Secret of Mana

Despite being a universally adored title in an unfortunately short-lived series, this remake won't hold up for anyone but those most determined to push through. Simply put, this version of Secret of Mana doesn't feel finished or even polished. The game crashes frequently and has bugs like enemies becoming completely invulnerable during battle, or your ally characters randomly warping around the map. This list could go on and on, but some of the even stranger quirks that hopefully will be patched in the future also include getting to a new town that will seem completely vacant until you find a corner that has a powerful magnetic pull on every villager who can't help but walk toward it. A few of these hiccups make the game unplayable until you quit and go back in, but it's dismaying to see quality control this lacking in any title -- especially one intended to introduce an old classic to a new generation. 

That said, the core game beats along just fine beneath the new aesthetics. It's a little strange to see so much work put into new 3D visuals yet still see characters modeled after their old sprites and stuck that way. That means you'll have conversations with characters whose mouths and eyes are frozen with the one look they had back in 1993, and they don't so much walk as glide along in one pose. Kids will likely find this funny when it isn't intended to be, and thankfully there were some new additions here, like the many dialogue sequences that play out when you rest in an inn: It fleshes out the relationships between your characters that were relatively light in the original with moments of true vulnerability and introspection. But every now and then, issues arise with making progress: Characters will forget the orders you give them and revert to running away or, strangely, waiting politely for enemies to get back up before striking them. If you're new to Secret of Mana, it's unlikely this version will help you understand why it was held in such high regard a few decades ago. Overall, you have to strain to find smooth patches, and even then you know they won't last. You're better off at least waiting until this game is patched, and then giving it a try with an open mind.