COLLECTION OF MANA / DEVELOPER & PUBLISHER: SQUARE ENIX / PLATFORM: SWITCH / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
Collection of Mana has been available in Japan since 2017, bringing the first three much-loved Mana games together into a single package. It’s now available in the west, having taken everyone by surprise with its same-day announcement and release during Nintendo’s recent E3 outing.
Collection includes the 1991 Game Boy title Final Fantasy Adventure (AKA Mystic Quest in Europe, and later remade – twice – as Sword / Adventures of Mana), 1993’s all-time RPG classic Secret of Mana, and its 1995 follow-up, Trials of Mana, which has never been released outside of Japan until now. English translations have been floating around the shadier parts of the internet for a while, but this is the game’s first official fully-localised appearance.
Each game absolutely deserves to be played by any RPG fan, partly because of their historical significance, and partly because they’re all incredible adventures in their own right. The Mana series’ beginnings as a stat-infused Legend of Zelda-inspired Final Fantasy spinoff is one of the Game Boy’s finest RPGs, and Secret of Mana has definitely found its place as a cult classic over the years since its release.
The real selling point of Collection is, of course, the previously unavailable Trials, which was an incredibly ambitious game for its time. With a cast of six playable characters to choose from, each with their own storylines, and a main story featuring three different major plotlines, playing Trials today for the first time – as many of us will be – is still an absolute blast, despite its age.
No concessions have been made for the slightly more clunky elements of the games – everything you see is exactly the way it was back then, warts and all. You won’t find any modern bells and whistles here, apart from a handy quick save / load feature, a couple of different borders, and a music player on the menu screen. Collection of Mana is a very understated package, but dive into any of its three games and you’re sure to be entertained for many many hours.
