Secret of Mana SNES Review | Worthy of the Hype?

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Secret of Mana SNES Review | Worthy of the Hype?

Рет қаралды 9,616

Күн бұрын

#SecretOfMana #SeikenDensetsu #SNES #SuperNES #Squaresoft
Hello all! Here's my review for Secret of Mana on the SNES. This is a game that I never got around to fully playing through until recently. I've seen tons of people say it's GOATed, and others recently saying it's overrated... well, which is it? Find out in my review!
Thanks so much for all of the support, I truly appreciate it.
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Check out the unboxing of Secret of Mana (with the strategy guide) here: • Secret of Mana SNES Un...
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Final Fantasy Adventure Unboxing: • Final Fantasy Adventur...
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Secret of Mana, originally released in Japan as Seiken Densetsu 2, is a 1993 action role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the sequel to the 1991 game Seiken Densetsu, released in North America as Final Fantasy Adventure and in Europe as Mystic Quest, and it was the first Seiken Densetsu title to be marketed as part of the Mana series rather than the Final Fantasy series. Set in a high fantasy universe, the game follows three heroes as they attempt to prevent an empire from conquering the world with the power of an ancient flying fortress.
From Wikipedia.
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Пікірлер: 99

@Bitsandglory Жыл бұрын

Check out the unboxing of Secret of Mana (with the strategy guide) here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gN6IbLapu8rSeoE.html Final Fantasy Adventure Content: Final Fantasy Adventure Playthrough: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/g82jrJOItK_Ph40.html Final Fantasy Adventure Review: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/bKpynbCXp928k4k.html Final Fantasy Adventure Unboxing: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/iKiUdbaj09TFnIE.html

@Spidernick88 Жыл бұрын

A friend had it as a kid. So I played it sporadically. I finally played through the entire thing finally as an adult when I got a SNES Classic.

@Bitsandglory Жыл бұрын

I forgot about it being on the classic! I did not own it as a kid and nor did my neighbor, my other buddy at the time was a Sega kid. So other than emulator, I was out of luck. I actually didn’t get my cart until about 2018. Very late on this one, but glad I finally got to it!

@adamdesanti6713 Жыл бұрын

A lot of TLC went into this game, and it shows. The gorgeous spritely graphics and sweet atmospheric music combined with fun gameplay make it an absolute SNES rpg classic. I remember having very fond memories of it as a young teen, coming home from a long day at school, getting my chores done and settling in with Secret of Mana. I wanted my RPGs to be immersive experiences with epic music and visuals, good storytelling and characters. Definitely in my top-10 as a kid. It has a lot of heart and soul.

@modelcitizen1977 Жыл бұрын

The best part about the game is the multiplayer. Playing through with a friend when it came out was absolutely magical.

@Bitsandglory Жыл бұрын

I could only imagine! Unfortunately, I did not own this one as a kid and couldn’t experience the multiplayer for myself recently either - but I’ve heard great things

@PistolPattt 9 ай бұрын

I played it with my brother and cousin, but only me and my brother were having fun, as my cousin would throw fits because we were always casting spells to level them up, and he just had melee.

@freakswat Жыл бұрын

Love the diff angle of the game room. But solid and detailed review!

@Bitsandglory Жыл бұрын

Thanks! I felt like this was the best angle for the best audio quality for the mic haha, Ideally the coolest angle would be a big shift to the left (showing my built in shelves w/ all the games) but not conducive to good quality!

@RyuRonin1 Жыл бұрын

You continue to get better and better with each review. Keep it up. Definitely your bread and butter

@Bitsandglory Жыл бұрын

Thank you, Ryu! It's definitely what I have the most fun doing. I'm glad to be getting all the positive feedback & feeling better about making them these days. They're fun!

@howieb4217 8 ай бұрын

Cheers for the review! Got a sub from me. Playing SoM at release with my bro will always be my fondest gaming memory. It's impossible to be objective about it - there's way too much nostalgia! Objectively, I do think it has the best soundtrack of any game - and will die on that hill!

