I love the Mana series. I mean, the original Secret of Mana for the SNES is one of my favorite all-time games. It was an action RPG, good story and plot. So, when a sequel was slated for the GameBoy, I had to get it.

Well, I had to get it a couple of years after it was released. Shh. Details.

Anywho, I must say, I have never had so much aggravation and pain from playing a game. The AI is horrible, repeat, HORRIBLE! The story is convoluted, and the gameplay just downright frustrating. I almost regret the $20 I spent on the cartridge.

Gameplay

I am going to get the worst part of this out of the way. The gameplay flat-out stinks. You start the game by choosing either to play as the Hero or the Heroine. The basic difference in these two is one is better at physical attacks, and the heroine is better with Mana (magic). Depending upon who you choose, the game will play differently. I chose the heroine.

You start out (as the heroine) in a village, talking to your mother as you prepare to leave on a quest with some strange swordsman as a bodyguard. The village is attacked by soldiers that work for the Dark Lord. You escape, your village is slaughtered. You are taken to a manor by the mysterious soldier, where you meet the Hero. The manor is attacked, you escape again, and the Hero promises to protect you. He falls down, you run away, he is captured and beaten by soldiers.

Fast forward, you wake up in bed after a nightmare recalling all this. The soldier is by your side, and you learn that you have been living with him in hiding since your escape. The story takes off from there. The Dark Lord now controls the land, he is evil, you must avenge your people, yadda, yadda.

Oh yea, there is a mysterious sword called, get this, the Sword of Mana. And a goddess that turned herself into a tree to protect the people of the world. You worship this Mana goddess, because you are of the Mana tribe. It seems that you are the last of them.

You now know as much as I do, and I have played the game. The plot is that horrible. You meet townspeople that tell you pointless stories or offer side quests that make no sense. While the story itself is a bit linear (run to next obstacle, defeat boss, possibly get an item for someone, etc.), you will often find yourself wandering a map trying to figure out where to go.

Since save spots are few and far between, and healing in this game is a pain (either through the start menu, or using the appropriate Mana spirit, controlled through the right shoulder button on the GBA), you will find "Your strength is depleted" (i.e.; you die) happens at the worst possible time, with little warning. You then have to reset to your last save. Early in the game, this is horrible. The first cave you must travel, as the Heroine, has an enemy layout that killed me 5 times before I developed a strategy to get past the monsters.

Bosses vary in the game from easy to insanely difficult. One boss in particular was on a spinning platform, and you could only hit him when he landed. However, given your level, your weapons only do like 1-2 points of damage per hit, and he has over 400 hit points. It took me 45 minutes to kill this guy. Needless to say, he hits a LOT harder than 1-2 points of damage. AND he inflicts status effects like blindness, so you may not even hit him at all.

The next boss died within 2 minutes. Literally. I just ran and whacked.

AI has to be the worst I have ever seen. During the course of the game, you will be partnered with various people. The battles in the game are real-time, and as long as your character is in a battle "mode", you can switch between who you are actively controlling by using the "Select" button. However, if your main character dies, you will have to start over from your last save. If you are controlling the main character and your partner dies, you can resurrect them. It is a bit unfair.

The AI, though, even after I figured it out, stinks. There is a grid, with zones. You can either set your character to be aggressive or timid, use more magic or physical attacks. You position their icon within the grid to choose which attack style you would prefer. You have to manually do this for each new partner, otherwise, they will just stand there while you get yourself killed.

Then, even if you do get the AI set to where they will attack, they will attack using a method that may do no damage. If they are better with Mana, they will drain their mana casting at a monster, even if it is doing 0 damage, then move in to attack with melee. Also, they get "stuck" on a map, and can't or won't follow you up a jump, across an area, etc. Once you kill all the monsters on a map, they will "teleport" to you, but that does little to help you if the monsters are ganking you.

In terms of attacking and the like, it is standard RPG fare. As aformentioned, battles are realtime. You have to select the appropriate weapon/spirit to attack each type of monster. One monster may take a lot of damage from the Bow, however, another may take zero from the Bow but lots from a specific type of magic. It is up to you to cycle through each and attack appropriately.

Towns are small, with standards like Inns, save points, general stores, and blacksmiths. Weapons can only be upgraded if you have special vegetables or fruits. Which you can grow with seeds that you collect in your "Hot House". Weapons can be reinforced with different materials that you find. So in short, you need to find materials to reinforce your weapon and vegetables to assign attributes.

