The first game on the Mana series, which also happens to be a Final Fantasy spinoff. It's alright, but some flaws hold it back. For example, you need lots of consumable keys, and there are a couple annoying parts where you're forced to take damage.
de los mejores juegos para la game boy tiene algunas partes complicada como la vez que hay que usa nuke en el desierto y el cambio de arma se hiciera mas rápido seria mejor
Lo jugué de pequeño en mi Game Boy Color y no me enteraba de nada, pero me gustaba su manejo "tipo zelda" y su música.
En 2021 decidí empezarlo en Switch, pues viene en el recopilatorio "Collection of Mana", y la verdad es que lo disfruté bastante.
Tiene una buena historia, aunque de corte muy clásico, y en algunos momentos la verdad es que sabe tocar la patata.
Su música es bastante bonita y nostálgica.
Y jugablemente recuerda a los Zelda clásicos, aunque sin llegar a ese nivel, por supuesto.
No puedo añadir mucho más, es lo malo de hacer reseñas cuando pasa tanto tiempo.
¡Ah, sí! Todo el mundo se queda traumatizado con el puzle de las palmeras, si lo habéis jugado sabréis a qué me refiero xD
Y si no... ¡buena suerte!
En 2021 decidí empezarlo en Switch, pues viene en el recopilatorio "Collection of Mana", y la verdad es que lo disfruté bastante.
Tiene una buena historia, aunque de corte muy clásico, y en algunos momentos la verdad es que sabe tocar la patata.
Su música es bastante bonita y nostálgica.
Y jugablemente recuerda a los Zelda clásicos, aunque sin llegar a ese nivel, por supuesto.
No puedo añadir mucho más, es lo malo de hacer reseñas cuando pasa tanto tiempo.
¡Ah, sí! Todo el mundo se queda traumatizado con el puzle de las palmeras, si lo habéis jugado sabréis a qué me refiero xD
Y si no... ¡buena suerte!
It's a pretty neat Game Boy action RPG, but things like the world map just being blank squares or having a super small inventory kind of hold it back.
This is a pretty good game boy game, I think the dungeon design, especially early on is pretty nice. It is obtuse at times, and you will certainly need a guide to solve a puzzle or 2, but it's generally a great little game. I played a lot of it when I was a kid, and have just gotten back into it. I will update this review once I complete it.
Pretty fun, but nothing special action RPG.
a charmless action rpg that's the first mana game, it is entirely by the numbers and unremarkable but it's fine
Un juego lleno de carisma con ideas muy interesantes, a pesar de lo críptico que puede llegar a ser en la progresión y tener problemas con las hitboxes, resulta en un juego entrañable que motiva a seguir jugando para ver la conclusión de su historia simple pero efectiva. Visualmente es bastante simple pero cumplidor considerando la época y consola en la que apareció, también se le suma su soundtrack bastante memorable. Un buen inicio para la saga Mana a pesar de sus problemas
Les tous débuts de la série Mana, avec des bonnes idées de gameplay assez variées.
Côté Histoire ça tenait bien la route.
En revanche la traduction FR tout en caps lock, avec des erreurs de direction, et la map du jeu pas user friendly, ont vite fait d'entacher la découverte plaisante...
Côté Histoire ça tenait bien la route.
En revanche la traduction FR tout en caps lock, avec des erreurs de direction, et la map du jeu pas user friendly, ont vite fait d'entacher la découverte plaisante...
A Zelda-like for the Gameboy, I thought the game holds up very well. Highlights include a catchy and surprisingly rich soundtrack; there's something I've always enjoyed about the echo-laden music on the Gameboy and it's put to good use here (the title music is great). Creative and often challenging boss fights and a pretty sprawling quest given the platform round out a fun old-school action-RPG.
On the downside, some of the puzzles are rather opaque, the kind of thing Nintendo would add to games from the era to send people seeking out Nintendo Power issues (that figure eight clue in the desert made NO sense). And there are a few times when I felt the controls and overall maneuverability were not up to the task of dealing with the enemies being thrown at me.
