volumes considering how much I enjoy LTTP and LA. The 2 SNES secret of mana games (and even Final Fantasy Adventure) are among the best games to ever grace a nintendo console, regardless of era or developer.
No, the Turbo Grafx games on the VC have a terrible filter applied to them.
I got so annoyed with those fights I just gave up on the game.
I went back to it years later on an emulator, and didn't have the same problem though.
My friend and I did over a weekend, passing the controller between us when we got bored. It was tedious as fuck, but it made the end of the game so easy.
Every time I play through the game.
There's not a 10th for the Sword (without glitching); it "caps" at the Dragon Buster I think.
That was always sad to me. I mean, it was still on par with the other ultimates without a last orb, but yeah.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
Oh right, nine. I think got to missing two of them (the glove off the Moon Lords and... I forget the other).
Yeah, 9 levels of every weapon (so 8 orbs? I think?) except sword. It's been awhile.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
Speaking of which, if you like Secret of Mana, you should definitely play Ys 7. It's like a turbo-charged Secret of Mana.
Zeboyd Games Development Blog
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire, Facebook : Zeboyd Games
More like a half-hearted Ys I & II.
It was just so..bleh. Mediocre all around.
Could never get into Ys 1 & 2. Ys 7 is great though.
Zeboyd Games Development Blog
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire, Facebook : Zeboyd Games
I loved the special versions of each spell that started occuring when you hit max level.
The giant gemstone, the boulder with a joker face on it, the weird snaking beams of light... For some reason they just made me feel some damned badass.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAnsJUByaWk
twitch.tv/Taramoor
@TaramoorPlays
Taramoor on Youtube
Didn't know that about the Turbo Grafx on the VC. I never had one, so the games have never really interested me to check out.
Regarding multiplayer in Secret of Mana; yes. My friends used to go rent super bomberman because it was the only way to get the 4 player adapter that we knew of without buying Super Bomberman (which we should have...), just so we could play this 3 player.
So much fun.
I only made the commend re: radial in multiplayer because it can get annoying; particularly on bosses where whoever is playing the Sprite will just spam the shit out of spells (timed properly to immunity frames, of course) to keep the boss locked as much as possible. The rest of gameplay though, a ton of fun.
Once we started having lan parties as we got older, we always dreamed (and I still do, honestly) of playing Secret of Mana multiplayer, online, everyone with their own screen, freedom to roam; not pausing other players when the radial is brought up etc.
Damnit, SE, re-release/make Secret of Mana with some modern tweaks.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
Ah, okay then..I heard so many good things about the series and wondered what all the fuzz was about when I played it myself :P
Zeboyd Games Development Blog
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire, Facebook : Zeboyd Games
Yeah, it doesn't always make sense. It seems to vary by enemy.
Eh; yes and no. The hit detection isn't actually bad; its that each enemy has immunity frames that last different amounts of time. It just takes getting used to/remember when different enemies are immune. It can make it feel like bad hit detection because you can just wack at something and nothing happens, if they're "immune".
But generally, aside from that, if it shows you hitting something, you hit it.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
what what what
What the hell are those "shadow zeroes" things?
Literally never seen them before.
Yeah, its pretty neat. Every spell changes as you level them up, but if you reach max (not sure if it's just level 8 or if it's 8/99), you have a chance at getting a rare unique spell effect. They're pretty cool; its a nice touch.
EDIT: 8, not 9 is the cap.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
He's talking about the fourth Shade magic spell.
Normally you only have the three spells for the Shadow magic. Dark Gate, Dark Force, and Dark Dark McDarky Dark.
However, if you get really lucky and find a "Shadow Zero" in a treasure chest, you'll unlock an alternate attack for Dark Gate called the Shadow Zero which will happen rarely. That's what the little bumrush was.
twitch.tv/Taramoor
@TaramoorPlays
Taramoor on Youtube
Sure, plenty of other games are "better", but no other game occupies so many good childhood memories.