I looked all over for this game locally for my son and finally found it on Amazon at a price cheaper than I expected. I don't reccommend it for young childron but its good for teenagers.

i wanted to know if this is a game like diablo at all or zelda or a mix

The game has great graphics, and is very fun to play. If you liked the Secret of Mana, you'll definitely like this game.

This game is the best! It has an excellent story. The game begins with Heretic Hunters... well, hunting down heretics! The girl is a Mana beleiver and she is wanted the most, and the boy is her protector. It has 2 games in one! Two completely different stories, yet connect largely toward each other. It is AWESOME!

If you ever played mana series and loved it, this game will not disapoint you. And if you are new to the series, this is good way to start =) Not to mention, having a portable version is plus. Not as in depth as secret of mana, but still was very entertaining.

Okay, to first start out, I had never played the Secret of Mana, but the Sword of Mana is an excellent game! It may have long waits in between, but the story is great! It is a must have. It is one of the best RPG's I have played ever, coming up a little far from The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. It is a great RPG and people just like those stupid games that take only 3 hours to beat. This one is long, so be ready to keep yourself occupied. Be ready for an awesome game!

I remember how great Final Fantasy Adventure was, which was really part 1 of the mana saga, and how wonderful the Secret of Mana was for the Super Nintendo.

Now comes Sword of Mana, which is the 4th in the series, and its magic doesnt hold up to the older games.

The gameplay of sword play and magic is standard fare and does nothing to dazzle you. Same goes for the story which is a rehash of Final Fantasy Adventure. The game is fun but nothing memorable which is a departure from Square games which usually leave a dramatic lasting effect.

The main problem with this game is that a strategy guide is almost mandatory for all the items, spells, seeds, fruits, vegetables, etc. The crafting, forging, level up classes, and stats are all way too complicated for what they are.
It seems that Square thought we were all stat obsessed and item hunters/gatherers with this game.

All in all its a fun and short adventure but nothing that will go down as a classic like Secret of Mana or the Legend of Zelda games.

Sword of Mana is a fun game too play for a while. But the background music is annoying. And after your done playing this game you wouldn't want too play it again since there's no replay value.

This game was a lot of fun (even though I still can't beat it). One of the things that I was suprised at most was how cool the graphics were. Okay, you're charachter does look a little dopey, but the landscapes and everything were awesome. Also, once you've beaten the game once, you can play again as the other person (boy or girl). The basic storyline is the same and everything, but you get different side quests to do and such. The music was nice too, but after you play it for about 4 hours straight you're going to have to turn on the radio or something. It's really repetitive! The story line is fun and although the shows are really long, it's still worth it to find out what happens next. Oh yah, being an advanced wizard in the game is really fun too, haveing all the annoying little spirits. This game overall is really cool and is worth your money. I would recomend it to people 12 and up and people without any siblings (my brothers steal this game all the time so they can play it).

While in no ways the best RPG there ever was, I certainly did find this game enjoyable--to the point that I played it 6 hours straight the first night I had it.

I'm not familiar with any previous games in the series before, but I was overall pleased with this game. It's suprisingly addictive and has it's own strong appeal and charm. The real time combat was a nice change from all the traditional turn based that seems to dominate most RPGs, and the I love the idea of the game being played twice--once from the female character's perspective, and once from the male's. Particularly since they don't go all the same places together; at many points, each go through different dungeons, which are only accessible through that character's side of the story.

Unfortunately, the game is not without it's flaws. The graphics aren't always necessarily the best--the characters seem to have a hard time moving their legs when they walks sideways, at times. I grew frustrated with only being able to save my game at the Goddess statues, and even more so by the fact that when my character dies, the game ends. And with how easy it was for characters to be killed in the fun but flawed combat, I found myself tired of doing the same dungeons over and over again. Also, while having two people participating in the real time combat is a good idea, it, overall, proves to be a waste. The second person (whomever happens to be following your character at the time) is worthless, and usually wanders around, attacking only monsters that you attack, and being killed far too quickly and easily. And the only way to control that character is to relinquish control of the first character.
With the weapons, it is an interesting change to have the hot house where you can use seeds collected from the game and have the blacksmith there temper your weapons, but I prefer the more straight forward weapon progression; where you simply buy or find a weapon or piece of armor that is simply stronger than anything previous. The same can be said for the spirits; cool, but mostly useless, except for a few key points during the game. The only one I ever really used was the one that healed.

Overall, I think it's a very fun, appealing sort of game. It only took three weeks to beat, so it's nothing for the hard-core gamer. But it's a fun jaunt, nonetheless.

