User Rating: 7.8 | Shinyaku Seiken Densetsu GBA
I really wanted to enjoy this game. The fact that it was the prequel to Secret of Mana hoped me to believe that this would recapture the magic of that great classic. However it falls just a little short. The game itself is a great portable game, and I think the fact it is portable is where it came into fault with me. Graphically, this game has some great sprites and backgrounds. While they feel a little out of place sometimes, they really help in setting the mood with you. However, if you run a little too fast, the sprites will begin to tear. It shows a lot more in when you put this game on the GBA. The other issue was sometimes it was a little hard to see where you could go on some of the maps. With the addition of jumping, it made it a little more frustrating. Besides those problems, Sword of Mana has really good art working for it and the sprites are brightly colored and detailed. Listening to the sound, it seems like a lot of the game was lifted from the Game boy version to keep a nostalgic feeling. But a lot of the time it just makes the little GBASP speaker crackle. The music was greatly done, with each mood greatly done in song. Every time a certain mood hits, you hear that one song that makes you sad, or riles you up for the fight against a boss. The one thing I have to hate about this game was some of the gameplay. The game has a jump feature so you can jump up a step or down a cliff. While a great idea, it doesn’t always work as finding the right angle gets really annoying. When battling the enemies, sometimes you will come across a treasure chest, and the second you try to open it, your character is stuck in a good 5 second loop you can’t shorten or get out. While you are waiting for the item name to disappear, the enemy can be getting in the prime spot ready to hit you. This doesn’t happen most of the time sine the enemy AI is a little on the dumb side, but get to close to an enemy and it gets a rhythm, you can’t hit it. Don’t even think about attacking two or more up close, they will immediately find a rhythm making it impossible to attack them. The level system is another unique one for me. Leveling in this game is far easier than Secret of Mana, (my excuse since it’s a portable game). There is so much to level in this game; every weapon, every spell you encounter can be leveled to level 99. Upgrading your weapons and armor can be a confusing part, but that’s just the fun in fully understanding this game. If you wanted to, you can easily blow through this game in 10 hours. However, that’s if you skip what seemed to be at least 50 side quests. Every town you go to, you can get up on these extra little quests helping you get even stronger than before. The replay value is there a little as well, with many different leveling paths to choose from and two different characters to start as. This game has a few beefs, but a great little game to pick up and go. The story it has it a good one, and everything seemed to close up at the end. A great little RPG, but if your looking for Secret of Mana, yell at Square-Enix to bring it to us like they should.
