Secret of Mana: A retro-game review

....or how cute monsters nearly killed me, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

So I just beat Secret of Mana a little bit ago. I mean literally minutes ago (Misti by my side). I had forgotten just how much fun this game was. Everything about it is just great. The colors are vibrant, the areas very well fleshed out, the storyline is straightforward and interesting, the characters are well defined, unique and wonderful music, etc.

When I first purchased this game as a young teen, I bought it because it was a Squaresoft game that looked fun. Little did I know just how wonderful it was going to be. From the very beginning you are just thrown into a world as a young boy trying to grow into a destiny thrust upon him by taking a sword found in the middle of nowhere. And after taking this sword you learn just how dangerous this world becomes as cutesy little rabbits (named rabites in this game) attack you without provocation.

From a technical standpoint, this game was unique all around. First of all, it had a new menu style, which I believe was never before seen in a role playing game. While most games had a series of menu where selecting one would bring up a new one in a list fashion, Secret of Mana boasted a series of rings where pushing up and down brought up a new "ring" of choices and left and right made selections. A very time effective way of doing things, which leads to the next point. Prior to this, most RPG's were turned based. This was a real time RPG where you had to run from enemies to power up your attacks. While the game did "pause" while you selected spells or items or exchanged weapons, all fighting occured without interruption. Finally, this game allowed Cooperative play, making it even more unique. That's right, a buddy could walk in, push start on his controller and control one of your characters. Furthermore, if you had the multi-tap, you could have up to three people playing at the same time.

Versus

For all the good in this game, it did have a few flaws. First, the computer controlled players may have difficulty with "tracking"or "pathfinding", that is, following a path close to what you as the main player decide. As a result, the computer may become stuck running against a wall or running along a different path to try to catch up with you, preventing any forward progress. That being said, this has always been a probelm in games when the computer controls a player character and one that plagues games even now, almost 13 years later.

Another aspect that may turn players off is how unforgiving the hit-detection may be. When you fight with enemies, your attack is compared with their defense (straight-forward, eh?). However the animation of your attack may not connect fully thus causing you to miss, or worse, the enemy may appear to miss, but send your character flying anyway. This can get even more frustrating when attacks are stacked upon you, causing you to continually fly back without being able to defend yourself or run away.

Overall a great game and one that players should pick up, even if it's the re-release on the Nintendo Wii. I guarantee at least 30 hours of pure fun if you just try to do the minimum to beat the game.

Now for the Nostalgia: One of my favorite early gaming memories involves this game. It was actually the first night that I, as a teen, stayed up all night playing a videogame. I had invited some friends over to hang out (it may have been close to my birthday, I'm not exactly sure). My high school best friend Cody and I decided to start a game around 6 or so at night. And we kept on playing. Around 4-ish in the a.m. I started to get a bit nervous about thinking it may be time to sleep, but the game just kept on holding our attention and pushing us forward. Finally I looked over and realized that the sun was coming up and I had just played videogames literally all night long. We decided to stop sometime around 8:00 a.m. to get some food, and to talk about how far we had gotten in the game (all the way to the Sunken Continent before the Mana Fortress is raised). The fun of co-op play was a novelty for most SNES games, so it was doubly fun just hanging with my best friend and playing one of the best RPG's of it's time (and I might argue one of the greatest of all time.

So if your looking for a game with fun graphics, a great story, and most importantly a chance to game with a buddy, look no further than Secret of Mana.

KOTOR - And it is finished (A retro-game review)

...Or how I destroyed Lord Malak, saved the girl, and looked darned good doing it!

Alright so I finished Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) last Sunday. That particular file took me about 26 hours to finish (I probably could shave off a bit of that time, but I’m guessing no more than a couple of hours at best). All I’ve got to say is this: Wow! BioWare once again lived up to all my expectations.

*Spoilers Ahead! Do not read this if you intend to play the game and don’t want the final battle ruined*

My main character was the ultimate light-side Jedi, one who maxed out persuasion every chance he got allowing me quite a few of the special cinematic scenes or encounters – like saving Bastila (who admitted her love for me….awwwww) or resolving the Romeo/Juliet storyline on Dantooine by not only uniting the families but also encouraging them to buy the kids a home for the purpose of establishing “neutral ground.”

When it came to the last fight of the game, I figured out quickly that I was going to have to out-duel the end boss and avoid a straight battle of Force Powers (much like Count Dooku and Yoda). I must have tried that final battle about 5 or 6 times Saturday night, each time getting quickly frustrated. To summarize, the first time I just tried to overwhelm Lord Malak and unfortunately was just worn down via attrition (namely, Lord Malak uses the power of the Star Forge to refill his life by using captured Jedi – all being held in tubes placed around the room). The second through fifth tries I ran around the room and tried to free the Jedi and thus prevent Malak from refilling his life.

