Customer Reviews

Secret of Mana 2 (Seiken Densetsu 3) Super Nintendo Game

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

SECRET OF MANA was a pretty good game with a few glaring flaws. The pointless "weapon charging" system, magic-leveling system and the fact that your characters had a habit of getting snagged on just about everything.

SEIKEN DENSETSU 3 fixed ALL of that . . . and more.

So between the two, which SECRET OF MANA is the best? Read on . . .

PROS:

--You start the game with one of six characters. Depending who you pick will determine locations/events later on in the game.
--You can move around INDEPENDENTLY of your other two characters. NO MORE GETTING SNAGGED!
--Characters learn up to three Techniques for their weapons, which can be activated when so many hits have been achieved.
--Magic and abilities are learned/increased by increasing your stats--no more magic-grinding!
--Cleaner inventory system
--Class-changing system adds a nice level of variety.
--While very cliche, the storyline is more complex than its predecessor.
--Decent music. Sometimes even good.
--SD3 has MUCH better graphics. Very heavy use of Mode 7 both on the overworld and during battles.

CONS:

--Very repetitive. This is what I would call a "By-the-Numbers RPG". First you have to gain the powers of the 8 Guardian Spirits which are scattered all over. Then you have to defeat the 8 God-Beasts. And then you have to fight 2 or 3 enemies you've already fought before, only stronger this time around.
--The music is not as good as SOM. Some of the tracks are absolutely terrible, like the redundant tinkling sound that repeats every few seconds in the icy part of the world.
--The storyline is very cliche at times.
--Like SOM, expect to do LOTS of grinding to build your levels.
--One common denominator I've noticed in FF6, FF7 and CT is the inclusion of MINI-GAMES. FF6 had the opera scene and the strategic battles where you took turns moving your groups of characters around. FF7 had snowboarding, Chocobo-racing and also a strategic game. CT had the futuristic Bike Race and the festival events.
SEIKEN DENSETSU 3 has no mini-games, which means that formula of "go-here, fight through the lesser-enemies, fight boss" gets old and repetitive.

OVERALL:
If you liked SECRET OF MANA then I'm pretty sure you'll like this game even more!
If you are looking for something as great as FINAL FANTASY 6 or CHRONO TRIGGER you might find that this game falls a little bit short, but still worth playing.

Unfortunately, we don't seem to have any copies right now.

But, if you liked Secret of Mana- or indeed, any Mana game- you will adore this title. You must get it. It compels you. It has incredible replay value for its time, it has a moderately linear plotline that differs for each character, it has the ability to form your own permanent party. It's an incredible game I guarantee you will love for years and years.

To begin, I only wish this game were released in America. Since it wasn't, I had to get a Super Famicom [Super Nintendo from Japan] to play this game.

Gameplay: 10/10
If you are familiar with Secret of Mana for Super Nintendo, you know what to expect from this game. Being a sequel, you expect updates, better gameplay, and such. Well, this game delivers! The classic battle system from Secret of Mana is in this game and seems to play a lot better than from what I experienced on the first one. The maps are all very large and detailed and the world itself really does feel like it sets itself apart from other adventure games. Even if the game doesn't geographically make sense, the bottom line remains true, this game is just fun which is what videogames used to be! If you can read Japanese, or don't mind what language a game is in, I'd highly recommend checking this game out. The game starts, select new game, select 3 characters out of 5, and depending on who you start with, you start in different areas of the game. I really don't see many games do that. So, you can play this game at least 5 times before getting bored of it, but because of the battle system in this game being on the map and not a separate screen, it's really one of those games you will enjoy many times beating it over and over.

Controls: 10/10
The controls are great! They respond very well with the default controls making perfect sense. But, if you don't like the controls, just pause the game and change them. It's total freedom with customization to your liking!

Sound/Music: 10/10
The music works with the game very well, but not my favorite tracks of videogames, but they work and are fun to listen to. The sounds are similar to the first Secret of Mana, so not much to say about that.

Story: ??/10
Since I hardly ever pay attention to stories in videogames, I didn't take that into consideration, plus, I can only read a few important words in Japanese like YES NO SAVE ITEM and such. If you are interested in the story, check out Gamefaqs.

Fun Factor: 9/10
This game is almost flawless, but for me, I dropped this game down 1 point because in any game along the Seiken Densetsu series [Mana games], I ALWAYS get lost and can never really figure out what to do. I check out the guide and continue with the game. But, I always enjoy beating bad guys without ever leaving the screen to enter a battle screen or whatever. The boss battles are just as intense as Secret of Mana, if not more. I actually think this game is a little easier than Secret of Mana difficulty wise.