Sword of Mana

"Hardcore fans *might* be disappointed"

I hate to say this, but unfortunately for me this game was an utter disappointment. After playing through both the Japanese then the English versions, I can validate that. (Some spoilers ahead).

Story (1/10): The story is butchered. It doesn't even live up to the original versions's storyline. The new character development sucks. The worst offense to this is Julius and then Dark Lord. Julius was supposed to be the emperor's son in the original, the main villain pretty much. In Sword of Mana, all those times that Julius appeared to annoy you are gone. For example, when you go into that cave where he helps you disguised as a Red Mage, only to later find out it's him, that's gone. He's pretty much a sub-plot character. Just wait and see how it turns out in the end, since he was the final boss in the original. Dark Lord is given more of a storyline role. I guess Brownie Brown decided to shift the villainary role in favor of Dark Lord instead of Julius this time around. The loosely thrown in tie-ins to Seiken Densetsu 3 (such as Isabella) really throw off the trilogy's storyline sequence. The addition of the female protagonist really upsets the storyline as far as the main hero's role in the game goes. This game is no longer the Neverending Story-esque adventure it use to be. Being a hardcore fan of the original, I had to rate it this low.

Graphics (6/10): The graphics really upset me in that they are not even better than Secret of Mana's. Aside from static backgrounds that looked like they were ripped out of Legend of Mana, the graphics will not impress. The ring menu system looks like crap, very pixelated. Secret of Mana, and Seiken Densetsu 3 if you played it, provide much better menu graphics and character animations. Provided the Gameboy Advance is supposed to be more powerful than the SNES, there is no excuse why the game looks worse than the beautiful Secret of Mana and Seiken Densetsu 3.

Sound and Music (7/10): The sound was agiven to be a disappointment. The Gameboy Advance never had better sound and music than the SNES. A Link to the Past with The Four Swords proved this proof. Although it is nice to hear the brilliant tunes of Final Fantasy Adventure in 16-bit type sound, it still sounds like it's coming through a muffled mono sound radio. Oddly, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance didn't suffer this problem. Compare the CD soundtracks of Sword of Mana and FFTA if you think this is the fault of the GBA's sound chip.

Controls (8/10): The controls are okay, they are still not as solid as Secret's or Seiken 3's controls. This is due to the limited amount of buttons. Still, it's the next best portable adventure gameplay next to A Link to the Past.

Features (6/10): As for extra features, they lack. The change of the magic system from its original form to the 8 Elementals versions sucks in this game, as it is not ring menu based like Secret or Seiken 3. Instead, it's all in the L and R triggers and you cycle through them. Magic in this game is not as useful except for solving puzzles. This makes playing as the heroine less fulfilling as the hero. The addition of the class system from Seiken 3 is nice, as it is a nice hybrid of Final Fantasy Adventure's original level system with Seiken 3's class change system. However, it does not matter whether you become a Gladiator, Wanderer, Beast Master, Devil Hand or Magus; if you're the hero you will pretty much be a melee fighter and if the heroine, a magic user.

Conclusion: Overall, I'd say this game is not as magical as Secret of Mana, Seiken Densetsu 3, or even the original Final Fantasy Adventure. However, it is not as embarassing to the series as Legend of Mana. That said, I'd say it's still worth it to buy this game, it makes a great portable title. It makes a nice alternative to A Link to the Past when you need the adventure game rush, and it is pretty good considering the crap Square has been releasing lately. Seiken/Mana series hardcore fans will honestly enjoy FF Adventure better. I will provide two final scores...

As compared to other GBA titles: 9/10
As compared to the rest of Seiken/Mana series: 4/10

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 11/24/03