@Bitsandglory 8 ай бұрын

Appreciate the sub, watch & comment! I really have been meaning to replay it for the channel since I chose to, for some reason, not do a Let's Play or stream. I saw that there's a new Mana game coming out soon, so I expect this review to get a few more views in the coming days haha... great game, wonderful soundtrack, and definitely worthy of the hype. I'm jealous you got to play multi-player! Gonna be tough for me these days to pull that off.

@ecchiowl5905 Ай бұрын

the graphics and music hooked me as a kid. i had never seen anything like it before

@Bitsandglory Ай бұрын

I remember tinkering as a kid on emulator, the color palettes stayed in my head a long time. Very memorable.

@kaox44 Ай бұрын

The game was ahead of its time, the music was beyond great…it’s godly.

@Telmarine55 Жыл бұрын

As someone who grew up with the SNES, and having mainly played SOM and SOE, I have to say I’m in love with the ring command system. I might be the only person that actually likes it. I wish they made another “Secret of” game that utilizes this system.

@Bitsandglory Жыл бұрын

I definitely don't hate the ring command system, you get used to it pretty quickly. I often find myself wanting to replay Secret of Evermore... wish we got a sequel or some crazy ROM hack at least.

@TheRealNintendoKid 7 ай бұрын

They did, it just never released outside of Japan until fairly recently.

@montefisto Жыл бұрын

Higher score than I'd give it. Good review all the same though. I think I just ran into glitches more frequently than most, and I was unaware that Neko spawned **BEHIND** the pyramid (that I already searched prior) in the end game before you go to that final forest before the final dungeon, so I was raging as I did not have the legitimately necessary equipment needed for that final difficulty hike until I was looking up hints and saw people mentioning a final Neko store. Also I thought I only needed one ally to buff my sword for the end boss and not both, so I had no clue why I couldn't do damage, and was frustrated by the lack of a save point in the final dungeon, as it is long with many boss fights. The game's at its best when you're just zoning out, exploring, taking in the music & atmosphere, ala Diablo. The game's probably amazing when playing through the whole thing with 2 or 3 player. I just had a rough experience with it nearing the end, which kinda spoiled my impression of it.

@Bitsandglory Жыл бұрын

I heard horror stories of glitches before playing, I must have been lucky because the ones I experienced weren't too bad - mostly the music glitches, characters getting stuck everywhere (which I guess isn't really a glitch, just crappy AI/collision stuff), and a fair share of annoying magic spells not casting. I was lucky enough to find Neko because at that point of the playthrough I was done but had like 10 mins to spare so I started wandering around and found him (Then proceeded to grind next playthrough to get all the equipment). I will say though, I struggled MIGHTILY with the Mana beast. I beat it in the first try, but it legit took me like 20+ minutes. I just wasn't "getting it" regarding the buffing, the crit attack boost and so forth, wasn't until the end that I realized I could hit it without being fully charged (which could be annoying because you could be close to fully charged, get hit with an attack and back to attack level 0). All in all, for me, this was neck and neck with Secret of Evermore. I gave them both the same score. But I think I prefer Evermore just because it's so odd and atmospheric. I also prefer the soundtrack in Secret of Evermore slightly.

@Telmarine55 Жыл бұрын

Just played through this game. The Mana Beast was hard, but I felt getting through the Mana Fortress was harder! What always killed me were the enemies casting magic, and not being able to get away once they start attacking you. They spam you so you can’t even heal and recover. So annoying. I never fought a Mana fortress boss more than once unless it was to get through it again after having been killed by regular enemies.

@jamesmoss3424 Жыл бұрын

Secret of Mana is an work of art 🎨. 😀👍🎮

@Bitsandglory Жыл бұрын

I agree. I loved this one. I felt fully immersed in the fantasy world & environments. A few spots that would have been nicer if touched up, but I can't complain too much!

@Myrdraall 27 күн бұрын

When your magic is maxed spells have critical casts that do different animations.

@Digital_David Жыл бұрын

I love this game! It looked beautiful and the music was awesome - it was probably the only RPG that I played back then that allowed for 1-3 players. Too bad Square couldn't have first made this game for a console like PS5 - imagine how flawless it would have been with modern technology.