This game was short and unsatisfying. The storyline and dialog attempted to become more and more "philisophical" as the game went on and became ridiculous by the end. The dynamics of the game were possibly even more flawed than the 1991 counterpart, which was in some ways more fun than this failure of a remake.

Those of you who played Legend of Mana on the original PlayStation may experience some deja vu here and there as you go through Sword of Mana. The ring configuration of the menus is pretty much the same, and after some practice you can zip right through those. The manner of fighting is also similar, with your partner following you around and able to fight independently. The storyline is interesting and I'm continually amazed by the quality of the graphics on the GameBoy SP. This game will definitely help you pass the time, but there are frequent save points if you can't play for hours at a time. Buy this game, I don't think you'll be disappointed!

This game is overated. The story is confusing. The characthers arn't introduced properly. The story will have you running around the same place for hours. You get killed to easy. The bosses are waaaaaaaaaaaay to easy. Half the stuff in the menus/items you don't even use. All the custimizable features arn't used that much. It's a long game but to easy. For the conclusion this game is not recommended for Good RPG players.

As someone deployed in Iraq in an area where the action has pretty much died down, one seeks a way to pretty much kill the time. That's where the Gameboy comes in. Normally games don't really catch the attention span of a Marine long enough but after beating the game I have to fight to get it back from everyone else.

Now the game. As with the Mana series, it beats the walk around and fight turn based style by far. Yiu actually have to try and time your attacks on the enemies(especially bosses) which adds a good level of challenge. The character building is also a plus as you can put points into eventually changing classes that provide you with better abilities. Best of all in my opinion is the storyline. As you progress, many things unfold which make your character think and even question what he's doing all along. Much better than the standard go here and defeat whomever(a-la Zelda style)

My unit has just 2 complaints.The character building. It is difficult to discern what you'll turn into. The most I've gotten was going Fighter-Knight-Warlord. That I did with some guessing. I suggest going online for a guide if you wish to end up like lets say a Paladin or something.

The other one is the improvement of weapons. The "temper" system where you get a certain fruit or a vegetable and have it added to your weapon. It's benefits weren't real significant, adding only +1 to attack or such. What's the point of just a +1? And fruit? Last time I tried that, I got yelled at by the armorer for trying to add a banana to an M16. Damn game, putting ideas in my head. Anyway, this game is still a great, great must buy.

I've played this game quite a bit, almost to the finish, and while it does indeed have some shortcomings, its appealing qualities might, depending on your gaming tastes, more than make up for it.

If you like being able to customize your character in an RPG video game, you'll love the way the class system works. there are eight different classes, each offering it's own special bonuses and you place each level's worth of experience into whichever class you like. it takes five levels in any particular category to be considered a member of that class, and there are combinations that unlock hidden classes offering additional bonuses (a blend of Thief, Mage, and Random gets you to Ninja Master, for example).

The weapons system is also the finest i've seen in any handheld RPG, as, rather than merely finding or buying the latest upgrades to suit your level, you have found weapons (mace, knucks, staff, sword, axe, sickle, bow, flail, and spear) that may be reforged with new, different materials to create more powerful weapons. They may also be "tempered," using a combination of the same material the weapon was last forged from and a vegetable (grown from the seeds you find out adventuring) to enhance their stats and imbue them with magical qualities such as Petrify (whee! Fossil Knucks!) or Confusion. Armor works the same way, but is tempered with fruits instead of vegetables.

The magic system is what you'd expect from a Mana title - you summon elemental spirits (yes, plural, as you can have up to two of each type of spirit) to cast an offensive or defensive effect. the offensive spells vary more by what weapon you are using when you cast them than by what spirit you summon, but the defensive spells range from the silly (turning into a moogle so monsters won't attack you) to the really useful (floating over spikes/lava/any-damaging-floor inside a bubble).

The graphics, which some reviewers didn't like, are very good for a handheld game of any kind. you can move your sprites around and see your characters from all angles, the closeups when they talk (in text, of course) look like something from a decent manga. a GBA is essentially a handheld SNES, yet the graphics in Sword of Mana far exceed its SNES predecessor "Secret of Mana."

As for the shortcomings: Most of the sidekicks are nearly useless, as they wind up walking on lava or attacking things they can't hurt and dying a dozen or so times before you ever get to a boss with the exception of the girl you meet early on in the game - she can heal the whole party and cast attack spells that do decent damage more often than not.

