SNES Game Review: Secret of Mana

 Secret of Mana is the first true Mana game to go under the title of the Mana series, the first was labeled Final Fantasy Adventure for the Game Boy.  This was an ambitious title by Squaresoft (Now Square Enix) that focused on a set of characters in a quest to reclaim mana seeds to overcome evil that wanted to re-create the Mana Fortress for world domination. This game was also one of the first to initiate more active combat/real time combat using a power system rather than turn based which was the more popular combat in the early to mid-90's. So what does Secret of Mana do for its time? What needed improving for its time as well? All that and more below

Positives:

1. This game is legitimately one of the most beautiful games on the Super Nintendo. The architecture designs are absolutely incredible, the colors are beautiful, and everything is so graphically sound it is warranted to give a massive 10 for this.  Squaresoft developed this game graphically to one of the best looking pieces on the SNES. 

2. With that, the soundtrack also is terrific.  Secret of Mana is highly regarded for its soundtrack and it does not disappoint at all.  From its overworld, to towns, dungeons and boss fights, every song in this game is exquisite and warrants its place on one of the best SNES soundtracks in the game.

3. Real time combat actually does pretty well here.  It is a bit nuanced with the attack bar/power bar style here but it does work well with the active combat style they were going for with this game. Secret of Mana is one of the first games with active combat and Squaresoft utilized this quite well overall for an early 90's video game.

4. The bosses take strategy for the most part to beat. There were times I had to look up a guide early on to figure out what to do but then one of the characters abilities did help to where I did not have to rely on that anymore.  However, the bosses for the most part are worthy of the fights you do to get there and also they are rewarding to the player as well when you finish a key battle.

5. The story as well deserves some high remarks.  I thought the story was done very well and it was laid out from start to finish quite exquisitely. The mission is clear to the gamer, collect mana seeds to stop evil but all while that is going on, work with your allies and others to rid evil in many dungeons and castles and focus on getting ultimate powers to take on the final areas.

Negatives:

1. Yes there are some negatives to this game. One is the rather irritating pause menu that works in a circular pattern for each of the characters so it is quite easy to get lost in doing this. It's a rather irritating system to deal with that they could have done better with in my opening.

2. The other main negative here has to be flying the dragon towards the end of the game.  While the directions were nice to have in terms of north, south, east, west, and so on it was honestly rough to make it work with the Mode 7 ability that they had.  Landing from the top on down was a tough endeavor due to the landscape.  I felt that Squaresoft did too much here and it could have been simplified.

Overall Rating:

Overall, Secret of Mana is a great game that borders on excellent for most of it.  It's main negatives do detract it from excellence, but make no mistake about it this is a fantastically great game.  Overall, I would rate this game an 8.5 out of 10.  Without a question this is a likely top 20 SNES game but easily should be in everyone's top 30 at the worst 

SNES Game Review: Lemmings

 Lemmings is a game that started on Amiga in 1991 and quickly went to other consoles, including the SNES.  It's a fascinating game that focuses on many puzzles in ways to obtain a goal overall.  I was able to play this game on my birthday last year, and there were many things that I thought about this game.  They are here below!

Positive:

1. Easy to play- For those that don't know puzzle type games like this, it's pretty easy to pick up and play and understand. With that, Lemmings is pretty plug and play with their controls and with the objectives.

2. Scenery- For a game that is kind of job/class and puzzles and figuring it out, it's pretty easy to think it's not great but this game graphically is really pretty sound on the SNES.  Graphically the game is well done overall.

3. Levels with Difficulty- Yes there is a set directive/objective with every level but with that comes a heightened expectation of difficulty.  It goes along with what the game does. With the levels that you go through, each one gets progressively more difficult.  And when that happens, your job becomes harder but it is doable to get things done and your characters across to the finish.  Do it correctly, and you can succeed.  It's a fun challenge.

Negatives:

1. Limited in Scope- For a game like this, Lemmings was always going to be limited in what their scope is with the game.  It's a puzzle game that enables jobs so you gotta figure out the way to the end.  There isn't a ton of depth in it so if this is your style, then that is great! If not, then it's a game you may get bored with relatively quickly.

2. This game also doesn't feature a ton in a reward type system for finishing the level.  There isn't a money system that rewards you or a way to really make it where you add time, it's just get to the end of the level with the required minimum and go from there.

3. On top of that, it's also a game that kind of brings the Lemmings characters out too quick so you risk losing a lot of them at different times and it can be frustrating to the overall aspect of the game, but it's just the nature of the game.

Overall Rating:

Lemmings is honestly quite a catchy, good puzzle job game that while is limited in its scope and super straight forward in the objectives makes up for it for just being a good cozy game.  It's a game that you can understand pretty much right away and be good with after a short period of time.  Either way, puzzle gamers and job type gamers will enjoy Lemmings.  I give it a solid 7/10.