Even Worse Steams’ own Caliscrub asked the question…
“Goggle Bob, which would you say are the good Mana games?”
And the answer to that question? It’s complicated!
So we are taking the next few weeks to run through a sampling of all the Mana titles. They are all very different! And BEAT hates all of them! But some of them might be good!
We are starting with…
Final Fantasy Adventure
aka Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden
1991
Nintendo Gameboy
What’s the story?
You are a random slave-gladiator that escapes captivity and encounters a girl wandering around the countryside. It turns out she is the last descendant of the Mana tribe, and she is the secret to accessing the Promised Land or some such macguffin. Your duty is to protect her! And you will fail. A lot.
Who are the baddies?
There is an evil empire ruled by Dark Lord, but the true threat is his second, Julius. Note that the evil empire otherwise mostly keeps to themselves, and does not seem to be conquering any of the isolated hamlets across the world.
What is the Mana Sword?
In its first incarnation, the Mana Sword is basically Excalibur: a super sword that only the worthiest may wield. It was tossed into some dank dungeon, and is initially a piece of crap that must be de-rusted to serve any use. Basically, the Mana Sword is important, but it feels more like a random sidequest than the focal point of the adventure. Girl’s jewelry is literally more important to the world.
How does it play?
This was Link’s Awakening before the Gameboy saw Link’s Awakening. Gameplay is extremely similar to The Legend of Zelda, complete with monsters that putter around the overworld and generally hope to smack into an errant adventurer. Our hero is initially equipped with a sword that has all the range of a toothpick, but he nabs some flails and lances to improve range as you go. Watch out for monsters that can utilize diagonal attacks, because you sure can’t!
Is it pretty?
For being a monochrome Gameboy title, the sprites are cute and expressive. You may not be able to discern the difference between Dragon and Red Dragon, but you can see the whites of a zombie’s (one) eye.
What is Magic?
There are a handful of spells available that all draw on Final Fantasy mainstays. CURE is useful, FIRE is required to overcome some impervious monsters, and NUKE/flare is supposedly the strongest spell ever created. ICE gets a special mention for being required for a few snowman-based puzzles.
What’s Watts?
Watts is the Cid of the Mana franchise, and will be appearing in all Mana titles going forward. Here, he is a helpful little dwarf that aids in your quest for Silver to make it through a monster-cave mouth. He also has a full shop of random items on his person at all times, so you will never run out of Mattocks with Watts around!
Are there Duck Soldiers?
Yes. Small ducks wearing helmets march around some mid-to-late game areas. They patrol mountains, the Sealed Cave, and an undersea volcano. For duckanity.
What makes it good?
This is basically a classic Zelda game with Final Fantasy trappings, and if you enjoy that concept, you will likely relish this. I will maintain that this is one of the best original Gameboy games out there. If you were ever stuck in a long car ride to nowhere in the early 90’s, this game would be your best friend, too.
What makes it bad?
Like in Link’s Awakening, the constraints of the Gameboy mean you never have enough buttons to accomplish all of your goals. Juggling mattocks, keys, and your weapons inventory to deal with every obstacle that wanders onto the screen is often frustrating. Oh! And the desert palm tree puzzle is legendarily a sticking point for many players.
Anything else?
I don’t know about y’all, but this was the first game I ever played where I could save absolutely everywhere. And I did! And I certainly did not completely destroy an entire save file by running out of keys in a dungeon where it is impossible to earn more keys…
Even Worse Streams Presents The Mana Franchise
Night 1
Final Fantasy Adventure
August 13, 2024
Random Notes:
- Welcome to the Adventure of Final Fantasy with Cassandralyn, Chromes, fanboymaster, BEAT, and myself. We will be playing the first three Mana games on Collection of Mana for the Nintendo Switch. Damn near everything is on that system…
- Our protagonists for the evening will be Bobb the Boy and Gogg the Girl.
- “They didn’t even get another tiger! It’s the same tiger!”
- “Melty Blood is a spiritually fake franchise” is not a comment that will appear in these bullet points.
- Anybody want to guess why fanboymaster has a personal grudge against red mages? Caliscrub sneaks in with exactly zero answers.
Ample Vigour joins as we fight a hydra/the concept of Secret of Evermore.- I am told the zombies in this vampire dungeon have broad shoulders.
- Caithness is in here, too! I should be paying more attention to my friends and not all this skeleton-slaying and Final Fantasy talk.
- Please enjoy Chromes’ art of the Even Worse Crew beating the crap out of each other.
- AJ Vark joins briefly as we just about rescue Gogg from a giant vampire.
- Enjoy hearing the story of the first time BEAT and I hung out in person. It rained! And it rained on him and Caliscrub, too!
- The code phrase “doing laundry” does not refer to an international body-dumping crime. I swear.
- Never let it be said that Even Worse Streams forgot about Dre. Or the smurfs.
- I am hit with the moogle status effect while exploring the airship! Yay!
- Finished Chromes art appears as we fight our way through that docked airship.
- Ample Vigour cuts for the night as Bobb falls through the sky to a random town.
- “Do you like games, boy!?”
- Marvel as I wander the desert while everyone fails at attempting to figure out the significance of an obscure videogame console.
- And I get killed by a snake. That’s that! Moving on…
Next time on Manapiece Theatre: The secret is that BEAT is always angry.
Yes, there are werewolves available