@Bitsandglory Жыл бұрын

Definitely not without its technical flaws, but a really great game indeed! I need to wrap back around to Seiken Densetsu 3 one of these days as well

@KobraKai2388 Жыл бұрын

Nice review, man. Been on the fence on playing this for a long time. I’ve had several ways to play it for a long time and never got around to it. Subscribed. Keep up the great work!

@Bitsandglory Жыл бұрын

Appreciate the sub and the kind comment! When you get around to SoM I hope you enjoy! I’ve been meaning to replay this again sometime soon, every time I get a comment it stokes the fire haha 😂

@backinthedaygamer Жыл бұрын

This game has been in my backlog for a long time. I'm trying to finish Phantasy Star 1st (that's how I found your channel). Then I'm going to start with Final Fantasy Adventure on GB. Loving your vids! Time to binge...

@Bitsandglory Жыл бұрын

Trust me, I hear you! People are often surprised to hear games I have never fully played - this was one of them. So happy to get through it finally. And awesome! Hope you're enjoying Phantasy Star. I really, really want to replay that in 2023. FFA is a great time & I'm happy to hear you're like me starting at the beginning instead of jumping ahead. Enjoy the journeys & thank you for watching!

@Eternal.moth.winged 11 күн бұрын

znes was such is a childhood staple

@Bitsandglory 10 күн бұрын

For sure, seeing that pixelated snowfall or whatever brings me back!

@gugelizer4279 Жыл бұрын

Surprisingly, SoM and SoE don't share the same engine. Squaresoft NA developed the engine for SoE from scratch, although they copied SoM very closely. This is also the big reason SoE didn't have multiplayer.

@Bitsandglory Жыл бұрын

Holy moly, that IS surprising! The games are basically carbon copies between the combat, ring menus, teammates (granted only one in SoE), etc. that’s nuts. But that does make sense, and I’m assuming since they are so closely designed that’s the reason someone was able to hack** in the 2P COOP for SoE? Edit: typos

@gugelizer4279 Жыл бұрын

@@Bitsandglory from what I’ve read about it, the multiplayer was partially developed because the team wanted to include it. They left it out because they didn’t have time to deal with other issues like character blocking and getting stuck in terrain. I’m not very familiar with the mod, but I presume it wasn’t too difficult to reenable multiplayer itself but there was likely other work to make it a good experience There’s a good interview with the lead programmer Brian Fehdrau, and members of the team have been known to pop into Reddit to comment at times.

@Bitsandglory Жыл бұрын

@@gugelizer4279 that’s awesome, I’ll look into that later! I’ve been feeling the itch for Evermore again despite having a million other games to play haha

@nicosisland7347 Жыл бұрын

Love this review! You are totally on point with the pros and cons.

@Bitsandglory Жыл бұрын

Hey, I appreciate it! Thanks for watching. I try to stay as objective as possible (although my bias gets in the way once in a while, but I’ll admit that haha).

@SchmittWylde Жыл бұрын

This might be your best review yet! GG man! Loved it!

@Bitsandglory Жыл бұрын

Schmitty! Thank you for the kind words. Trying to level myself up for the reviews on these longer games. Glad you enjoyed!

@WhatGameBefore Жыл бұрын

I'm with you on the score for this game. I loved playing it as a kid but I wasn't able to finish it (got to the Black Fortress but no further). Now I have to go back and finish this great game 😀

@Bitsandglory Жыл бұрын

The end of the game is SUPER difficulty spikey! I almost ran out of resources against the Lich & Mana Beast. My one thing I would change in a future playthrough is grind up all the attack magic pretty quickly, just makes things soooo much easier. But, truth be told, I was a bit lazy with the grinding until the end haha.

@LordSephleon Жыл бұрын

@@Bitsandglory Honestly, if you keep magic levels up-to-date, it makes the game almost too easy since magic gets REALLY strong. But yeah, grinding magic (at least for Sprite) is a pain. With Girl, you can just hang out by an inn that's close to a combat zone and just spam spells that target allies. Keeping weapon levels up only affects charge attacks, and while the later attacks are strong (even if not very practical, in terms of some attack animations), it's counterbalanced by the long charge times. However, if you set the AI partners to always charge to certain levels....

