Secret of Mana

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Secret of Mana

Developer(s)	Square Co., Ltd.
Publisher(s)	Square Co., Ltd.
Series	Mana series
Release date(s)	^JPN August 6, 1993 ^NA October 3, 1993 ^EUR November 24, 1994
Genre(s)	Role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	OFLC: G
Platform(s)	SNES
Media	16 megabit cartridge

Secret of Mana, known in Japan as Seiken Densetsu 2 (聖剣伝説2, Seiken Densetsu Tsū^?, lit. "Legend of the Holy Sword 2"), is the second video game in the Seiken Densetsu series of console role-playing game developed and published by Square Co., Ltd. (now Square Enix Co., Ltd.), the first game of the series on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the only Seiken Densetsu or Mana game released on this platform outside Japan. Most players outside Japan were introduced to the series through this particular game.

The main protagonist of Secret of Mana is the knight, who is supported by the spell-casting girl and sprite child. While the three release versions of the game do not have a default name for each of the characters, the Japanese instruction manual refers to the knight, girl and sprite respectively as Randi, Purim and Popoie (or variants thereof). The origin of the heroes' names is somewhat cloudy: they were possibly bestowed by the Japanese Gamest Magazine previewing the game, then followed upon by other magazines and subsequently by Square. Regardless of origin, the gaming community tends to refer to the three protagonists by these names, as does this article.

Rather than use the traditional turn-based battle system of games like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, Secret of Mana uses real-time battles akin to the Legend of Zelda series' games, but with the statistical-based elements of the RPG genre and a unique "ring menu" system. In addition, with its brightly colored graphics, expansive plot, and soundtrack by Hiroki Kikuta, the game has been called one of the greatest video games ever made.^[1]

1 Gameplay
2 Plot and setting
- 2.1 Setting
- 2.2 Plot
3 Characters
- 3.1 The Heroes
- 3.2 Major Non-Player Characters
4 Development
5 Reception
- 5.1 Legacy and sequels
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Gameplay

The knight Randi faces off against the game's first boss monster

Generally, Secret of Mana uses a top-down view common with role-playing games of the 16-bit era, with movement governed by the directional pad and the game's other functions by the other buttons (however, the game allows an unusual, if somewhat impractical, upside-down controller configuration). However, unlike its companion turn-based RPGs, Secret of Mana uses a pictorial ring menu system. It is from here that the player can change what weapons the main characters use, cast spells, use items, equip armor, change game settings and control the behavior of the computer-controlled main characters. The ring menu is used again in later Seiken Densetsu games and the spin-off Secret of Evermore.

[edit] Weapons and Spells

Secret of Mana offers the player eight weapon types to choose from, including Randi's initial sword. These include a spear, bow, axe, whip and a javelin. As a default setting, Purim joins the party using the glove and Popoie with the boomerang. Weapons can be upgraded through the use of orbs, generally obtained after the successful completion of a boss battle or found as treasures in dungeons. In order for the upgrade to be performed, the weapons must be taken to Watts the Dwarven Blacksmith, who is a staple of the series. One major annoyance of this system is the apparent absence of two of the weapon orbs, for the axe and the glove respectively - this can be remedied by searching for orbs randomly dropped by specific enemies, but they are very rare. Collecting eight orbs for each weapon in this way allows the player's weapons to reach a secret ultimate level.

Secret of Mana also introduces the Elementals concept to the Seiken series. The eight Elementals can be found on different locations of the game world, and each has a distinct personality and provides the player with specific spells. The eight Elementals are (in order of appearance) Undine, Gnome, Sylphid, Salamando, Lumina, Shade, Luna and Dryad. Each Elemental has destructive and support powers.

