Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4313 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Nintendo
• Model: 45496737702
• Released on: 2007-01-12
• Rating: To Be Announced
• ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+
• Platform: Nintendo DS
• Dimensions: 2.00 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Mana series has had an odd history, its most famous incarnation in the West being the classic SNES role-player Secret of Mana. Considered to be the next best thing to The Legend Zelda at the time, in the intervening years Square Enix has completely failed to build on that acclaim. Unlike Secret of Mana this is a dungeon crawler. As such it's similar to the recent Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games, in that it has virtually no plot or puzzles - after picking one of four character types it's your fate to endlessly trawl through a series of randomised dungeons.

Rogue-like games (named after the ancient `80s PC game from which all similar titles are derived) likes this do have their fans, particularly in Japan, and if you're one of them then this is literal mana from heaven. Combat is initially interesting, with four different types of weapons each with secondary functions such as the flail that doubles as a grappling hook. True to the genre's roots though actual fighting just comes down to mashing the same button over and over again. The only other complication is a magical familiar which will attack enemies on its own and which gives you access to a few simple spells.

What cannot be criticised about the game is its 2D graphics, which are easily some of the best seen on the DS. The huge bosses in particular look great and the game features cameos from series regulars such as Flammie and the Rabite enemies. Another boon is a multiplayer mode for up to four people to play co-operatively or competitively. Even so, unless you're already a rogue-like fan, you may find the gorgeous graphics just don't justify the repetitive action.
HARRISON DENT

Manufacturer's Description
Ten years before the game begins, a great cataclysm struck, and the land of Illusia was besieged by monsters. Now, the Mana Tree has been corrupted by her own power, and mysterious pillars of Mana energy have appeared throughout the land. Each of these pillars has corrupted the power of the guardian spirits in those lands. With the help of the Sword of Mana, the player must free each of these guardian spirits from the corrupting magic and help restore order the Mana Tree and the land of Illusia itself.

In the center of the world, the Mana Tree grows, sheltering everyone under its strong limbs. Its magic protects the world, but that power has grown too strong and has begun to surge across the land, corrupting all that it touches. Now, a handful of young heroes must band together to restore the magic of the Mana Tree and save Illusia.

Customer Reviews

Very fun
I got this game because i liked the sound of it and nobody i know has it.
At the start of the game you can pick from four people each have a diffrent life story. The game is a little diffrent on who you pick so if you finish the game you can play it again but be a diffrent character because the game will be diffrent.
I found the fighting quite easy until i got to a higher stage and got very anoyed at it after a while.
This game is packed with action and mystery. I would deffinetly recomend it i love it!

Fun in short doses
Here we have one of the most highly anticipated DS releases in the form of Children of Mana which, while fun at first, can become tiring rather quickly

Visually the game is quite impressive. No 3D elements, just nicely drawn classic top-down sprites, detailed backgrounds, smooth animation and subtle but effective visual effects. The presentation is very good with some impressive cutscenes. These are very few and far between, but it keeps them special. The menus can be a little confusing at times - one example is if you pause the game during a battle, the default option is "Return" - choosing Return will return you to your home village, not to the battle. It is noted, but it will catch you out a couple of times and it can be quite annoying. The characters are well designed and the enemies and bosses are quite memorable

The sound isn't so good. Sounds effects are good and voiceovers are kept to a minimum which is something I appreciate while others think it may have benefited from them. But most importantly is the music. Typically games of this nature have an epic soundtrack and Square-Enix's other offerings in the Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest series are absolutely brimming with memorable, well-written tunes. And for a game that you will be playing for 20 hours plus a good soundtrack is almost compulsary unless you insist on having your own music on. But this is one aspect that the game is lacking. The soundtrack is completely forgettable, bland, and slightly repetitive. I can name one song which is worth a listen (Tower of Mana dungeon theme - awesome tune) but the rest is very lacklustre and not up to the usual standards of Square-Enix

And most importantly - gameplay. Navigation is simple - you have the main village where you live which is a very small setting and features 3 small buildings to look around, one being a shop. The rest is (I didn't count) - about 10 dungeons/battlegrounds. There is absolutely no exploration in the game and it makes the game feel really cramped. The game would have benefitted massively from a map you can explore such as in the Zelda games but in this game you are constantly just switching between battles and visiting your village, talking to a dozen characters to find out where you need to battle next. And this would be ok if the battles were really good, which they are... for the first few times. Some characters will offer you little sidequests (more battles) and you can choose jobs to do at the shop (more battles) but these aren't neccesary and are just another way of getting EXP points/extra money

The battles place you in a zone where you have dozens of monsters you need to kill. To progress to the next zone you need to find an item (Gleamdrop) and place it in the Gleamwell. The Gleamwell will appear when you have killed all the enemies of a certain type, it could be hidden in a pot, a bush or a treasure chest but the chances are you won't uncover it that quickly. The battles range from 4 zones to over 12 later in the game, and are unfortunately mighty repetitive. The system is like a dumbed down Devil May Cry where you have a number of weapons, and a limited amount of attacks. The most effect weapon is the sword and you rarely need to use the others unless attacking an unreachable enemy or removing an obstacle and you will find 99% of the game you will spend tapping A A A... A A A... A A A... it's fun at first but highly unrewarding and the battles drag out for far too long at times. Also, the difficulty is very oddly paced - the game starts out incredibly easy, half way through the game suddenly becomes very difficult. This difficult patch is very short, and the game becomes very easy again. For some reason, the bosses in the second half of the game take about 10 swipes with the sword - that isn't an exaggeration. Also, the last boss (which I won't spoil for you) is over incredibly early leaving the game with a bit of an anti-climax

You choose a spirit to accompany you and this can be changed any time you are in the village. The spirit, when summoned, will either attack the enemies with a magic attack or provide you with energy or power. There are a few spirits to choose from but tbh they really feel like an afterthought - they rarely need using at all.

With other RPGs/action adventures, occasionally you will be able to upgrade your weapon to a more powerful one with different properties. In this game, almost every time you level up a new weapon becomes available and they are all the same except the next one up has a more exciting name and offers 2 or 3 extra hit points. With you acquiring new weapons so frequently it feels unrewarding and repetitive as you will upgrade almost every battle. You will also obtain Gems with special powers (added attack/defense points, added health, immunity against poison etc) which is very similar to the Final Fantasy VII Materia system - you can equip upto 16 depending on your status. Gems can be combined but this costs a lot of money, is not reversible and very rarely gives you anything special.

The game is pretty well polished and provided you don't play for too long/too often fans of the genre should have fun with the game. But usually games of this type are engrossing and have you wanting to play more and unfortunately this isn't so with Children of Mana

Secret of mana clone ? afraid not
If your getting this becouse you played the origanal secret of mana for the snes you will find some slight disapointment form this game. but nevermind it will pass!

The game itself you controle ONE person ( no party members ) unless you have a frend with a DS AND a seccond cartrage .. and then you can unlock multiplayer misions apparantly.

The spell syestem lets this game down form it's roots in Secret of mana .. you can only take ONE elament with you ant that elemrnt has two spells .. a offencive and a benifical .. fans of the masivly distructive spells will be let down here. It still would be possable to play the game as a pure mage but wouldn't be recomended to try :)

The gameplay is almost a series of small misions set from people tou talk to in your start town, ( there is also a 'shop' where you can 'buy' misions ror greater rewards ) and the lovable 'flammie' is your way of gettong around .. no tiresome wlaking around.

Despite not quuite living up to it's past I still rate this one of the best games for the DS. The playability is not let down by the lack of versitility in the spell system and the gem powerup system proves a powerful tool to powering op your stats.