@Bitsandglory Жыл бұрын

@@LordSephleon thankfully the game gifts you that great end game grind spot for XP, gold and magic (with the weird talon foot creatures). That made things super easy. But yeah, magic systems are both broken in SoM and SoE. In Evermore I basically spam Crush (the fist magic) the entire time haha. And truthfully, I didn’t do ANY weapon leveling that wasn’t organic haha. I kind of felt the shift towards OP magic early on and focused almost primarily on that.

@LordSephleon Жыл бұрын

@@Bitsandglory A great mid-to-late game grind spot in SoM is the Ice Country area with all the winter wolves. That's always been my go-to for some reason... I think because the inn was relatively cheap? I don't remember at the moment. Man, I used to spam Crush against bosses back when I played SoE. It was just too good a spell, even at its low levels. The problem I had was that I was an item miser in my youth, so I only cast spells in SoE if I absolutely needed to (the ingredients/reagents were like gold to me). Hell, I spent too long in the Classical Era because of the marketplace, just trying to get plenty of the ingredients I wanted (which, of course, I barely used for spells). It's why I always leaned towards magic and MP over items: it's an easily-renewable source of power, whereas items are costly and sometimes hard to find.

@Bitsandglory Жыл бұрын

@@LordSephleon yup! I actually covered that in my SoM grinding short, by far the two places most convenient and best yielding were the ice areas and then the Pure Land (finally remembered the name). I’ve seen a few people not like the alchemy system, and I remember at times lacking ingredients and being annoyed - but idk. Something about it appealed to me! Plus I mean, Cecil is in the game. Probably my favorite dev Easter egg ever, flip flop maybe with Chun Li in Breath of Fire.

@medleysa Ай бұрын

Excellent soundtrack, good graphics, mid gameplay. It’s kinds like a plate of cookies that got pulled out of the oven a minutes too early. They look great, and the first bite on the edge is good, but once you get into it, it’s mushy and half-baked.

@Bitsandglory Ай бұрын

While I do slightly prefer Secret of Evermore myself (only natural to compare), I do really like Mana even if the combat can be a little jank.

@maxwuertt Ай бұрын

Great review! I share most of you points, just would like to add one thing: to me, it is hard to point out what fascinated me so much about this game. It is something that is bigger than the sum of its parts. The atmosphere is just so consuming. Got to start it once more now ;)

@Bitsandglory Ай бұрын

Thank you for watching & the comment! I wish I had more time (currently Shadow of the Erdtree Elden Ring DLC is eating up all of it haha). Would love to replay this for the channel, as well as the remake. Enjoy your replay!

@anon_et2396 Ай бұрын

Loved this game as a kid

@inka5815 3 ай бұрын

I think i try this classic in 2024. Never played it, but the original at First and After this the Remake

@Bitsandglory 3 ай бұрын

Hope you enjoy! Thanks for watching

@oyvinator 27 күн бұрын

love this game.. but the story is kinda wierd sometimes.. santa wants to grow a christmas tree? 7:55 when that red haired dwarf casts a spell like freeze and he bends down, you can select him again and recast it.. but there is a limit to how much dammage you can do so you cant kill bosses like that.. i usually do that 5 or 10 times.. and let him stand up

@Bitsandglory 27 күн бұрын

Hahaha, yeah the Santa thing was very strange. At this point just a funny quirk that I look forward to. Thanks for the comment!

@aleksandroechavarria-merci4288 Жыл бұрын

Amazing review! You should've outlined the fact that this game can be played multiplayer! With the (shaky) netplay options on some of the SNES emulators, it's possible to play this game with others

@Bitsandglory Жыл бұрын

Thanks! Yeah, there’s been a few games I reviewed with multiplayer experiences but I pretty much just tackle everything solo so I didn’t wanna BS my way through too much when I didn’t play it, know what I mean?

@ryanbrowne8244 11 ай бұрын

Really great review man 😀

@Bitsandglory 11 ай бұрын

Thanks! This review has been getting some traction here and there, every comment I see it makes me wanna play again haha

@Fingolfin4859 6 ай бұрын

I admit this is not my favourite game. But I truly like it! I think I enjoy Secret of Mana more than Final Fantasy 3 (6). Great review, my friend. Thank you! ❤

@Bitsandglory 6 ай бұрын

Definitely not the best the SNES has to offer, but still really enjoyable. Thanks for watching!