Both weapons and magical powers are given a proficiency scale of nine levels (ranging from 0:00 to 8:99), which are raised according to how much the player makes use of them; higher levels allow for more powerful attacks or stronger spells, but each new level takes longer to achieve than the last. Weapons are granted a new, more powerful attack with each level, but with these comes the downside of an increased cumulative charge-up time - the more powerful the attack the player wishes to unleash, the more time he or she will have to spend charging up for the attack and the more vulnerable to enemy attack they are. Even without starting a special attack, the player has to wait momentarily for the character to recover from each attack they make; failure to wait for the character to recover will make their attacks deal minimal damage until enough time is given (around three seconds). Spell animations change approximately every two levels, and once an element reaches above level 8:00, there is a chance that a super-powered version of any spell of that element will be performed when cast. The closer to level 8:99 the element is, the more often the special version will trigger.

[edit] Items & Equipment

A variety of beneficial items are available for use in Secret of Mana, mainly for use as curatives, restoration or healing. Unlike its sequel, Seiken Densetsu 3, there are no items purely for attacking enemies. The game also provides an additional challenge through only allowing the player to carry a maximum of four of each item at any time. This four-of-a-kind-maximum rule can be seen to encourage the player to kill enemies and loot any treasure chests left behind to replenish their stocks, or to use spells to achieve the same effect. However, using spells compounds the challenge as the Faerie Walnut items, which are the only items that replenish the Mana Points used to cast spells, follow the same rule. Throughout the game, the use of some items, such as the curatives and healing items, becomes less of a necessity as the player receives more elemental powers and their proficiency in them increases, particularly for Purim, who casts most, if not all, of the beneficial spells. For example, Undine's powers include Cure Water, which restores hit points, and Remedy, which removes status modifiers such as poison or petrification, are obtained early in the game; practicing these spells allows the player to stop relying on the curative Candy, Chocolate and Royal Jam items gradually, and the healing Medical Herb. Cups of Wishes, which revive fallen party members, are generally needed until near the end of the game, when the spell Revivifier is obtained, but still provide an alternative to the spell's high Mana Point cost. There are also two one-of-a-kind items that restore the special "midget" and "Moogle" status modifiers, namely the Midge Mallet and the Moogle Belt; however, their use on an unfettered character will shrink them and prevent the use of their weapons, or turn them into a Moogle respectively.

Unlike some other roleplaying games, weapons cannot be bought or sold; rather, an orb for one of the weapons is awarded or found and brought to Watts the Blacksmith, who will then irrevocably upgrade that weapon to a new, more powerful form. Armor, on the other hand, is either bought and sold through vendors, such as the travelling peddler Neko, or can only be found in chests left behind by defeated enemies. As the game progresses, more powerful armor is available either through chance in the looted treasure chests (the most powerful armor items in the game can only be found this way), or for purchase with the in-game currency of GP, and is then equipped on each character's head, body or arm, depending on the armor type. Some items of equipment, like the Spiked Vest, can be worn by all characters, but others, like the Tiger Bikini and Rabite Cap, are character specific.

[edit] Multiplayer

Secret of Mana can be played simultaneously by one, two or three players. In order to support three players, a Super Multitap accessory must be plugged into the second controller port of the gaming console. Otherwise, the game's artificial intelligence will exercise limited control over the one or two supporting characters. The AI is known for having a notoriously weak path-finding system, which quite often results in supporting characters getting stuck, forcing the player to switch control to them to unlodge them, as an invisible barrier prevents the player from becoming too separated from the other two characters. It is possible to adjust the aggression level of each AI-controlled character, but spell-casting must be performed manually.

[edit] Plot and setting

[edit] Setting

World Map

Like the other Seiken Densetsu games, Secret of Mana's position in the series is cloudy, though other games have given suggestions to it occurring immediately before or after Sword of Mana. The game begins with the words, "Time flows like a river, and history repeats", after recounting the tale of a previous generation of people who abused the power of Mana, the life-giving magical "presence", to create the ultimate weapon known as the Mana Fortress. As the story progresses, one discovers that the blade known as the Mana Sword was used to destroy the Mana Fortress.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

A young man (with a default name of Randi in the Japanese version of the game) is exploring the forbidden woods near his hometown of Potos with his companions, when he falls off a bridge over a waterfall. After surviving the fall, he finds his way back home blocked by undergrowth. He finds a sword in a stone in the middle of a nearby stream, and is prompted by a mysterious voice to take it. After pulling the rusty sword from the stone, the voice reveals itself as a ghostly figure, and is gone with a brilliant flash of light from the sword. The blade is sharp enough to cut through the undergrowth and he makes his way back to Potos, mystified by the sudden appearance of Rabites in the woods.