Also, the ring menus get annoying in boss fights. You have to go through three menus to get to anything in particular, including healing items and weapons. The only reprieve from this is that most of the things you collect, like seeds, fruits, vegetables, and raw materials, don't need to be selected from the ring-menu because they'll be highlighted on lists when you visit the appropriate helper-character (the dwarf who does the forging/tempering, or the talking tree who turns seeds into fruits/veggies). And the cutscenes, generally text and animation with some sort of melodramatic musical background, tend to run a teensy bit too long when you just want to bop monsters and save the day.

Despite these nuisances, the game passes the most important test: it's lots of fun to play. Outside of most towns, there's a little flower-pot, and you plant a cactus there and it animatedly grows into a sort of cactus-shaped house with a chimney where the dward and talking tree live. you hand out flyers for stores in busy towns and stop pickpockets and get shot out of cannons.

The head villain even insists that people call him Dark Lord - there's enough storyline and adventure to keep you playing, and enough sillyness, strange visuals (why is the world's greatest sage wearing a hawaiian shirt and tiki mask?) and side-quests to keep all that playing fun, so it gets four stars.

If i had to put this game into a few words then i would say: truley horrible.
where do i start. well, the graphics are a little less then supbar. and the gameplay is just downright boring. This is mainly because the bad guys are stupid little blobs and bats. The whole game is one bad cliche after another. you can either be a gladiator (sword fighting is extremely frustrating because of air units and land units) or a girl that uses magic (magic particularly sucks because you have to summon a spell and then cast it and it seems to be not even worth the while because it does little damage and wastes huge magic points) I got bored after 2 days and would hugely not recommend it.
graphics: 1
fun factor: 0.5
frustration: 5!!!!!!!!!!!!
plot:0!!!!!!!!
good for killing time (yes or no): heck no!!!!!
cliche factor: 4
worth your money? absolutely not

I recall one summer when a friend brought over a game I hadn't heard of to play on the SNES that I was borrowing. Essentially it was the game that made me aware that there was more to Square than Final Fantasy and made me a fan of all their work. That game was Secret of Mana. What I didn't know then was that it was actually the sequel to a GameBoy title Final Fantasy Adventure. The name change from Sword of Mana to Final Fantasy Adventure seemed to be solely to ensure strong sales. I never played the original but loved Secret of Mana so much that when Square announced that Sword of Mana would be remade with an unchanged title I was excited. Mainly because Secret of Mana was something of an amazing game, a perfect ten in every way for its era, and the follow-up, Legend of Mana... well... let's pretend we never suffered through that disaster. I had high hopes for Sword of Mana. Game play wise it plays a lot like Secret of Mana, thankfully, and it has an intriguing (albeit somewhat childish) storyline. I love the story behind the game, though it's disappointing that Square-Enix opted to rename the Shadow Knight "Dark Lord". Its kind of hard to identify with the villain when they delve into his history and why he's doing what he's doing when he has such a sill name that screams "bad guy"... Even Dark Knight would have been a better name. This game also does what Legend of Mana didn't in that you can see where it ties to its sequel Secret of Mana. It's a blast to play.
This game contains some of the best graphics I've seen for the GBA as well, although there are times where the frames rate seems to stutter a bit, but it doesn't hinder game play. The music isn't as memorable as other square efforts but it's not bad either. All in all this game makes me yearn for a remake of Secret of Mana for GBA... and lets also hope that we'll see the never domestically released Mana 3 for the system as well. With Square Enix fully supporting the GBA this system is set to rock the handheld market (which is already dominated by Nintendo anyway). But it is so nice to have Square back.

this game is so cool.I've read about all the ohter reviews and people say this game is to short but it's not.I've just finish the game and it took me about 30 hours to beat it.The graphics are sweet but the only problem I have with the graphics is that when you walk around in some towns the images start to vibrate.The music is not at all bland like some people say.Overall this game is a must have if your into RPG's.

Everyone wants to compare this to the far superior "Secret of Mana". "Sword of Mana" should not have to be compared to "Secret of Mana" because "Sword of Mana" IS NOT "Secret of Mana." Sword is an exceptionally good game but a lot of frustrating gameplay elements will more than likely bring this down.

Sword of Mana certainly is a pretty game. The graphics are astonishingly good. Vivid and colorful graphics that while they look cartoony, the character artwork is incredibly artistic. Easily Sword of Mana has eye-candy that will distract you from some of the cons until they submerge.