All in all, there's not many surprises if you go in expecting an adventure heavily inspired by Zelda, but it has its own charms and is still worth playing. (It also, apparently, has nothing to do with Final Fantasy, outside of marketing.)
Played on the Collection of Mana on Switch.
On the downside, some of the puzzles are rather opaque, the kind of thing Nintendo would add to games from the era to send people seeking out Nintendo Power issues (that figure eight clue in the desert made NO sense). And there are a few times when I felt the controls and overall maneuverability were not up to the task of dealing with the enemies being thrown at me.
All in all, there's not many surprises if you go in expecting an adventure heavily inspired by Zelda, but it has its own charms and is still worth playing. (It also, apparently, has nothing to do with Final Fantasy, outside of marketing.)
Played on the Collection of Mana on Switch.
Although some obtuse puzzles and constant menu fiddling, very enjoyable game with a surpring amount of content with a fun but rather generic story. Can defintely see why this spawned it's own franchise.
I honestly don't have much to say about this game. The story seems fine, though I was not very engaged with it or the lore of the world itself. Gameplay felt like Zelda but far more unpolished. All the bosses were pretty piss easy, and I could say the same about the game in general. It's really just finding where to go and what to do, and there's barely any difficulty in getting from A to B otherwise. It's not a bad game but it's not really that fun. It's just kinda ok.
6/10
6/10
Franchement j’étais assez emballé au début mais j’ai vite déchanté. Je lui mets cette note pour le contexte de l’époque et parce qu’il reste très ambitieux pour un jeux gameboy et c’est honorable, le fait qu’on ait un divers choix d’arme également, mais il a beaucoup trop de défauts pour être un temps soit peu agréable à jouer.
Les hitbox sont atroces, il suffit qu’on ait à affronter un ennemi volant (qui sont nombreux) pour que le combat soit illisible, parfois on touche, parfois pas, parfois il nous touche, parfois non, c’est très approximatif. Ensuite les donjons qui sont eux aussi une assez bonne blague, les objets ont un usage unique (même dans le vide) donc il suffit que vous vous trouvez devant une énigme ou une porte fermée à clé les mains vide, sans pioche ni clé ou que sais-je encore, et vous êtes bon pour retourner dans les salles précédentes salles pour espérer qu’un mob vous le loot pendant votre farm, dans le pire des cas il va falloir entièrement sortir du donjon, ce qui m’est déjà arrivé.
Ajouté à ça des énigmes extrêmement peu intuitive (j’ai dû tricher pour une ou deux d’entre elles, je confesse). Il y a encore d’autres problèmes à souligner comme les pnj qui marchent sur les sprites des maisons en ville par exemple mais ceux cité plus haut sont les principaux et à eux 3 réunis, ils font que ce Mystic Quest, pourtant jugé très bon, en fait un mauvais zelda-like (oui j’ose le dire) ça reste un jeux correct pour un jeux gameboy mais force est d’avouer qu’il fait vraiment pâle figure face à Link’s Awakening qui sortira quelques temps après.
Les hitbox sont atroces, il suffit qu’on ait à affronter un ennemi volant (qui sont nombreux) pour que le combat soit illisible, parfois on touche, parfois pas, parfois il nous touche, parfois non, c’est très approximatif. Ensuite les donjons qui sont eux aussi une assez bonne blague, les objets ont un usage unique (même dans le vide) donc il suffit que vous vous trouvez devant une énigme ou une porte fermée à clé les mains vide, sans pioche ni clé ou que sais-je encore, et vous êtes bon pour retourner dans les salles précédentes salles pour espérer qu’un mob vous le loot pendant votre farm, dans le pire des cas il va falloir entièrement sortir du donjon, ce qui m’est déjà arrivé.