Upon returning to Potos, he finds the village under attack by monsters. He sees the Elder, who is thankful for his safe return, but is mortified to find that he is wielding the sword, which had acted as a totem to protect the village from monsters. Suddenly, there is an earthquake and Randi falls into an underground chamber with a monster called the Mantis Ant. Assisted by the enigmatic knight Jema, he defeats the creature and obtains an orb. Jema identifies the sword as none other than the Mana Sword, and encourages Randi to visit the Sage Luka at the nearby Water Palace for more information about it. After Jema departs, the villagers pressure the Elder to banish Randi from Potos as the monsters are after him because they are drawn to the Sword. The Elder relents, but before Randi leaves, he reveals that Randi was entrusted into his care by his mother and that he is an orphan.

Randi reaches the Water Palace and learns that the country simply known as The Empire is wishing to revive the Mana Fortress, and also of his fate: that he must "seal" all eight Mana Seeds across the world with the Mana Sword if he is to save it and restore the balance he disrupted by pulling the Sword. The Seeds also transmit their power to the Sword with each one he seals. He also learns that the orb he received from the Mantis Ant will help him to restore power to the Mana Sword and is encouraged to seek the assistance of the Dwarves in Gaia's Navel, where the next palace and its Seed, the Underground Palace, reside. He also receives a spear before he departs.

He heads for Gaia's Navel, but along the way he is kidnapped by goblins. Randi is freed by a mysterious girl who mistook him for someone else: Her lover, Major Dyluck, who was outside the Water Palace with a band of soldiers on a hunt for the witch, Elinee. Here, the story stops being completely linear, as the girl (called Purim by default in the Japanese version of the game) can join or leave the party in a number of locations along the way to Gaia's Navel, or just after it. With Purim and her glove weapon, or not, Randi travels to the Dwarf Village. There, he meets Watts the Blacksmith, who reforges the Mana Sword into a more powerful form, and subsequently reforms his smithing hammer into an axe after it received power from it. Randi then witnesses a sideshow and is tricked by the Dwarf Elder's money scam by a young sprite child (called Popoie by default in the Japanese version of the game). After revealing the ploy and having his money returned (and fighting another boss), Popoie joins the party with a boomerang and a bow and arrows in the hope of having his memories restored, knocked out of him by his being swept from home by a flood.

The way to the Underground Palace is blocked by Elinee's spell, however, and once Purim is in the party for good (the story becoming linear again), the three travel there to confront her to get her to revoke her spell. She spirits Dyluck away to her boss, Thanatos, and after her pet Spiky Tiger is defeated, her powers fade and she grants the party the use of a whip. However, Sage Luka calls Randi, and upon returning to the Water Palace area, the party gain the powers of the first Elemental spirit, Undine, who also gives a javelin. The party then returns to the Underground Palace, receive the powers of Gnome, and Popoie remembers his origins in the Great Forest of the Upper Land.

They then travel to Pandora, where Thanatos, one of the Imperial henchmen, is converting the city's citizens into mindless zombies obedient to him so as to stage an attack on the royal castle and assume control of the Kingdom; Jema is one of his captives. Once Thanatos' plans are foiled, he makes a hasty retreat with Dyluck and one of Purim's friends, Phanna. Randi then learns that the Water Seed has been stolen, and after retrieving it from the Scorpion Army at the Dwarf Village, he returns to the Water Palace. After foiling the plans of Geshtar, another Imperial henchman, Randi resumes his quest for the Mana Seeds, with the advice of Luka to seek Sage Joch in the Lofty Mountains, and travels to the Great Forest.

