Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10442 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Nintendo
• Released on: 2004-03-19
• ESRB Rating: Everyone
• Platform: Game Boy Advance
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .50 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
Sword of Mana is Square Enix's second title for the GBA and, like Final Fantasy Tactics before it, it's a remake of one of their earlier classics. The original version, on the old black and white Game Boy, was sold as The Final Fantasy Adventure in the West--although it was actually the first game in the Japanese Seiken Densetsu series (which also includes the highly regarded Secret of Mana) and is nothing to do with the Final Fantasy franchise at all. In fact the game plays a lot more like The Legend of Zelda, because there's no turn-based combat--just real-time action.

With such an illustrious pedigree you'd expect a lot from Sword of Mana and at first you won't be disappointed: the graphics are gorgeous and the sword- and magic-based combat is immediately engaging. However it soon becomes clear that the game lacks the variety of Zelda and instead replaces it with Square Enix's usual finicky role-playing elements. More problematic is the complete stupidity of the various computer-controlled characters that are supposed to help you out throughout the game, but instead just get in your way. Neither element is enough to ruin the game, which is still a superior action RPG--but they do make it fall a little short of the portable classic it could've been. --David Jenkins

Manufacturer's Description
Sword of Mana, the prequel to the Mana series, tells the story of the source of all life, the power that flows from the goddess Mana and bears her name. Long ago, in a time of darkness, a mighty empire tapped its energy to dominate the world. In an effort to stop the use of such power for evil purposes, a woman from the Mana tribe transformed herself into the Mana Tree, locking the power away from anyone who would try to abuse it. The hero, the young leader of the Duchy of Grantz, has been raised and trained as a gladiator in the slave pits of Grants. The heroine in this story is a young woman from the Mana tribe who possesses deep ties to the goddess Mana. As the Shadow Knight is persecuting the Mana tribe, the heroine embarks on a journey to protect it. When the hero and heroine meet, the wheels of fate are again set into motion.

Customer Reviews

Bog Standard RPG?
I was recommended this game by a friend. He claimed it to be better than Zelda, I had to try this out and see for myself as this is a pretty crazy claim.

I was not too suprised that it fell short of Zelda however I must admit it was fairly enjoyable. Storyline is good-ish. Gameplay is a bit repetitive but I manged to get through it (and I have a short attention span). I would recommend it to others but never over Zelda or FF

Sword of Mana - nostalgelicious
Back in the days of the SNES and Original GameBoy, there were two games that caught my heart - Secret of Mana (SNES) and Mystic Quest (GB - although it was re-released under the name "Final Fantasy Adventure")

This game combines the graphical quality, the easy to use menu system and magic from SoM, with the memorable, wonderful music and story of Mystic Quest.

In fact it appears to simply BE Mystic Quest (Final Fantasy Adventure), remade using Secret of Mana's gameplay style.

It's not as deep as SoM, and lacks the replayability of it (I forget how many time I've played Secret of Mana over and over again) but if you were a fan of Mystic Quest on the GameBoy, give it a try. Although you'd already know most of the story and plotline!

Having the choice of 2 characters is good, seeing where their roles cross - but every time you want to start playing from the begining again, you have to sit through a tediously long (8 minutes) of introduction before you can kill your first Rabite!

A crucial disappointment
The SNES had many a 'classic' games with the likes of Street Fighter II, Mario Kart and whatnot, but there were always two that I returned to more than most. Zelda and Secret Of Mana. Both were as about as perfect as could be.

So immense joy years later when the SNES Zelda and the superb Minish Cap are present in handheld form on the GBA. What better to complement it than Sword of Mana? Well for one, perhaps porting the SNES Secret of Mana across instead of this effort.

The main problem with Sword of Mana is sadly the gameplay mechanic. Secret of Mana had a decent three party character system, a nice magic system, a great gameplay structure. Sword of Mana seems to completely lack these. No real control over your computer controlled 2nd player and their development, the magic system is really a bit poor compared to the nicely meaty spells of Secret, and the story doesn't really compel you to get to the next stage to see what happens.

A major disappointment for me in the end, especially after waiting so long for it to finally surface. Trust me I really tried to like this (being a bit of a Square fan).

On the plus sides you've got nice graphics and decent music. Perhaps someone else will be able to get into this and wring some joy from the game where I couldn't. For me, well, the game has already gone from the collection, into some other budding gamers hands. I'm waiting on the Final Fantasy Dawn Of Souls collection and am more than happy getting through the challenges of the Minish Cap instead.