It didn’t work.

By running around, I was leaving myself wide open and Malak would just pick me apart. I became very frustrated and decided that I’d better just come back to this later.

Sunday evening, I sat down in front of my gaming system while Misti called her grandparents to tell them the good news. Having had a chance to think about this final battle, I decided to take a more patient approach. I loaded up my character with every enhancement possible, saved the game, and walked in. After a bit of dialogue, I saved the game again (just in case I died, I wanted to avoid all the dialogue again). Once again, I out-dueled him with my lightsabers (yes, I was dual-wielding), but this time, I didn’t follow him or try to free the Jedi. Instead, I got a bit of distance between us and used the time to refill my health and reset my enhancements. Each time he came back with refilled health, I was also at full health. Rinse and repeat X number of times. Finally he had no one else to tap for health and I used a couple of flurries and down he went. Some more dialogue about the quirks of fate and then a final scene similar to the end of Star Wars: A New Hope (Episode IV).

*End Spoiler*

All in all, it felt like I was playing through a Star Wars movie. The characters were great, with wonderful interaction, not only with the main character, but also chatting with each other. For a bit of humor, try placing Bastila and Mission in your party for a bit and watch their interaction.

The entire game was very heavily D&D based, starting with the choice of attributes (Strength, Dexterity, etc), skills, feats, and so on. Everything was determined by a d20 roll (a twenty-sided dice, the staple of all pen-and-paper games) and your success was based on the random number rolled plus your attribute modifier plus any ranks you may have in the skill check compared against a Difficulty Check (an established number). For example, trying to convince an enemy to trust you would have a higher DC compared to a neutral party or a friend (DC’s might be 25, 20, and 15 respectively). Let’s say your persuasion was at a skill rank of 10 (9 ranks of the skill plus an additional +1 charisma modifier). To convince your friend you would need a 5 or higher, whereas the enemy would require a roll of 15 or higher to guarantee success that he would trust you. Not too hard to follow.

The graphics on the game weren’t too dated all things considered, but honestly, anyone playing the game at this point would be playing purely for entertainment and nostalgia purposes anyway. The storyline itself was immense and had wonderful side-quests/branches that allowed you to not only make your main character more powerful, but also learn more about your companions and their personal quirks. Like all RPG’s (role-playing games, for you none gamers out there), it was important to talk to everyone, however (like most BioWare games), you quickly learned to look for named character’s only. Citizen didn’t have much to say to you, whereas Todd McEnpeesee could let you know about the increasing number of monster attacks in the area.

So the final verdict? This was a great game and well worth playing and replaying.

My next review will likely be Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Not quite a retro-game for the purposes of reviewing, but a fun one none-the-less.

One Game Ends, Another Begins... (An OgreBattle Retro-Game Review Conclusion)

…or Hooray! I finished Ogre Battle. Next up is Knights of the Old Republic.

So as Misti can attest to, I finally finished the SNES game Ogre Battle. Like a true military campaign, I plotted my every move, marshaled my troops, paid close attention to detail and in the end, was rewarded with the best ending for the game.

*Begin huge Video Game geek Rant – Skip it if you have no interest in Ogre Battle*

So here was my reward –

Best (Male) Ending - 100 pts - *Highlights* Lans wishes that the Hero would rule, but understands that Tristan is the heir. Warren and Lans disappear in a war a few years later. Tristan and Rauny get married and rule as the White King and the beloved Queen. The hero (Kaylos, as I named him) heads off to fight an invading army from the North – various characters accompany him. – interesting sidenote: before the end of the game, I got an extra Crown and used it to change Rauny from a Muse to a Princess.

How did I accomplish this? Well I spent time and effort managing my alignment and charisma for the main Hero and my overall reputation. To help make sure I was victorious, I created some uber-powerful units: my Death Units.

Here are my two strongest death dealing units: 1) a Princess in the back leading a group with a Lich and Monk, and a Tigerman and Vampyre in the front. 2) Warren as a Lich accompanied by a second Lich and a Monk in the back row with two Tigermen up front. These two were able to hold off the last boss’s waves of units while my good guys liberated all the towns.