Lastly, levelling and the like is a bit confusing. You can choose a level in a class, and depending upon which you choose, you will gain in different attributes. You can choose to level any class at any time. However, your main class is fixed. So while you may decide to take a few points in say "Warrior", if you have the bulk of your points in "Sage", your main class will be like that of a Cleric. None of this is satisfactorily explained by the game.

Controls

The game controls, to their credit, are good. They respond well, and I have never had a situation where I was pressing the "A" button and felt the system didn't register the attack.

Controls, for the Heroine, are as follows:

Left Shoulder Button: Jump
Left Shoulder Button + A: Meditate
Right Shoulder Button tap: Stat/heal boost
Right Shoulder Button hold: Attack w/ spirit assigned
A Button: Attack/ Select a menu option
B Button: Hold down to run/ Exit a menu
Select: Switch active character in battle
Start: Menu

For fighting, you simply have to mash the A button or use magic. There really isn't much strategy in that regard. Menus are complex, though, and there is no way to quickly assign a hotkey. So, for instance, if you want to change which kind of magic, you have to scroll through menus, find the new spirit, set it, back out of the menus, then use the right shoulder button. It is just as complicated to change weapon types.

Movement is like a standard GameBoy title. Not much to say there.

Graphics and Sound
Graphics are reminiscent of another GameBoy title, Golden Sun. The graphics are sprites, and the backgrounds are detailed and colorful. Particle effects are not really pretty. Your character is nice to look at, and menu pictures are clear, if not really detailed.

Sound is standard GameBoy fare. 8-bit sounding and nothing overly special. I play with the sound off. There are different sounds for different game areas, but for the most part, you will be disgusted.

There is no voiceacting. All conversations are based on text, and some story choices are text-based.

Final Say

This title is cutesy, but the story doesn't make much sense. The gameplay is frustratingly unbalanced, the menus are too time consuming, and when it is all said and done, it seems like Square tried to throw so many silly side quests that serve no purpose into the title that the game borders on ridiculous. In the end, while it is a way to kill time, I wouldn't recommend this title to anyone, even the diehard fans. Save your money, and buy one of the many better GameBoy RPG titles out there, even something as text-heavy as Golden Sun. At least that one makes more sense.
I love the Mana series. I mean, the original Secret of Mana for the SNES is one of my favorite all-time games. It was an action RPG, good story and plot. So, when a sequel was slated for the GameBoy, I had to get it. Well, I had to get it a couple of years after it was released. Shh. Details. Anywho, I must say, I have never had so much aggravation and pain from playing a game. The AI is horrible, repeat, HORRIBLE! The story is convoluted, and the gameplay just downright frustrating. I almost regret the $20 I spent on the cartridge. Gameplay

