Gameboy Advance - Sword of Mana

Format
Gameboy Advance
Publisher
Nintendo
Developer
Square Enix
Country of origin
Japan
Genre
Action RPG

Sword of Mana

By David Rasmussen
6th Oct 04

Publisher - SQUARE ENIX
Age - E for Everybody
Genre - Fantasy
Sub Genre - RPG
Other Games - Secret of Mana and sequel (SNES)

This game is supposed to be a prequel to the SNES games, and set the story up for what is to come.
You can play one of two characters. One is a female magic user who is the last survivor (or so it seems at the beginning) of the Mana Tribe (as in the Mana tree and it's long history attached to it), the other is a male former slave gladiator whose family died when they sheltered beforesaid female Mana Tribe member, and who was thrown into slavery for years.

The man bad is a dark being who seems only out to do evil... but his exact plan has yet to be revealed... I'm still playing and haven't gotten very far so I don't have much notes on what is going on in terms of the evil in this world and it's plans.
I do know that you (female character) are looking for your true mother -- I don't know about the male character but I'm sure it's something important.

Gameplay is solid, and it's fun overall. The menu system is easy enough, and combat is straight forward.
I like the story so far, though I wish it was clearer what the grand evil of this game is up to.
Maybe later some clues will drop into my lap about that.

Breakdown time... since you have to play it to see how fun it is.

Sword of Mana Breakdown
What's Hot?
When I first played the SNES game Secret of Mana I had lots of fun playing! This game, a prequel to Secret of Mana, holds up to that scrutiny and is as fun as it was before. Very solid gameplay here, nice.

What's Not?
I wish the BGM (background music) had abit more punch (about half is a little slow), and that the motivation was a little more motivating, but I still liked this game.
Huh? Finding your true mom isn't motivating enough? Well a little bit more punch on the story would have been nice in any case.

Moments to Remember?
Interactions between the male/female characters works for me as a memorable thing here.

What to Ignore?
Not much. I like what I've played so far, so I don't have anything to ignore here.

Overall?
It's good. It's as I remember it when I played the SNES version, and a good play here.
A fairly done solid piece of play overall, and worth your checking out. Could have been tweaked a little here and there but that's nitpicking. Nicely done game, great job!
want to read or not. Well worth at least giving it a shot in my book.

Now I just need to see the GBA put out old classics like Secret of Mana and I'll be a happy camper.

-- David Rasmussen 6th Oct 04

Gameboy Advance Sword of Mana Images