There, the party comes across the sprite's village, but is abandoned, its inhabitants presumably killed or eaten by the Spring Beak monster residing there. Upon its defeat, the party finds the Sprite Village elder in the Wind Palace, and gains the powers of Sylphid. Next, the party travels to nearby Matango and finds a baby Flammie in a cave - he is entrusted into the care of Matango's King Truffle.

Randi's quest resumes, and the storyline becomes non-linear once more, allowing the player to travel either to the Ice Country or Kakkara (rather, the deserts outside as the Cannon Travel agent does not use enough gunpowder). Whichever event the player attends to first, the party is pressganged into working on the Tasnican Republic's sandship in the desert (which is destroyed by Geshtar's attack), and also return the Fire Seed from the Ice Castle to its palace, from which it had been stolen by Santa Claus in the hope of forming a giant Christmas tree. Once returned, the story is linear again. While in the Ice Country, the party discover Salamando, who had been kidnapped by the Scorpion Army into providing a central heating source for its resort village.

After sealing the Fire Seed, the party go to confront the Emperor, Vandole. Along the way, they save Phanna from Thanatos, but not before Purim attacks Thanatos, is killed, and is revived by Dyluck's unexplained "special powers". Afterwards, though, Vandole makes a hasty retreat and after defeating Geshtar again, the Imperial castle goes up in flames. The party is rescued by Truffle aboard a fully-grown Flammie.

Then, the player is finally able to go to the Lofty Mountains and seek out Sage Joch. His assistant, Jehk, makes the party seek Joch in the Shadow, Light and Moon Palaces (where the powers of Shade, Lumina and Luna are gained and the Seeds are sealed), and also in Tasnica, where the party foils an Imperial overthrow by the henchman Sheex. After the party returns from these places, and fights clones of themselves in Joch's cave, Jehk reveals himself as Joch and that the process of seeking him out was to make the party stronger. He then tells them to go to the Tree Palace, atop the sunken continent.

Once there, the Empire goes to claim the power of the final Mana Seed, after breaking the seals in the other seven palaces. There, they defeat Sheex and gain Dryad's powers; however, her Mana Magic spell is sealed by Thanatos, preventing the true revival of the Mana Sword. After doing so, the party is too late to stop the Empire from raising the lost continent from the depths, the first step in resurrecting the Mana Fortress. They fight their way through the now Grand Palace, and atop it, they discover a dead Vandole - he was merely a puppet for Thanatos. Fanha, another henchman, attempts to stop the party from preventing Thanatos from taking the final step; he is defeated, but it is too late to stop Thanatos, and the Mana Fortress flies once more.

To restore all of the seals, the party must travel to the Pure Land and unite the Sword with the Mana Tree itself. After a long and arduous battle on their way there, they come to the Tree, only to have Thanatos and the Fortress fly over and fire its weapons upon it. Once the Fortress leaves, the Mana Tree (or what is left of it) reveals Randi's true heritage: he is of the Tribe of Mana, and the menfolk of the tribe wield the Mana Sword, while the womenfolk come together to make the Mana Tree; thus, the ghostly figure at the start of the game is his father, while the Tree itself is Randi's mother.

Then, the final "chapter" begins. The party fight their way through the Mana Fortress to Thanatos, whose spirit leaves the dying body of Thanatos to claim Dyluck's for his own. With his dying words, he banishes Thanatos' spirit from his body and reveals him (or more correctly, the Dark Lich) to be an ancient evil, someone who sold his soul to the Underworld in exchange for power. Upon defeating the Dark Lich, and the party's gaining the Mana Magic spell, the Mana Beast makes an appearance to destroy the Fortress and catastrophically restore the balance of Mana. Popoie reveals his fate, that upon its defeat he will depart the party for another plane of existence, in exchange for the world to be saved. Thus, once the Beast is felled with the fully revived Mana Sword, the final victory is pyrrhic: the world is saved, but Popoie is lost without so much as a goodbye and Purim's Dyluck is dead. It is also only then that Randi is able to return to his Potos, and return the Mana Sword to its plinth. The fate of the characters afterwards is unrevealed.