I am going to get the worst part of this out of the way. The gameplay flat-out stinks. You start the game by choosing either to play as the Hero or the Heroine. The basic difference in these two is one is better at physical attacks, and the heroine is better with Mana (magic). Depending upon who you choose, the game will play differently. I chose the heroine. You start out (as the heroine) in a village, talking to your mother as you prepare to leave on a quest with some strange swordsman as a bodyguard. The village is attacked by soldiers that work for the Dark Lord. You escape, your village is slaughtered. You are taken to a manor by the mysterious soldier, where you meet the Hero. The manor is attacked, you escape again, and the Hero promises to protect you. He falls down, you run away, he is captured and beaten by soldiers. Fast forward, you wake up in bed after a nightmare recalling all this. The soldier is by your side, and you learn that you have been living with him in hiding since your escape. The story takes off from there. The Dark Lord now controls the land, he is evil, you must avenge your people, yadda, yadda. Oh yea, there is a mysterious sword called, get this, the Sword of Mana. And a goddess that turned herself into a tree to protect the people of the world. You worship this Mana goddess, because you are of the Mana tribe. It seems that you are the last of them. You now know as much as I do, and I have played the game. The plot is that horrible. You meet townspeople that tell you pointless stories or offer side quests that make no sense. While the story itself is a bit linear (run to next obstacle, defeat boss, possibly get an item for someone, etc. ), you will often find yourself wandering a map trying to figure out where to go. Since save spots are few and far between, and healing in this game is a pain (either through the start menu, or using the appropriate Mana spirit, controlled through the right shoulder button on the GBA), you will find "Your strength is depleted" (i. e.; you die) happens at the worst possible time, with little warning. You then have to reset to your last save. Early in the game, this is horrible. The first cave you must travel, as the Heroine, has an enemy layout that killed me 5 times before I developed a strategy to get past the monsters. Bosses vary in the game from easy to insanely difficult. One boss in particular was on a spinning platform, and you could only hit him when he landed. However, given your level, your weapons only do like 1-2 points of damage per hit, and he has over 400 hit points. It took me 45 minutes to kill this guy. Needless to say, he hits a LOT harder than 1-2 points of damage. AND he inflicts status effects like blindness, so you may not even hit him at all. The next boss died within 2 minutes. Literally. I just ran and whacked. AI has to be the worst I have ever seen. During the course of the game, you will be partnered with various people. The battles in the game are real-time, and as long as your character is in a battle "mode", you can switch between who you are actively controlling by using the "Select" button. However, if your main character dies, you will have to start over from your last save. If you are controlling the main character and your partner dies, you can resurrect them. It is a bit unfair. The AI, though, even after I figured it out, stinks. There is a grid, with zones. You can either set your character to be aggressive or timid, use more magic or physical attacks. You position their icon within the grid to choose which attack style you would prefer. You have to manually do this for each new partner, otherwise, they will just stand there while you get yourself killed. Then, even if you do get the AI set to where they will attack, they will attack using a method that may do no damage. If they are better with Mana, they will drain their mana casting at a monster, even if it is doing 0 damage, then move in to attack with melee. Also, they get "stuck" on a map, and can't or won't follow you up a jump, across an area, etc. Once you kill all the monsters on a map, they will "teleport" to you, but that does little to help you if the monsters are ganking you. In terms of attacking and the like, it is standard RPG fare. As aformentioned, battles are realtime. You have to select the appropriate weapon/spirit to attack each type of monster. One monster may take a lot of damage from the Bow, however, another may take zero from the Bow but lots from a specific type of magic. It is up to you to cycle through each and attack appropriately. Towns are small, with standards like Inns, save points, general stores, and blacksmiths. Weapons can only be upgraded if you have special vegetables or fruits. Which you can grow with seeds that you collect in your "Hot House". Weapons can be reinforced with different materials that you find. So in short, you need to find materials to reinforce your weapon and vegetables to assign attributes. Lastly, levelling and the like is a bit confusing. You can choose a level in a class, and depending upon which you choose, you will gain in different attributes. You can choose to level any class at any time. However, your main class is fixed. So while you may decide to take a few points in say "Warrior", if you have the bulk of your points in "Sage", your main class will be like that of a Cleric. None of this is satisfactorily explained by the game. Controls

The game controls, to their credit, are good. They respond well, and I have never had a situation where I was pressing the "A" button and felt the system didn't register the attack. Controls, for the Heroine, are as follows:

Left Shoulder Button: Jump
Left Shoulder Button + A: Meditate
Right Shoulder Button tap: Stat/heal boost
Right Shoulder Button hold: Attack w/ spirit assigned
A Button: Attack/ Select a menu option
B Button: Hold down to run/ Exit a menu
Select: Switch active character in battle
Start: Menu

For fighting, you simply have to mash the A button or use magic. There really isn't much strategy in that regard. Menus are complex, though, and there is no way to quickly assign a hotkey. So, for instance, if you want to change which kind of magic, you have to scroll through menus, find the new spirit, set it, back out of the menus, then use the right shoulder button. It is just as complicated to change weapon types. Movement is like a standard GameBoy title. Not much to say there. Graphics and Sound
Graphics are reminiscent of another GameBoy title, Golden Sun. The graphics are sprites, and the backgrounds are detailed and colorful. Particle effects are not really pretty. Your character is nice to look at, and menu pictures are clear, if not really detailed. Sound is standard GameBoy fare. 8-bit sounding and nothing overly special. I play with the sound off. There are different sounds for different game areas, but for the most part, you will be disgusted. There is no voiceacting. All conversations are based on text, and some story choices are text-based. Final Say

This title is cutesy, but the story doesn't make much sense. The gameplay is frustratingly unbalanced, the menus are too time consuming, and when it is all said and done, it seems like Square tried to throw so many silly side quests that serve no purpose into the title that the game borders on ridiculous. In the end, while it is a way to kill time, I wouldn't recommend this title to anyone, even the diehard fans. Save your money, and buy one of the many better GameBoy RPG titles out there, even something as text-heavy as Golden Sun. At least that one makes more sense.