They say that smell triggers memories more effectively than any other sense, but when it comes to games, a few bars of the soundtrack are usually all that's required to hurl you right back to your experiences of it as a kid
For instance, the mournful melody that accompanies Secret Of Mana's crystalline Ice Country evokes the time our teenage selves hacked and slashed their way through a giant frozen forest to, for some reason, rescue Santa Claus.
Music has a way of filling in the blanks, extending a world beyond its physical and technical limitations, and adding an emotional context.
Secret Of Mana is the story of a boy, a girl and a magical sprite. More accurately, it's the story of your boy, your girl and your magical sprite. Here was a trio of playable characters you named and shaped yourself, by deciding which arms from the game's exhaustive weapon classes they should become good with. This wasn't an arbitrary choice made at the beginning, but one that emerged naturally over the course of your globe-spanning adventure.
And what an adventure it was, taking in a haunted forest, a scorching desert, mountains, Moogles and everything in between. The game was made during an era in which game worlds felt like worlds, with intricate hand-crafted environments that betrayed the imagination of their artists rather than their talent with a brown felt tip pen.
All those things make this an important historical title, but the slick, fast-paced combat is the reason Secret Of Mana hasn't aged a day. It's an accessible, evocative, imaginative beast of a game, one that's all but guaranteed to lodge itself in your heart - if it hasn't taken residence already. Tom Sykes
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Comments
9 comments so far...
casshern09 on 4 Feb '12 said:
God this was a fantastic game. This, Chrono Trigger and Shadowrun are some of my all time fav games. Good times.
B_G_G on 4 Feb '12 said:
Cannot. Express. Love. Sufficiently.
This was the first multiplayer RPG I ever came across, it blew my mind.
I actually bought the ridiculously expensive multiple controller port for the SNES so my brother and sister could play this with me. I was the lead, my little sister was the dwarf and, uh, my brother was made to be the girl. He's now gay, actually. Huh. There might be a link there.
Damn. Hadn't thought of that before. Sorry Paddi, my bad.
clifton on 4 Feb '12 said:
I'm slightly ashamed but also slightly proud to say I started welling up a little listening to that music....sniff....
ithurtstopoop on 4 Feb '12 said:
this was the reason I nought a multi-tap, so many good memories
razors edge on 4 Feb '12 said:
Beautiful.
Beetle Bum on 4 Feb '12 said:
remember Shadow Zero and the porno pictures ahhh
rbt2 on 4 Feb '12 said:
Greatest RPG ever on one of the greatest consoles ever.
bastian on 5 Feb '12 said:
Tom Skykes... do your homework next time. The music is by Hiroki Kikuta. Ito's sappy score is featured in most of the other Mana games, but thankfully not this one.
havoc33 on 5 Feb '12 said:
Man, this was basically my first real RPG, and how sweet it was! Played it loads together with a mate when it was released, never finished it though. But bought myself a used SNES again in 2003 together with the game and even then it was one of the finest RPG experiences I've ever had. The game just oozes atmoshpere, and the opening hours spent in the woods are just about one of the finest openings to any rpg I've ever played. Great battle system and unforgettable soundtrack. This action-rpg is def one of SquareSoft's finest moments, up there with FF VI, VII and Chrono Trigger.