@franzfleur7472 Ай бұрын

Dude I love that Creepshow shirt >< where did you come upon it sir? Great review btw.

@Bitsandglory Ай бұрын

Haha, I got it from Chiller Theater in NJ a few years ago! And thanks for watching and the comment

@johngangemi1361 8 ай бұрын

Loved this game when I was a kid. Would play it again.

@Bitsandglory 8 ай бұрын

I’ve been meaning to replay sometime soon as well - both this and secret of evermore. Thanks for watching and the comment!

@2catsplus2cats12 2 ай бұрын

You said you had trouble miselecting things in the ring command sometimes?I’ve never had trouble with this. I’m not sure why you would have trouble

@zevin_actionman 4 ай бұрын

The soundtrack 💙💙💙💙💙

@Bitsandglory 4 ай бұрын

So good!

@Jimmyagaming1988 Жыл бұрын

I still should probably try and finish this.

@Bitsandglory Жыл бұрын

It's one of the best RPGs on the console, despite what some new-age negative nancies say!

@Link1813 Жыл бұрын

As for me, this game rocks. Surely one of the greatest SNES games. Wonderful review! 😊

@Bitsandglory Жыл бұрын

Appreciate the kind words! Truly is a wonderful game. I’d like to replay it again sometime soon!

@MichaelA-rr6hb 29 күн бұрын

I feel that anybody reviewing that game these days is going to give it too low of a score. Video gaming is too different to really appreciate what this game was when it released. People don't game together in the same room so playing with 2 or 3 people doesn't happen anymore. Also, the other rpg games out had turn based attacking which was slow and boring and this game really changed the pace. Just about every game had glitches back then but the few on this game were minor unless maybe your emulator has issues.

@user-fd7cp6dy3e 9 ай бұрын

Great game top 10

@Bitsandglory 9 ай бұрын

I’ve been meaning to replay it soon, maybe for a stream. Great game indeed.

@trias418 Жыл бұрын

Secret of Mana is cool, but has some flaws. A bit grindy, not much variety, combat a bit boring. Classic soundtrack though and paved the way for Secret of Mana 2 is just a better game in almost every regard.

@Bitsandglory Жыл бұрын

Definitely does get a bit grindy. But that never really bothers me too much, some of my favorite RPGs are grindy as hell (IE. Dragon Warrior). I can see some people not liking the combat, but I actually don't mind the sit & wait style and the spell spamming - I also enjoy Secret of Evermore (probably more than SoM). I still need to get to Secret of Mana 2, hopefully sometime in 2023!

@melissak1037 Жыл бұрын

Loves it loves it king truf

@Bitsandglory Жыл бұрын

I knew that he would be your favorite!

@ItsDangerousGoAlone 25 күн бұрын

Secret of mana is the worst game i ever tried to give a fair shot at. I am surprised it is so beloved, i cant see it.

@Bitsandglory 25 күн бұрын

Plenty of games that are beloved that I don’t enjoy either!

@iPanachay 5 ай бұрын

The game must have been great back then. But by now, its barely playable, ia and hitbox ruin the game. Trials of mana outlive him way better

@Jimmyagaming1988 Жыл бұрын

SPOILER: he put the game cart in the wrong console

@Jimmyagaming1988 Жыл бұрын

Just kidding

@rpghero46 Жыл бұрын

man who is this cutie 💓 😍 sumping sub!

@Bitsandglory Жыл бұрын

Haha, thanks!

@Jbisagrifterandasociopath 7 ай бұрын

Do you like to be farted on?

@Marc_Araujo Жыл бұрын

The game is very mid. It's a rushed, half-assed, and broken game. The whole point of the quest is to obtain the Mana Sword and it's impossible to do so cuz of a glitch that prevents you from being able to upgrade it all the way. The story is stupid AF and revolves around paper-thin characters. The graphics are good and the soundtrack is great but that's about it.

@Bitsandglory Жыл бұрын

I can definitely see & understand your criticisms. I still quite enjoyed the game and had a fun time playing. To each their own, I don't like a few very popular RPGs as well.