The Super Famicom CD-Rom Adapter would have certainly helped bolster the game, but true creativity shines when artists need to be mindful of what they can and can’t do. At the same time, it’s important to recognize that Secret of Mana was developed in an era where game development was limited in general. In hindsight, it’s easy to see the late-game focus on exploration as a crutch to overcome nearly half a game’s worth of missing content and story. As soon as players gain access to Flammie, any sense of direction or pacing is thrown out the window. With 40% of the planned game gutted to fit on a Super Famicom cartridge, Secret of Mana was at a disadvantage at release and it shows. Of note, in “Retro Gamer”’s February 2011, Ashley Day revealed that producer Hiromichi Tanaka not only planned for the story to be much darker, but for there to be multiple routes and endings ala Chrono Trigger. Unfortunately for director Koichi Ishii, Secret of Mana was being developed for the Super Famicom CD-Rom Adapter, an add-on for the console that would have made use of the “Super Disc.” As the peripheral was being developed by both Nintendo and Sony shortly before they parted ways, Secret of Mana had to be trimmed down considerably with roughly 40% of the game being scrapped. Why and how, though?Īfter all, Secret of Mana isn’t just overshadowed by its direct sequel, but by its sister game as well: Chrono Trigger. When it comes down to it, there’s only one Secret of Mana and, for all its flaws, it will forever be considered one of the best games of all time. This is exactly what Trials of Mana does, laterally and logically improving Secret of Mana, but it isn’t Secret of Mana. After all, a sequel can iron out any mechanical kinks that slipped through the first go around. Due to the advancement of technology and the relative infancy of the medium, video games are at a stage where they seemingly benefit most from sequels.
That said, this train of thought ignores a very important aspect of game analysis: video games are more than the sum of their parts. Not only because its direct, mechanical sequel was never released outside of Japan, but because Trials of Mana is just such a clear improvement all around featuring better gameplay, a better story, and better music. Where a compelling case could be made for Super Mario World and Final Fantasy VI being better than their 3D successors, Secret of Mana doesn’t afford the same luxury. More importantly, Secret of Mana is an interesting case on the “List of video games considered the best” page as general consensus very much deems Trials of Mana not only the better of the two games, but the best entry in the Seiken Densetsu franchise. What directly followed Secret of Mana internationally was Legend of Mana, not Trials, a game that didn’t build itself on Secret ’s foundation. As a result, it only makes sense Secret of Mana would lack a legacy of its own. Unfortunately, Trials of Mana was not released outside of Japan until June 2019. More importantly, it’s the game that sets up Seiken Densetsu 3 (now titled Trials of Mana ) mechanically. A sequel to Final Fantasy Adventure, Secret of Mana is the second game in the Seiken Densetsu franchise. Which is arguably an issue with how the Mana franchise was handled in the west. Secret of Mana, on the other hand, has no real legacy outside of being a good SNES RPG. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past perfected an action-adventure formula that would be used for years Super Mario World fine-tuned its platforming to near-perfect precision, essentially forcing Nintendo to have to go 3D with their next mainline entry and Final Fantasy VI more or less set the foundation for Final Fantasy VII to take the stage all while being a tremendously high-quality RPG in its own right.
While a critical darling at release, Secret of Mana did not end up having the same long-term impact its contemporaries did. Then there are games like Secret of Mana. Not only are they important games that helped legitimize the video game medium, they’re also all mechanically refined to the point of still holding their overall quality today. Simply skimming the list with some video game knowledge or context, it’s not hard to understand why games like Pong, Super Mario Bros. ” Compiled by cross-referencing different publications’ editorials of the greatest games ever made- typically top 100 articles- said list reads like a “Who’s Who” of the most influential and genre-defining video games spanning nearly half a century. Wikipedia features a rather interesting page titled “ List of video games considered the best.