[edit] Characters

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] The Heroes

Unlike other Squaresoft RPGs, the characters in Secret of Mana do not have default names in the English version.

Randi, a.k.a. The Boy or The Hero or Randy

Randi, with two friends, is searching for a shiny treasure reportedly in the wilderness near Potos, despite the elder's warnings not to go there. He falls off the bridge near the falls, and some bushes block his way home. He takes the sword in the stone, which, unbeknownst to him, is the Mana Sword, and returns to the village after fighting off the monsters. The elder and Elliot are horrified at this discovery, and after Randi defeats the Mantis Ant, which has apparently been drawn to the sword, he is banished.

While Randi has grown up in Potos, it is well-known that he is not a native of the village; Elliot complains that an "outsider" like him has brought doom to the village. His mother brought him to the village when he was a baby, presumably shortly after his father, the hero Serin died near the falls, leaving his sword behind. His mother disappeared soon afterward, possibly to become the Mana Tree as a woman of the Mana Tribe. Randi ultimately learns of his parents' identities and roles during his journey, particularly when, upon reaching the Mana Tree, he has a brief and final reunion with his mother, who tells him what he must do to save the world.

While Randi cannot cast magic, he is the group's main "fighter," and is the only one who can wield the Mana Sword at the end of the game once Popoie and Purim power it up with their Mana Magic. Also, he must power up the sword gauge to the max to unleash his finishing move that will do the maximum amount of damage in the game, The Jumping Cutter.

Purim a.k.a. The Girl

Purim is trying to save her friend Phanna (Pamela パメラ in Japanese) and her love, the soldier Dyluck (ディラック, Dirakku). She meets Randi after saving him from a band of marauding goblins, but does not tell him her name. She then demands that he help her rescue Dyluck; however, the player cannot enter Elinee's castle at this stage in the game, so she will leave him once he reaches Gaia's navel. She rejoins him when he enters the woods, heading to Elinee's castlel, and saves her from werewolves. She attempts to rescue Dyluck at several points in the game, including Elinee's castle, Pandora Ruins, and the Empire Ruins, but is thwarted every time when Thanatos takes him away, hoping to use him as his new body. Dyluck helps protect her with his love when Thanatos attempts to drain her life in the Empire Ruins. When Purim finds Thanatos, she successfully kills his current body, but he still possesses Dyluck, who sacrifices himself to expel Thanatos.

Purim's role in the game is the "white mage," due to her focus on healing and support magic, although she also has some destructive spells.

Popoie a.k.a. The Sprite

Popoie's gender remains undetermined due to references in the game's script of "he" and "it," but the Japanese version implies that Popoie is indeed male. Some fans, however, believe that Popoie is a female, partly because of "her" appearance; Popoie is renamed Autumn and is portrayed as a female in Secret of Mana Theater. Popoie is suffering from the separation from and loss of "its" family, and from the effects of changes in Mana. A flood swept it downstream to the Dwarf Village; in the course of the flood, it begins to suffer from amnesia. The sprite then begins to work in a carnival the Dwarf Elder sets up, but once Randi discovers that the Elder and Popoie have conned him into giving money, it apologises and to make amends. The elder tells Popoie to travel to the Underground Palace to restore its memory. After coming into contact with the Mana Seed there, Popoie remembers it came from a village in the Great Forest in the Upper Land. After travelling there, though, Popoie discovers a monster has killed its family and friends, and destroyed the village. Only its grandfather remains.

