Words cannot express my excitement when this game was announced for the Game Boy Advance. To say I am a huge fan of its sequel Secret of Mana is an understatement. Every little detail about the game seemed incredible: a reworking of the original Gameboy classic Final Fantasy Adventures (US) by Brownie Brown and the developer even added new features. It seemed like it took forever before I had a chance to play it. Once I inserted the game and switched the power on, I was treated to the title screen, which was a beautiful image that just screamed Square.

Play as either a hero or a heroine as you try to defeat the Dark Lord.

Eight different types of spirit magic to collect.

At least 25 hours of gameplay.


First you must choose either to be a hero or a heroine. The story differs depending on your choice, but for the most part the game is the same for both characters. While you handle one character, the CPU takes care of the other one. You have to set the CPU behavior status, choosing to have the computer be offensive, or defensive. This really never works out as well as it should have. The computer controlled character will either walk right into an enemy or can¡¦t maneuver around a rock. However, the developers included a feature to switch characters on the fly by just hitting select to try and attempt to keep your CPU companion out of trouble.

Although Sword of Mana uses some RPG elements, the game is very similar to the action based game of Zelda. The use of leveling for example is a very important part of this game. Your character has various job statistics, and every time you go up a level you can add 1 point to any of the stats. These increase your proficiency with your various weapons and may invoke bonuses as you level up.

The magic is handled through spirits that grant you their powers. There are eight spirits found in this game. The way you activate your selected spirit is quite ingenious. You simple press the R button and you will use the spirit's support magic, holding the same button will invoke the said spirits offensive magic. This feature works great and never becomes bothersome.

The direction your game can take seems very straightforward. Everything from the towns to the dungeons seems to be setup in an almost linear path. Also, keeping you from stumbling into areas you shouldn't are these blockers, which can only be broken with a certain attack from a weapon. This keeps everything in check and keeps the game progressing in the right direction.

One of the neatest things about Sword of Mana is that all your weapons except your sword are all taken from your enemies. It is so easy to implement, but it just is so nice to get weapons from someplace other than a treasure chest. And speaking of treasure chests, when you find certain ones, you have a random chance of getting a booby trap.

Visually, Sword of Mana looks quite impressive at times. It really harkens back to an earlier age of gaming. Beautiful hand drawn graphics permeate this title. Certain scenes look spectacular, setting the mood and tempo perfectly. Sword of Mana looks nothing like its original Gameboy version, and trust me, that is a good thing.

Sometimes fighting can be a little annoying since the animation is so sporadic. I understand to include fluid animations for all the characters, weapons and magic would be a major undertaking, but this is easily the weakest point of the game. Well, thankfully once you level up, you can easily lay almost any enemy to waste bad animation or not.

The game has all the bells and whistles you would expect. Beautiful music flows effortlessly throughout the game. The score reminds me of days long ago when the Super NES was the quintessential platform for experiences like this. The classic Square really shows their stuff here. Sound effects are of the same caliber, from the slashing of swords, to magic.

Playing through the game gives me the strong feeling that this translation isn't on par with some of Square's other titles. Either the story has been simplified for everyone to enjoy, or it was rushed to market. Early on some of the characters would be referred to as a "military type man", instead of guard. Even your nemesis is named "Dark Lord", which sounds like a copyright infringement in itself. Not saying that the story isn't good. Just the opposite, but it seems strange for the developer to choose this type of wording. However, the system has a small screen, and you don't have room to fill the screen with elaborate explanations.

Certain aspects of Sword of Mana leave me scratching my head. The inclusion of a giant cactus-like house for example, called a "Hothouse". This house can serve many uses. For one it is a place where you can grow different kinds of vegetation that are used to upgrade your weapons and armor. The seeds in case you were wondering can be found throughout the different levels. Neither the game nor the instruction manual to game gives an accurate description of what the different types of vegetation do, so it leaves it up to you to figure out your own strategy for growing them.

I just knew this game would at least have a two player co-op, but all you can do when you link up this title is trade items; a real disappointment for me. Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of Sword of Mana is the bosses. They can easily be beaten on their first try, and to make it worst, there was no special weapon or technique required to beat them like in traditional RPGs.

Though Sword of Mana has its problems, it is still a great game that should be owned by all RPG lovers alike. Square is a legend in this industry, and they have one of the best track records of any company. So going into this I had certain expectations, and even though this game compared to most games for the Gameboy Advance is spectacular, it still falls just short of its brethren.