Secret of Mana

Synopsis

by Brett Alan Weiss

Brought to your Super NES by the makers of the Final Fantasy series, Secret of Mana is a wonderful game that fans of The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past and other action-oriented RPGs will thoroughly enjoy. This epic saga lets up to three gamers (with the help of a multi-tap adaptor) explore a vast, lushly illustrated world filled with monsters and secrets. There's occasional slowdown (when too many characters are onscreen at once), but this is virtually the game's only fault. The battles are enjoyable, there's plenty of upgradeable weaponry (sword, axe, whip, spear, boomerang, gloves, bow, javelin) and magic, the musical score is appropriately grand, and the storyline, which features a number of plot twists, is engrossing.