The Mana Beast's defeat means that Popoie can no longer exist in Randi and Purim's world, and must return to the spirit world. However, it is willing to make such a sacrifice, knowing that otherwise, the world will be destroyed, and that it will continue to live. The last scene of the ending, showing a ghostly image of the Sprite, seems to confirm its claim.

Popoie is the "black mage" of the group, typically specializing in damage-dealing and debilitating magic.

[edit] Major Non-Player Characters

Dyluck Purim's lover, who was captured by Elinee and given to Thanatos on a mission against Elinee. Thanatos seeks to possess his body, and controls Dyluck on several occasions. Dyluck, however, fights his control, helping to save Purim from being drained of life in the Empire Ruins, and sacrifices himself to prevent Thanatos from controlling him in the Mana Fortress.

Elinee: A witch who kidnaps Dyluck and sends him to Thanatos, supposedly in exchange for magical herbs. After the party defeats her, she promises to reform herself and lead a more benign life.

Elman: Purim's father, apparently a former knight or other noble. He raised her alone, and believes that she has become selfish as a result of not having a female influence in her upbringing. She refuses his arranged marriage to a young nobleman, despite his claims that it will make her happy, and is attracted to Dyluck instead. It is implied that he had a hand in sending Dyluck against Elinee, as Purim accuses the King and him of doing so. Elman may have been motivated to send Dyluck against Elinee in the hope that the mission would result in his death, leaving Purim with no reason to oppose the arranged marriage. Purim is very bitter about what she perceives as attempts to control her, but as she returns to her father in the credits, she may have forgiven him to some degree.

Flammie is a white dragon that the party saves from the giant serpent that killed his parents. After the party escapes the Imperial Castle with his help, he becomes the primary mode of aerial transportation, and the only way except for Cannon Travel to travel between continents. It is suggested that he is somehow related to the Mana Beast, given that they look somewhat similar.

Geshtar: Also known as the "Mech Rider," and one of the Empire's lieutenants. He attacks the party at three different locations; the Kakkara Desert, the Emperor's Castle and the Grand Palace. At the Grand Palace, he has been imbued with the Emperor's magic, being turned into a "living, fighting machine," and appears unresponsive. He is then defeated and killed.

Fanha: The Emperor's only female lieutenant. She helps Thanatos betray Emperor Vandole, and attacks the party as Hexas, a four-armed hybrid of a woman and a snake. The party defeats and kills her, however.

Jema: A Tasnican knight who commanded the King's troops and was best friends with Serin (Randi's ghostly father). He quit the army after Serin's death, and never fought again, but advises Randi at certain points. However, Randi relies on his advice less often as the game goes on.

Joch/Jehk: A sage who sends the party on certain errands while pretending to be his own apprentice. He deceives the party to help them prepare for the trial against themselves.

Luka A 200-year-old guardian of the Water Seal who tells Randi much of the story of the Mana Sword and Fortress. She is taken hostage by Geshtar in an attempt to obtain the Water Seed. Toward the end of the game, when the Empire breaks the seals that the party had fought hard to protect during their absence, if the player returns to the Water Palace, one will find Luka imprisoned in a basement cell beneath the Water Temple, and she tells the party of the Empire's arrival.

Neko: A cat who sells the party items and allows them to save, appearing in many places, including the wilderness and some dungeons. He also has a shop near the Water Palace that also features an inn. His items are significantly more expensive than those sold by other merchants, but the party can buy every inventory item from him no matter where they find him. Toward the end of the game, Neko sells some of the strongest armor near what is left of the Grand Palace.

Phanna: One of Purim's friends, who was jealous of her relationship with Dyluck. That jealousy allows Thanatos to control her easily, but she regains control and apologizes for her actions by the end of the game.

The Scorpion Army A Boss and two underlings. They typically scheme to make money, first by stealing the Water Seed, then by creating a resort in the middle of Ice Country, and finally by attempting to steal and sell the Mana Sword itself, and are usually quite incompetent in carrying out their schemes. They unleash robots against the party.