I wish I could say the same about the music that I did about the graphics. Some tunes are memorable (such as the opening theme) but other tunes for whatever reason don't bring out the true essence of the game. A lot of tunes sound 8-bit, like something you'd hear on your original NES or Gameboy. The sound effects also sound 8-bit style. I'm not quite sure if this is to bring back memories of Final Fantasy Adventure or not but for the GBA the sound could've been better.

The Gameplay of the game is actually where the game's problem is. The music I can deal with even if it is 8-bit, it isn't bad. But the gameplay showers frustration. For one thing, as so many others have said, your AI partner is not so smart. A lot of the time you'll rush into battle and your AI partner won't even ATTACK the enemy. They'll stand there walking into a wall or pathetiaclly getting the crap kicked out of them.

Battling itself can be a joy. You run around and swing your weapon at the enemy. You've got about 8 different weapons to choose from and each has its own potential and "trait". Either a Slash, Jab or Bash. Some enemies are weak to one trait more than another. To me this was creative and best of all, makes it so that you can put a strategy to your gameplay rather than just try to stay alive.

But even the combat has its problems. There's a three hit combo you can do but for some odd reason it can't be pulled off whenever. You may pull it off sometimes but it is incredibly difficult (you'll more than likely do this three hit combo by accident). Not only that but it gets more frustrating to battle as you progress. You start to miss enemies all the time and battling suddenly becomes a hassle.

The Ring menu. Simple and easy to use. Not as fast as it could be though. VERY easy to use but you spend A LOT of time in it. BUT for what its worth the Ring Menu has short cuts to the two things you'll access the most! Weapons and Magic. However, as one reviewer pointed out, the amount of time spent in the menu is torture at times. I select one category and depnding on what it is I'll go off into another catagory, a sub catagory. I may or may not go into ANOTHER sub-category. That and the menu doesn't switch to the next sub category fast enough. Still, the ring menu is fast and efficient.

My last problem with this game is a small one. The lack of actually playing the game sometimes. There are several points where the dialogue carries on and on and on. There's nothing wrong with a good storyline but when I can't interact with it enough there's a problem. It's a GAME. It's supposed to be fun WHILE intriguing and entertaining. You can't speed up the dialogue either and the character developement only helps to make it worse.

Overall, Sword of Mana isn't such a bad game. It just suffers from a lot of cons that stand out, especially in the gameplay. If you ARE a fan of the Mana Series then yes, grab this. Pick it up. If you aren't familiar with the series it's a love/hate relationship all the way.

Sword of Mana may not be the best in the Series, but it is still a fairly enjoyable game nonetheless. Action and puzzles are satisfying enough to keep people busy for a while, and the gameplay is decent enough.
There are a few flaws though, my biggest complaint is how idiotic the A.I. for your partner can be, you can set their pattern, but it doesn't seem to do much as they recklessly dive into battle. Music and backgrounds are fine, though it can be annoying sometimes if you or an enemy moves behind a cliff or tree and you have no clue where you or the enemy is. Lastly, the game is fairly short, and though the diffrences in the Hero and Heroine's stories are there, they still lead you roughly on the same trail.
Despite it's rough edges, the game is still fun to play, it may not hold a candle to Legend or Secret of Mana, but it is still a good enough game in the series.

I've played Final Fantasy Adventure and this game as well, I agree with a comment someone made that the computer just went around casting spells at nothing, most of the time, so the low AI, the frustration of some parts of the game, the time it CRASHED for no reason. To put it simply this game is nothing compared to FFA. Now that game was worth playing hours on end.

Not as good as Seceret of Mana, but still a great game. Great graphics, sound, and story(s). If your a fan of the Mana series, you should definitely pick it up.

This is actually a remake of "Final Fantasy Adventure" from the original GameBoy, and a damned good one too! It was marketed over hear as a Final Fantasy game so it would sell better (it was the reason I purchased it at the time...). They greatly modified the graphics and play control using the "Secret of Mana" engine, so this game has the same feel in combat only as it's SNES "prequal." Actually, I like the combat a little better here than "Secret of Mana," you spend less time dodging waiting for your guage to fill and more time smacking monsters around. Over all, I find that the story flows very nicely and the character interactions are done pretty well. If you like RPG's with a more realtime feel, I highly recommend this game.

awsome played it for a few hours got addicted couldnt stop played it over and over again the best

I hate this game ther is no point in playing it.

