Secret of Mana remake?

[Dagger Dias]

Secret of Mana was a classic game on the SNES that was very popular during its time. It was the second game in the Mana series, following the oddly named game "Final Fantasy Adventure" and had a gameplay style that was ahead of its time. I feel that the game deserves a remake and would do quite well if it got one.

You played as a boy, a girl, and a sprite child. It was possible to play with as many as three people at once with use of the Multitap accessory. The menus were done in a ring style, similar to what has been seen in other titles recently. Your weapons and magic abilities got powered up through use, so you had to go around fighting a lot or casting spells a lot in order to advance in strength levels but it was always worth the time to do so. The battles were action real time rather than turn based, which has become the norm today but was rather unheard of back in 1993.

So here are some discussion questions....

1. Do you think that Secret of Mana would have fit in with today's crop of games, due to the gameplay system? Why or why not? (Graphics and music would obviously be modernized, not their real 1993 counterparts)

2. Does this game deserve a remake? Why or why not? If so, is there anything you would change about the original?


I personally think that a remake to this classic would be a fantastic idea for multiple reasons. The first is because there are many oldschool fans who look back on it fondly and would likely love to see it modernized. Secondly, it would give some more attention to the Mana series, which in my opinion never quite caught the gold they had in Secret of Mana in any of their other releases. The gameplay would not need any changing whatsoever. It was ahead of its time in that department and it would translate over to today's style perfectly. I would also really enjoy seeing what the graphical and musical upgrades would be like. They could throw in some new content, such as perhaps having an optional boss fight take place at that Lighthouse, I know that location had to have served some type of purpose but they probably deleted the events there to eliminate lack of memory issues. Unfortunately there is no news on a legit remake right now, but maybe some day....

So? What do the rest of you think about a remake to this great game?

 

[metalbass]

I replayed this game a few months ago and I was suprised that it actually seemed better this time around than when I last played it. It would be cool to see an upgraded version of this but the better game is the 3rd of this installment, "Seiken Densetsu 3". This was the second game and the only one I believe that was released in North America. If you're lucky enough, you can find a translated ROM of the 3rd game. If you haven't played that one yet, you'll be blown away.

 

[Sin Jackal]

As long as it's nothing like Dawn of Mana. . .sure.

Legend of Mana > Secret of Mana >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Dawn of Mana :\

Remakes of older RPGs in general would be cool. We don't have many options in that department right now besides the sorta bland ones on handhelds.

I do think if it's remade, it would have to be totally redone unless it's just released on handhelds. Even if it is redone, it will probably be on a handheld anyway. . .maybe with Ps1 graphics.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I replayed this game a few months ago and I was suprised that it actually seemed better this time around than when I last played it.

Secret of Mana is one of those games that gets the better the more you play it. Nostalgia plays a role in how it is still so enjoyable today, but it was very ahead of its time and its gameplay style would translate into a style similar to Dragon Age almost perfectly.

It would be cool to see an upgraded version of this but the better game is the 3rd of this installment, "Seiken Densetsu 3".

This part I disagree with. I don't get what people saw in that game. I tried it and hated it. Different people have different opinions though.

This was the second game and the only one I believe that was released in North America.

Nope.

1991 - Final Fantasy Adventure (Seiken Densetsu in Japan, Mystic Quest in Europe)
1993 - Secret of Mana
1995 - Seiken Densetsu 3 (Japan only)
1999 - Legend of Mana
2003 - Sword of Mana
2006 - Children of Mana
2006 - Friends of mana (Japan only)
2006 - Dawn of Mana
2007 - Heroes of Mana

There were only two games in the series that did not get released in the US.

If you're lucky enough, you can find a translated ROM of the 3rd game. If you haven't played that one yet, you'll be blown away.

Yeah there are translated copies of it floating around online. It's an ok game, but I honestly hated it. I got through it twice thinking it's one of those games where you need to play it more than once but it was even more of a chore the second time around.

Anyways. Secret of Mana is by far the most popular game in the series, and it has aged quite well. The graphics still look really good considering it came out in 1993 and would look amazing when given a PS3 or 360 touch up. I'd love to hear how an updated soundtrack would sound like. The gameplay style is the best part of all, it would not need any changing whatsoever. How many oldschool games can you think of that would not need ANY gameplay change in order to resemble today's games in the same genre? Exactly. Secret of Mana is one of the few games that can fit that argument. It would also give the series some much needed attention, their strategy of releasing several games at once back in 2006-2007 seemed to have backfired.

 

[DirtyJosé]

I'm going to post here and I just want you all to pretend I also posted this in the "FF7 remake" thread.

The genre of the JRPG is never going to regain it's momentum against the Western RPG which is dominating on current consoles and PC markets by simply living in the past. Disregarding my feelings for FF7 (mostly garbage) and Secret of Mana (mostly awesome), the genre is at a point where it needs to realize that it's deep attachment to the past, be it through "updates" where graphics are spruced up a bit and a new level or two is added, or "sequels" like the recent-ish FF4 sequel where not really anything worthwhile happens and mostly is just jerk off fanboy service, are only alienating the newer players who they need to be courting.

A company like SquareEnix doesn't need to make a FF7 remake, likewise as Nintendo really doesn't need a SoM remake. These games have had their time, these companies have made their money, and their praises are sung all through the internet. Remakes and living in the past stifles any innovation the genre needs right now. The biggest releases the genre can make these days are lucky to see release outside of Japan for the simple reason that they aren't the hot topic property that they were back in the late 90's/early 00's. These types of games were new to us outside of Japan at the time, us being the mainstream western audience. Games like Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy 6 and 7, and Chrono Trigger blew the top off of JRPG gaming.

But what happened? The PS2 generation came around, and while XBox and PC gamers became introduced to games like Elder Scrolls: Morrowind and Fable, PS2 owners had to dig through a lot of crap JRPG releases to find any worthwhile releases. Look no further than the attempt at milking the wildly popular Xenogears franchise through the near-aborted "pre-quels" of Xenosaga. WRPG's grew in popularity, and with that they commanded better and better share of the markets, by giving the mainstream audiences something they hadn't had or played before, while JRPG's floundered.

So it comes to this; discussion about how all these old games should be remade so that maybe new folks will learn how enjoyable JRPGs can be. But that's just silly. Why waste the money and time (and it will take a lot of money and time, trust me) to remake something like FF7 when you could put that money and time into something new? Why piss about trying to make more money off a franchise over ten years out of it's prime? Western RPG's are hitting the same kind of walls JRPGs had; after a few years of excellence, the same ideas are being kicked around, the same games being "remade" with slight alterations and some new DLC and being called "sequels". This is the perfect time for JRPG makers to be bringing something new into the fold to wow players back to them, not *********ing over themselves for a game release generations ago (in terms of hardware). That kind of behavior is what turns off western audiences to JRPGs in the first place.