Square Enix released their latest on smartphone with Adventures of Mana, a remake of the first game in the Mana series originally release back in 1991. Here’s a trailer, some screenshots, and a message from producer Masaru Oyamada.
Adventures of Mana follows the story of a young hero (that’s you by the way) and a young heroine as they attempt to thwart the Dark Lord of Glaive from destroying the Tree of Mana. The original story remains unchanged in Adventures of Mana but the game is enhanced with updated graphics and controls and a new, rearranged soundtrack from the game’s original composer Kenji Ito.
Here’s a look at a trailer for the game:
Followed by some screenshots:
And finally, a message from producer Masaru Oyamada:
Hello there everyone.
This is Masaru Oyamada, the producer of Adventures of Mana.
This game was originally released on the Nintendo Gameboy in 1991 as Final Fantasy Adventure, and went on to become the start of the Mana series.
As you can see by the fact it even had “Final Fantasy” in the title, many of the staff who worked on the project were deeply involved with the Final Fantasy series, such as Mr. Koichi Ishii, the father of Mana, as well as Mr. Yoshinori Kitase and Ms. Kazuko Shibuya.
In doing this new 3D remake, we made sure not to upset any of what made it great in the first place, while putting in things that were impossible to depict under the limitations of the original Game Boy hardware and making it more comfortable and intuitive to play, as befits a modern game. The sound side has been upgraded too, with the original composer, Mr. Kenji Ito, returning to add an updated and even more dramatic re-arrangement of the soundtrack.
I will be very happy to see Adventures of Mana, the starting point for the whole Mana series, being played again by the people who played and loved it when it first came out, as well as by new players who will get that same emotional experience that people did the first time round.
And don’t forget the secret phrase “knight for a day” when you set out on your adventure…
Adventures of Mana is now available on Android and iOS for $13.99 / £10.49 / €13.99.