Legend of Mana is one the game that ends relativley fast. Out of all the Mana series games I have played its was not up there on the top. Heres my pros and cons about the game:

Pros:
Easy to learn battle system
Lots of weapons and the ways you can forge them
Is a fun game while on the road
Many puzzles to solve

Cons:
The game was too short
Since the game was easy to learn and play, you can finish relatively quick
The story was pretty lame too

Overall, I do reccomend it even though I'm not particulary fond of it. It was fun and you can collect and make stuff such as weapons. If you want a gameboy long and challenging try final fantasy tactics advance which I also reccomend.

I'll admit I was expecting a Secret of Mana type game. Instead I got something different. It isn't all that great too. You start off by selecting either a male or female and then sit through a VERY long intro (but good intro) before the game starts.

The elements in Sword of Mana are very similar to Secret but they don't flow as well. The gameplay is a such example. Sword of Mana is fun to play at first. The gameplay elements are awesome with all the weapons and items but then a few things start to stick out. One: Attacking isn't like in Secret of Mana. You have this three hit combo that for some reason is impossible to pull off. The power gauge at the bottom is nice but takes to long to charge (you do it by attacking enemies.) Another thing about the gameplay is simply that as you progress further, it becomes more frustrating. You start to miss enemies a lot and even taking out a simple enemy becomes more than its worth.

Lastly, your AI character is an insult. They stand there, either casting spells like crazy or getting themselves killed. Its a hassle to keep them alive throughout the game.

The ring menu is also different. In Secret of Mana the ring menu was fast, efficient and simple to use. In this...it's...not as easy, fast and efficient. Example: First I open up the Ring menue. Instead of it instantly flashing up like in Secret, it has to take time to open up. This isn't the gripe, let's keep moving. Next, I select the item icon. Again we watch it slowly flash to the next menu. THEN I have to choose a sub-category...ok...once that's done with I have to choose ANOTHER sub category depending on the icon I choose. Then you'll have to choose ANOTHER sub category. So when you open up the menu you'll be in it for a while. Rather than the ring menu they should've had the one similar to Legend of Mana.

The music isn't nearly as good as the other two Mana games. Seeing as how Square took so much time to redevelope the game in revamping the graphics (which shower AMAZING detail) they didn't spend as much time on the music. Some tunes are good but a lot sound VERY 8-bit style. So much to the fact that they're annoying and repetative.

The story and how its told is great though! The one thing that hasn't changed in the Mana series, great storytelling (Legend of Mana STILL had good story-telling with all its subplots). However, the dialogue is very stupid at times and the character developement isn't quite there. Sicne the game is so short we don't get enough time to learn as much about these characters as possible. Mix that in with the fact that whoever you don't choose in the beginning is absent from the story for long periods of time.

Overall I was disappointed. The gameplay is what ruined the game for me. It's frustrating a lot of the time. The menu isn't easy to use anymore and monsters that can dodge anything isn't my idea of fun.

Something not too many people seem to have noticed is that this game is actually a remake of Final Fantasy Adventure, which was released years and years ago for the original Game Boy (which was also a ... of Mana title of sorts.) For this new remake Square Enix seems to have decided to combine FFA with Legend of Mana, a slightly confusing move since I was under the impression that Legend of Mana was not a very popular game. The result is fairly good, though the storyline's triteness displays its age, and the controls feel like they were made with the original Game Boy in mind. My biggest beef with the game was that it took me only 15 hours or so to complete (granted that I didn't find all the treasures or do all the intricate and frustrating side-quests.) That said, it was still fun.

Back in the mid-90's, an RPG called Secret of Mana took the RPG world by storm. It quickly became one of my favorite RPGs. I hoped that Sword of Mana would follow in the footsteps of this stellar title. Well, I'm pleased to say that it does. It fills the void left by the disappointing Legend of Mana (you had to build your own world- what the heck) with the same great graphic style and "ring command" battle system of the original. Sword of Mana is actually a remake of the 1993 version released in the U.S. as "Final Fantasy Adventure". Veterans of this title will recognize the familiar story and music, which are re-done and better, of course. My only complaint is that some of the graphics (townspeople, travel cannons, some mana statues) quiver when your character's sprite moves past them- a minor but annoying flaw. All in all, Sword of Mana is a great title with beautiful, well-animated graphics, great music and fun gameplay. It's a throwback to a time when RPGs emphasized substance over cinamatics. Fans of the Mana series owe it to themselves to own this gem. Gamers in general will most likely get a kick out of it as well.