Ajouté à ça des énigmes extrêmement peu intuitive (j’ai dû tricher pour une ou deux d’entre elles, je confesse). Il y a encore d’autres problèmes à souligner comme les pnj qui marchent sur les sprites des maisons en ville par exemple mais ceux cité plus haut sont les principaux et à eux 3 réunis, ils font que ce Mystic Quest, pourtant jugé très bon, en fait un mauvais zelda-like (oui j’ose le dire) ça reste un jeux correct pour un jeux gameboy mais force est d’avouer qu’il fait vraiment pâle figure face à Link’s Awakening qui sortira quelques temps après.
(pssst, Backloggd: add also "Switch" since this is also part of "Collection of Mana")
This the game that started the Mana series feels like a Zelda roguelike where your point is to explore towns, dungeons and move on with the story. Many assets are obviously taken from Final Fantasy, specifically III since it was fresh new, and it shows: we have black mages, white mages, Chocobos and treasure sprites directly taken from it.
It can feel stiff (especially the inventory) and dungeons will definitely feel a lot repetitive and enduring, but once you get into it: well, it is a very great action game for Game Boy standards.
I would recommend this version over Adventures of Mana, a mediocre remake for PS Vita and phones, since it feels more genuine and presents better even if it's dated.
For anyone wanting a more visually appealing game: Sword of Mana is a mix of reboot/remake of this and can be a very valid alternative.
This the game that started the Mana series feels like a Zelda roguelike where your point is to explore towns, dungeons and move on with the story. Many assets are obviously taken from Final Fantasy, specifically III since it was fresh new, and it shows: we have black mages, white mages, Chocobos and treasure sprites directly taken from it.
It can feel stiff (especially the inventory) and dungeons will definitely feel a lot repetitive and enduring, but once you get into it: well, it is a very great action game for Game Boy standards.
I would recommend this version over Adventures of Mana, a mediocre remake for PS Vita and phones, since it feels more genuine and presents better even if it's dated.
For anyone wanting a more visually appealing game: Sword of Mana is a mix of reboot/remake of this and can be a very valid alternative.
A fun little game that's easy to get into. Feels kind of like a Game Boy Zelda game without the polish.
Palm Tree 7 is the worst puzzle in any game I have ever played.
Collection of Mana
The first Mana game is okay, and it's cool that Square tried to make a Zelda-like game with more story and RPG elements before A Link to the Past was even out, but the gameplay is honestly a bit on the dull side. The other Mana games are so much better that when I play this, I'd really much rather be playing those. Secret of Mana isn't perfect but it's gorgeous, has fantastic and lush music, and is just more fun and fleshed out. I don't feel like I'm missing a whole lot dropping this one.
unironically the mana game which has aged the most gracefully
The thing about playing the old classics and building block games which you missed is that sometimes one of them blows you away. This thing just goes down so smooth, especially compared to everything else in the franchise. The thing I expected least was just how Zelda 1 it is. The dungeons are the same collection of squares with destroyable walls and everything. The different weapons serve as your set of tools, and the complexity of having to switch between them for puzzles and enemy weaknesses increases on a good clip through the game. The sort of melodrama I'd expect from the series (FF or Mana, honestly) is strong here for a gameboy game, nothing mind-blowing but complicated enough to keep me invested. It does fall off in the last third or so, when the map opens up.
I could nitpick things here and there but I don't care to. Game's great. One of my new top Gameboy games and good enough to stand with plenty of console titles of the era.
I could nitpick things here and there but I don't care to. Game's great. One of my new top Gameboy games and good enough to stand with plenty of console titles of the era.
"Zelda 1 with experience points" seemed like it could make for a pretty fun game, and there's definitely glimmers of that here. The world map is big, but relatively memorable... there are some interesting story beats spread throughout, and the music isn't too bad either. It's really the dungeons themselves that make the game 3-4 hours longer than it should be.
Aside from that one ice-themed dungeon that had the sliding tiles, so many of them are utterly forgettable. Screens upon screens of enemies that I eventually just don't feel like wanting to fight.