However, these powerful units tended to be very chaotic (since they destroyed anything in their path), so I had to create another special unit. In fact, the final series of bosses were taken down by my specialized boss-killing/final-town-liberating unit: In the back, we had Norn as a princess standing next to Yushis (Seraphim) and Aisha (Monk), with Tristan and Debonair (both Generals) up front. With Norn leading the group, everyone got one extra attack. That’s right 8 slashes from the generals, 2 jihads from Yushis, 3 healing+s (a.k.a.“everyone gets healed”) by Aisha, and 2 starlite attacks from Norn. All those attacks equal one very dead boss.

As a side note: I just did a review for the Nintendo Wii version of Ogre Battle. Feel free to read about it here:

review for the Wii version

* End huge Geek Rant regarding Ogre Battle*

I have to admit I’m a bit sad to end such a great game (comforted by the fact that I can always go back and play it again), but I have a new game to play, dictated to me by my best friend.

You know how you have a mental list of books for people to read that you constantly recommend to family and friends, books that you feel they’ll enjoy or give them a new appreciation of life? Or perhaps you have a list of movies that you recommend? Well, my best friend has a list like that for me; a list of games that he loves and feels I must play for my own edification. Previously, I was required to play Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (Awesome Game!). Next up is Knights of the Old Republic.

Time to head back to the Star Wars Universe.

Retro-gaming Review: Ogre Battle

....or revisiting a game of my youth.

So I'm currently replaying through Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen. The game itself is a unique combination of RPG and Strategy (Real Time Strategy). You are the leader of a rebellion against an evil empire. As you travel the land toward the heart of the empire, you recruit several powerful characters to your cause. Seems simple right? However, this is just a cursory explanation. The real complexity of the game isn't apparent until you look at the main map screen and the individual character screens.

On the top right of the overworld screen for each map, you'll see a gauge and a sun dial of sorts that tracks the progression of day to night and vice versa. The gauge is your reputation with the people of the land and the actions you take and the units (a collection of your soldiers) that you use to liberate cities will raise and lower your reputation. Each unit has up to five members, and each member has a charisma/charm rating (CHA) and an alignment rating (ALI) - the higher the alignment, the "holier" or more goodly your character is. Therefore, it is important to show the best side of this rebellion to the people and have good units liberate cities.

On the other hand, some people like myself prefer to have armies of darkness (vampyres, werewolves, liches, etc.). This game allows itself to be played both ways. So in my case, I'd liberate the city with my good soldiers (paladins, knights, samurai, etc.) and then use my werewolves and wizards to hold the city.

It should be noted that this is not an simple, pick up and play. After the first few stages/maps (or "scenes" as they are called in-game), each map begins to take longer to clear. So barring a blitzkrieg on the enemy's capital city, you should expect to take about an hour or so per map. Again, this is purely optional, but to get the most out of the story and all the little sidequest items, you'll have to commit yourself and your time to this game.

For a decent walkthrough, check this FAQ.

As a side note: This game is apparently incredibly rare to find in the United states. According to various articles (you can see one here) , there were only about 25,000 copies released in America. And I just happened to pick up one of them (hey, it was a great summer game). Right now, a complete copy of the game can be found on ebay for about $150 dollars, or around $60 for the game itself (no manual, no inserts). No, I'm not planning on ever selling this game.

Now for the nostalgia -

As I noted, this game took time and commitment to play. I still remember spending hours on a Saturday just trying to clear stage after stage, until finally I beat the game. The ending was spectacular and seemed to nicely wrap everything up (I'll not spoil it). So I restarted and played through a second time, this time trying to get more of the little sidequests accomplished...and this time I got a completely different ending. Yes, there are multiple endings to this game, depending on who you recruit and even if you are male or female.

Another fond memory for this game involves my younger brother. I had just gotten my wisdom teeth removed (they had to be taken out via surgery) and I was home recovering (read also: doped up on anesthetic). I woke up to find my younger brother playing Ogre Battle on my SNES in my bed room. He had come in to check on me and thought he'd play some videogames while hanging out. So I'd get up and mumble suggestions to him every so often and then fall back asleep. Random memory, eh? Well, it was a preview of things to come. While my brother definately prefers sports games and racing games (Gran Turismo, for example), he's always had a knack and a soft spot for strategy games (Lords of the Realm, etc.). Maybe Ogre Battle was that nudge down that path.

So how does this game compare to memory? It is even better than I remembered. Call it age, call it maturity, but I understand more of the technical aspects of this game now that I'm older, and find myself enjoying it even more. If you can get a copy of this, do so! I've read that they just re-released it on the Nintendo Wii virtual console. It's worth playing, especially if you like games that take longer to beat.

Well, that ends this trip down memory lane. Next time, I'll either do Secret of Mana or Kirby Superstars.