Great story and really cool fights plus even cooler puzzles!! But it's pretty hard.....I do not recamend this game for beginning players

This is a great game, considering it's on the GBA. I would have preferred to have more characters, but I'm having fun so far. Also, I can see the influence of Seiken Dentetsu 3 (#2 was the US "Secret of Mana") a little bit. I think they should have tried to finally release that one (officially) in English for the GBA, but just because it's not the same as the previous games doesn't make it a failure. It's more fun than some of the RPGs I'm paying $40-$50 for on the PS2 and Gamecube, so I won't complain. My only gripe is the long plot sequences someone else mentioned. I had to quit midway through one of them because it was 2 a.m. (whoops) and I didn't want to leave it on all night. Anyway, I think it's a good buy IMHO.

Just completed this game, and I must say that I enjoyed it immensely. I remember playing Final Fantasy Adventure on the original gameboy, and Sword of Mana is definetly a worthy remake. Other reviewers have mentioned graphical glitches or slowdowns in gameplay, none of which I experienced. The gameplay was smooth throughout the course of the game. A great game in all categories, and one of the best I've played in recent history (Sword of Mana becomes much more enjoyable if you stop trying to compare it to Secret of Mana. They're different games for different systems!).

The only thing that relates this rotten game to "The Secret of Mana" is the name. Everything else is just a rotten imitation of that fine game. The graphics are well drawn, but poorly animated. The music is lame. The story is weak, and worst of all, the play controls are horrendous.

The ring menu system from "The Secret of Mana" was a thing of beauty that let you quickly use items and equip your characters. "Sword of Mana" has ring menus as well, but they're sluggish, and they flash for no apparent reason. Also, it seems like it takes forever for the guy to swing his sword after you have pressed the button. If you play it with the GameCube GameBoy Player, you'll even notice a bit of flicker.

Another minor irritation is that no matter what kind of creature you kill, it leaves behind something that looks like a bull skeleton. I could understand that in 1992, but it's 2003! Surely ROM is cheap enough by now for the cartridge to hold an assortment of remains.

I doubt that the original Mana team even worked on this thing. In the opening, it mentions Brown & Browne, which makes me suspect that Square is just a publisher for this game, not a developer. They pulled the same dirty trick with "Breath of Fire" which was an okay game developed by Capcom, but it was not as good as a Square game.

If they couldn't be bothered to do it right, they shouldn't have done it at all.

Sword of Mana is a remake of an 12-year-old Gameboy game titled Final Fantasy Adventure, but it still does a good job of being fun and interesting.

Sword of Mana's storyline is one that you'll probably be farmiliar with: Dark Lord evil trying to defeat the good Mana clan and take over the world, complete with plot twists and all. That's not to say that the story isn't bad, it just isn't anything groundbreaking either.

In SoM, you'll play as one of two characters. The hero in the game is strong with weapons and physical attacks, while the heroine is better off using magic. Sometimes you will even be joined by an AI controlled character, but the AI in the game isn't that though out and what would seem like a big help tends to annoy you at times. Both of the main characters offer a unique style of gameplay though, and when you finish the story with on character, you can go back and play as the other one for a little different perspective on the story. This also adds a lot of replay value to the game.

SoM's gameplay is typical of what you'd find in most Action Adventure RPGs. Along with physical attacks, you are able to find different spirits throughout the game to use magic with. There are also multiple weapons you'll aquire to varry the gameplay a bit. You can also pull off combos with certain weapons but you have to time your attacks just right, or the combo won't execute, and that is one gripe that many people have with the game.

Compared to most action adventure games though, SoM has some nice RPG elements to go along with it. After gaining a certain amount of Exp. by killing enemies, you'll go up a level and be able to choose from several clases, like sage or theif, to improve your stats with. You also have the option of forging your weapons to make the stronger. These RPG elements certainly make SoM more enjoyable.

SoM graphics are pretty nice, but the game tends to slow down during gameplay and that will annoy you for sure. The music and sound effects are okay too, but nothing great. So pretty much, don't expect anything stellar from SoM in the graphics, music or graphics departments.

So, if you're in the market for a good Action Adventure game, then this is a fine game to choose. Just don't expect to be blown away by it...

Wow!Ive been waiting for this a long time and it came.I was so impressed with the graphics, gameplay and cool sound.First off theres nothing bad about the graphics their the best seen on GBA so far!The gameplay rocks!No turned based battling YEAAAAAH!!!!! The music is actually really cool and crisp sounding.Im a fan of RPG'S so thats natural.If tou love RPG'S THIS IS YOUR GAME!!!!!Buy this its better than boktai or any thing like that.Buy this game...now!!!!!!