Zelda 1's combat kept things interesting by forcing you to get upclose to enemies, sometimes behind them. This risk-based gameplay was tough, but very deliberate in its intent, and most importantly, was fast-paced and smooth to play.
Final Fantasy Adventure's idea of combat is to make you constantly head into the sluggish inventory system to swap out your weapons depending on which enemy is weak to what. A good chunk of your weapons have fairly good range, so there's no need for risk, and every enemy moves at a choppy 5 frames per second compared to your smooth movement. Sometimes, it's difficult to even tell if you landed a hit, the feedback on that is poor and unsatisfying.
Every now and then, you get a puzzle, and for my baby brain that struggles with those, Adventure's puzzles were actually pretty alright. I had a few "ah-ha" moments with these, and I've somehow found them to be the best part of the game. There's something here. Whenever you're not fighting, you can feel something special in this game. It's just a shame that the combat is such a major part of it, when it's too awkward, slow and clunky to deserve that much spotlight.
Aside from that one ice-themed dungeon that had the sliding tiles, so many of them are utterly forgettable. Screens upon screens of enemies that I eventually just don't feel like wanting to fight.
Zelda 1's combat kept things interesting by forcing you to get upclose to enemies, sometimes behind them. This risk-based gameplay was tough, but very deliberate in its intent, and most importantly, was fast-paced and smooth to play.
Final Fantasy Adventure's idea of combat is to make you constantly head into the sluggish inventory system to swap out your weapons depending on which enemy is weak to what. A good chunk of your weapons have fairly good range, so there's no need for risk, and every enemy moves at a choppy 5 frames per second compared to your smooth movement. Sometimes, it's difficult to even tell if you landed a hit, the feedback on that is poor and unsatisfying.
Every now and then, you get a puzzle, and for my baby brain that struggles with those, Adventure's puzzles were actually pretty alright. I had a few "ah-ha" moments with these, and I've somehow found them to be the best part of the game. There's something here. Whenever you're not fighting, you can feel something special in this game. It's just a shame that the combat is such a major part of it, when it's too awkward, slow and clunky to deserve that much spotlight.
I have played many versions of this game. I prefer the Vita version, but their is something really charming about the OG Gameboy version.
This title gets a lot of credit for introducing many of the mechanics that I love about the Mana series, however, I would suggest avoiding this title unless you want a game that is old-school hard, both in its difficulty and with its obtuse way of figuring out where to go.
Feels like a prototype for Secret of Mana, which I wasn't very fond of.
i guess this is technically abandoned? i got to the penultimate dungeon and essentially got cut off from progressing further since I didn't have any keys and no enemies dropped them as an item in the dungeon, so ive played like, 89% of this game? i watched someone play through the rest on youtube, it's okay.
dont let my score be a condemnation of this game, i think it's fine, it's just very outdated. i enjoyed my time with it and was shocked to learn it predates link's awakening and even ALttP by a few months. i bring those up because they're some of the best 2d action adventure games, uh, ever? yeah, ever.
it might be unfair to compare them, in that regard, but i just kinda inherently compared them anyways without even really thinking about it. i think the greatest claim to fame this game has is being the first game ever to have the title "seiken densetsu" (it was only ever a final fantasy title outside of japan) and "seiken densetsu" is the coolest name for anything ever. just say it out loud, it's so satisfying. seiken densetsu. rolls off the tongue.
i wouldn't recommend this game super heavily unless you've somehow played secret and trials and just wanna see where the series started, or you're a crazy person like me and insist on playing series in release order, regardless of if it even matters or not.
dont let my score be a condemnation of this game, i think it's fine, it's just very outdated. i enjoyed my time with it and was shocked to learn it predates link's awakening and even ALttP by a few months. i bring those up because they're some of the best 2d action adventure games, uh, ever? yeah, ever.
it might be unfair to compare them, in that regard, but i just kinda inherently compared them anyways without even really thinking about it. i think the greatest claim to fame this game has is being the first game ever to have the title "seiken densetsu" (it was only ever a final fantasy title outside of japan) and "seiken densetsu" is the coolest name for anything ever. just say it out loud, it's so satisfying. seiken densetsu. rolls off the tongue.
i wouldn't recommend this game super heavily unless you've somehow played secret and trials and just wanna see where the series started, or you're a crazy person like me and insist on playing series in release order, regardless of if it even matters or not.
