Secret of Mana
Graphics
I won't say that Secret of Mana is one of the best looking games on the SNES... but it is very good in the graphics department. The closest game for comparison would be Chrono Trigger. While SOM doesn't have quite as much detail, because it was released earlier, it seems to me that the style is very similar. The towns, especially late in the game, are large in size, and well designed for the most part. They aren't nearly as impressive as some of the environments and dungeons you encounter though, such as Ice Land, the Desert, and Pure Land. Each has a very distinct look, not just a basic change of colors.
Because the game has a live action battle system, there is no seperate screen for when you encounter enemies. They are simply scattered throughout whichever dungeon or area you are going through, and you attack them as you go along. Some might not agree, but I think that seeing the enemies moving about actually adds something visually to the game. Rather than having lifeless looking areas with no sign of enemies until you get a random encounter, this game has active dungeons , and an overworld filled with all sorts of enemies.
Speaking of enemies, they are designed extremely well, much better than the human characters, even your own party. Even though some enemy types to repeat with nothing changes but color and attacks, there are a lot of distinct monsters, and they often fit in well with their surroundings. Bosses are much the same, but to an even greater extent. You've got living walls, Dragons, Vampire Bats, Slimes, and much, much more, and almost all of them look great.
Spell effects aren't spectacular, but they look quite good. And the attack effect varies when characters use powered up their attacks.
One very minor issue I noticed is that the game uses the same character sprites very often, compared to other RPG's of the same time. There are a few different townspeople designs that you see in virtually every town throughout the game, without any variation. It's a small matter, but noticeable and so worth mentioning.
Game Mechanics and Gameplay
As I mentioned, the game uses an active battle system. People often compare it to Zelda, but I've always thought that the similarities were few.
During the course of the game, you find various types of weapons. A sword, axe, spear, boomerang, etc. Instead of purchasing new weapons when you progress in the game, you simply have your current weapons forged into a more powerful form. You do this by finding orbs that correspond to the weapon you want to power up. For example, you could beat a boss and receive a sword orb. Take that orb to the blacksmitth Watts, and he'll upgrade your sword to it's next form. Each form has a different name, and there is a limit to how many orbs you can acquire.
But that's not all... even if the weapon is powered up, it won't reach it's full potential until you use it... a lot. A character's weapon skill level increases, when they keep using a certain weapon for a long time. This allows you to charge your attacks to the same level the weapon is at to do extra damage. Has to be seen in action to be truly understood. I happen to like this system, as it's a nice change from the norm, and I enjoy being able to power the weapons up as much as I'd like. And if you do prefer tradition, you'll be happy to know that purchasing armor is done in the same way as always... you have to buy it and equip it.
Magic works on a similar, but slightly different system. As you do various tasks, you gain the ability to cast new sets of spells. For example, Undine, protector of the Mana Seed of Water, allows the Girl and Sprite to each cast three water elemental spells. As you use the spells more and more, your profeciency in that category will increase to a new level. ALL the spells in that category will be come more powerful even if you've only ever used one of the three spells. The problem is that it's much more important to level up spells than to level up weapons in order to do a decent amount of damage, and it becomes a VERY time consuming task if you want to do it right.
Boss encounters are difficult, unless you use what some would consider a cheat. By casting spells repeatedly without giving the boss time to react, you can defeat virtually anything with minimal effort. I wouldn't recommend doing this often, as it takes some fun out of the game. It's best to save this "trick" for times when you really have serious trouble.
Story and Music
The game begins with you in control of the main character, trying to find a way back to his village. He sees a sword in the river, and pulls it from it's resting place. This is the Mana Sword, and it changes the course of this person's life from that moment on. The story in general is excellent... while the dialogue could have been a little better, it's still pretty good, in comparison to many other games out at the time. There aren't many distinct plot twists, but there are a lot of major events, some of which coming unexpectedly. There's also humor thrown in, and some other interesting surprises.
Well, Secret of Mana has some of the best music on the SNES, in my opinion. It varies greatly from the Squaresoft games people are more familiar with, like the Final Fantasy series, but it fits this game perfectly. When you go to a snowy area at one point in the game, the music actually makes you think of winter. Different types of spells and attacks have distinct sound effects, and everything just comes together perfectly.
Conclusion
Even if you've mostly been a fan of action RPG's, I strongly suggest giving this game a try. It has something for just about everyone, and despite a few very minor problems, it's one of the best games on the SNES. A favorite of mine, which has lots of replay value.
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