Sheex Also known as the Dark Stalker, he is another of the Empire's lieutenants. He infiltrates Tasnica and attempts to disguise himself as their king, but is detected and defeated by the heroes. He then attacks the heroes at the Tree Palace as Aegagropilon, a plant-like demon, but is defeated and killed.

Thanatos is one of the Emperor's best men. He is the main villain, and seeks Dyluck's body and the power of the Fortress. He is an ancient sorcerer who sold his heart to the underworld. His true form is the Dark Lich.

King Truffle: The king of the Fungi Kingdom. A more minor character, his role is to take care of Flammie till he is able to fly and save the party from the burning Imperial castle.

Emperor Vandole: The head of the Empire, he seeks to control the world with the power of the Mana Fortress. However, he is betrayed and killed by his subordinates.

Watts: The Dwarven blacksmith who helps upgrade weapons with orbs. He appears in every town.

[edit] Development

[edit] SNES Disc Drive

Secret of Mana was originally going to be a launch title for the SNES CD add-on. After the project was dropped, the game had to be altered to fit onto a standard game cartridge. The game received a graphical downgrade and as much as 40% of the original content was removed.^[2]

[edit] Graphics

Flammie flying - demonstrating Mode 7

The first Seiken Densetsu in color (as compared with its Game Boy-based prequel), Secret of Mana uses a rich and vibrant palette in which the characters are seen to be part of the environment, rather than just riding on top. Also notable is that, through its information and settings screens, Secret of Mana uses a 512x224 pixel high resolution mode (one of a handful of Super Nintendo games to do so) so that a smaller text font could be used. However, the smaller size of the text and the lack of contrast between the white text and the moving light green background can make the information hard to read - likewise the lack of clear distinction between the characters and the background (as compared with The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past) can be troublesome for some players.

Another clever use of graphics comes while flying Flammie, the game's main means of transportation. Secret of Mana makes use of the Super Nintendo's Mode 7 capability to create a largely scaled and rotatable background, giving the illusion that the ground below Flammie is rendered in three dimensions. However, this is only viewable after Flammie ascends to a certain height (the automatic default), and not if the player decides to fly with a top-down view.

Also, while on Flammie, the player can access the "rotated map", which presents the world as a globe. While viewing this map, the player can then switch to the "world map", a two-dimensional view of the world.

The English translation of Secret of Mana uses a fixed-width font to display text on the main gameplay screen. However, the choice of this font limits the amount of space available to display text in, and as a result conversations are trimmed to their bare essentials, leaving a good portion of the game lost in translation.

[edit] Musical score

Main article: Secret of Mana Original Soundtrack

The game's soundtrack was composed by Hiroki Kikuta, and is perhaps his most famous work. It is known for its variety of tunes which tend to focus on the use of percussion and woodwind instruments, ranging from a lighthearted dwarves' polka to a somber, wistful snow melody to a tribal-like dance. Kikuta also incorporated elements of Balinese music into the score, which include gamelan (metallic, pitched percussion) and kecak (a percussive, extremely fast vocal technique). The most notable section of Balinese style music is heard while fighting the Dark Lich. Secret of Mana's title theme, 天使の怖れ/Tenshi no Osore (often translated as Angels' Fear) is well known by video game music aficionados for its haunting, echoing piano melody, and was featured in the third Orchestral Game Concert^[3] as well as serving as the base for many remixes. Parts of the game's soundtrack were incorporated into the Seiken Densetsu 2 Shiikuretto obu Mana/Secret of Mana+ compilation arrangement CD.

[edit] Reception

Secret of Mana was listed at number 42 on Nintendo Power magazine's Top 100 Nintendo Games Of All Time. It was also rated number 48 on the "IGN's Top 100 Games" in 2005. ^[1]

[edit] Legacy and sequels

Secret of Mana developed a large fanbase, so much so that since Secret of Mana, Square Enix has decided to launch several new games in the series on multiple platforms, along with the possibility of novelizations, films, and manga products being created.