What if Final Fantasy was Zelda except it's neither and is instead the start of a new series called Mana? Turned out alright but serves better as a historical reminder if how a series started rather than something stuff worth playing for most modern gamers.
Better than Secret of Mana.
The best Zelda game yet!
Finished the game at Max Level and with Best Equipment (not a particularly challenging feat in this game)
What I enjoyed
- i actually do enjoy it more than the first two Zelda games
- adding RPG elements to Zelda's field and dungeon gameplay is a fun innovation that blends the two genres in both good and bad ways
- A pretty good world and story for an early Game Boy game
- The leveling happens at a perfect rate where you'll never be too long between level ups, I never felt underleveled in my playthrough and was pretty much maxed by the time I was finishing the last dungeon
- Early example of a flexible leveling system in a JRPG
-Chocoboat
What I didn't like
- I know it's an old JRPG but oh my god the menuing is bad here. You have to open a menu whenever you want to switch weapons, choose a different spell or item (you can only have one of either equipped on the B-button), or ask your companion to use their ability and it just takes a lot out of the action combat.
- Map is kinda useless in most cases unfortunately
- Dungeons are pretty dull both in gameplay and theme, much like The Legend of Zelda
- I have a personal vendetta against breakable walls in games where the only way to find them is to attack every single wall in a dungeon with your weapon
Despite my complaints, it's still mostly what you'd expect of a very early action-RPG on the Game Boy and is worth playing if you want to see that type of game at its most simplistic
Finished the game at Max Level and with Best Equipment (not a particularly challenging feat in this game)
What I enjoyed
- i actually do enjoy it more than the first two Zelda games
- adding RPG elements to Zelda's field and dungeon gameplay is a fun innovation that blends the two genres in both good and bad ways
- A pretty good world and story for an early Game Boy game
- The leveling happens at a perfect rate where you'll never be too long between level ups, I never felt underleveled in my playthrough and was pretty much maxed by the time I was finishing the last dungeon
- Early example of a flexible leveling system in a JRPG
-Chocoboat
What I didn't like
- I know it's an old JRPG but oh my god the menuing is bad here. You have to open a menu whenever you want to switch weapons, choose a different spell or item (you can only have one of either equipped on the B-button), or ask your companion to use their ability and it just takes a lot out of the action combat.
- Map is kinda useless in most cases unfortunately
- Dungeons are pretty dull both in gameplay and theme, much like The Legend of Zelda
- I have a personal vendetta against breakable walls in games where the only way to find them is to attack every single wall in a dungeon with your weapon
Despite my complaints, it's still mostly what you'd expect of a very early action-RPG on the Game Boy and is worth playing if you want to see that type of game at its most simplistic
An excellent blend of The Legend of Zelda and Final Fantasy into one of the infest action RPGs for the Game Boy. This game also had a solid story that would end up giving birth to the Mana series, and if memory serves featured the first time a Final Fantasy title had real time combat. The mix of action gameplay and RPG elements works very smoothly here and the weapon system that also doubles as a way to interact with the environment was a nice touch as well.
Mastered for RetroAchievements. I liked this a fair bit, and if it was 20 years ago and I had the patience to get lost in this game for hours on end, I would have probably loved it. As it is now though, I'd never recommend playing this without a guide unless you know you enjoy that kind of thing. It doesn't help that it's possible to softlock in at least one dungeon a couple hours into the game. It's still a fun adventure though, I have to check out the rest of the Mana series sometime, I'm sure I'd like them a lot.