The making of Secret of Mana
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- Опубликовано: 20 окт 2017
- In this episode we dive into the development of Secret of Mana for the Super Nintendo. When you bring up Secret of Mana the pure magical feel that it evoked is often immediately brought up by its fans. But did the development cycle reflect the tranquil atmosphere of the game? We explore the history of Seiken Densetsu, the Maru project, the Super Nintendo Cd-Rom adapter, Translucency effects on the SNES and more.
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Narration by Chase McCaskill
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The complete soundtrack is listed at the end of the video
Sources are listed at the end the video. 
Игры
Hiroki Kikuta composed a masterpiece with this soundtrack. It makes almost 90% of the games atmosphere. Hands down one of the best soundtracks ever made for a videogame.
Is it hands down the best or is it one of the best? Hands down one of the best is like saying "Its definitely the most above average thing ever!"
I don't know fire emblem 4s soundtrack is godly
I sent him random friend request on Facebook and he accepted
There is mmo game in the making that is Secret of Mana inspired and the composer of original game made music to it. The game is called Everland - ruclips.net/video/UbFa6tpXFCM/видео.html
chris hayate It’s one of the best, but Chrono Trigger is better though.
Had to pause at 0:26 "The pure magical feel that it evoked, is immediately brought up by it's fans" This is so true, the game has a place in my soul haha spot on dude.
incredible amount of presentation put into this video. very admirable and fun to watch
The quality presentation on your channel isn't so bad either.
Only channel I've seen with similar level of presentation is My Life in Gaming, (and for Star Wars/Star Trek one called EC Henry).
My eyes aren't worthy of such well crafted piece of work! This video is gorgeous!
Hahaha :) Thanks so much!
yes. click and leave. lol
This video was simply fantastic. I fancy myself somewhat of a "gaming historian" and had NO CLUE that Chrono Trigger splintered off from Secret of Mana. So many interesting facts from this game's original development, inspired use of the Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger soundtracks, and unmatched production value. You sir, have truly outdone yourself. 10/10.
Thanks so much! Creating the soundtrack for this video was actually really easy this time, I had so much excellent music to choose from :)
Also had no idea that Chrono Trigger splintered-off from Secret of Mana.
I didn't know it either, but always though crono looked like the main protagonist from secret of mana. even when I was young.
yeah I'm still blown away I didnt know either till seeing this.
The amount of work you put into your videos is admirable! You deserve a million subs
Thanks! :) Ha a million subs that would be a dream :0 But that's the cool thing about having 12k subs you can still dream of reaching 20k 50k or 100k haha :)
Completely agree!!!
How come you haven't married me yet? D:
Thank you!
Awesome editing!
Heard about this game first on the playground with a friend when I was 8 in the 90s when this came out. Rented it a bunch of times then had my save file erased. Ended up buying it and it seemed to take forever to beat but a hell of a lot of fun all the way until the end, captivating story and emotional drama. Very well done battle system, probably still my favourite action-JRPG to date.
One of my favorite games for SNES as I was lucky enough to own this masterpiece.The music was so awesome as I remember as a kid getting chills hearing the various dark church/temple areas.
I know I say this every time, but this is seriously your best video yet!
Thanks my friend! and it was also your best voice work yet! Not saying your older recordings sucked ofcourse ha :)
This is a remarkable production format, awesome script and that narration voice over is like silk caressing my ears. How u do dis!?
Thanks so much! :) Well I only produce a handful of episodes every year so I can spend a lot of time on my videos to make them different from each-other and play around with different themes, art styles and (hidden) messages.
just wow...the documentation and work for the 3d/2d the art for this vid. good job! no one has documented/produced a vid/projected mana this well.
Thanks!
The music from Secret of Mana will always get me. It's one of the first games where I realized that a game soundtrack could be art. Every time I hear some of the songs I'm taken back to my childhood and how I loved the mystical feel that this game gave me.
That's exactly what happens to me, all those memories, I play that game almost every year I love it.
That was incredible... from the script to the production value to the narration... amazing work. And moving too
"The images I create don't just move.. they move you" ha :)
man, i remember when i first played Secret of Mana way back when. Me and my mom went to this tiny audio/video rental place all the time called Melody House. I would be allowed a single game for the weekend to rent. Eventually i came to Secret of Mana.
i put the cartridge in at home, and after the ritual blowing and fiddling got it to work.
Immediately i was blown away by that whale cry and the amazing intro. That moment was so far beyond anything i had previously seen that it wouldn't be replicated again for years. The soundtrack more than anything else was what captured my young self. Even when i wasn't playing i'd have it on so i could hear the music playing. The mournful tune as he was exiled from Potos was my favorite.
I spent so many weekends playing this game, crying when other renters would delete my save file, happy when i FINALLY beat it after months of attempts.
When they remade it, i bought it that very day it came out due to the nostalgia alone.
You are the best documentary/retrospective channel about games on RUclips and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. S-Tier.
Very nice! The CGI and music makes It like I'm in a magical world while learning about it. I should really play Secret of Mana.
TheAnvilMan hah me too. I got it waiting on my snes classic
This is very well made, thanks for putting this together. I used to speculate as a kid how Randi and Crono could be related, and now many years later my interest has piqued once again.
What you just did was throw me right back into my undying love for this game and my childhood.
My father passed away almost ten years ago, and this game, along with FFIII (VI) and Super Metroid were some of the best times we shared together. My dad my brother Andrew and I sitting around the TV playing this..
Amazing tribute, to an amazing game. Thank you.
I always get a little emotional when I see something about Secret of Mana. But this video was something to the next level. Thank you for putting time into this. I really appreciate it. And I wish I could shake Hiroki Kikuta's hand, the soundtrack I still hear to this very day.
I'm so disappointed when one of these videos ends, because the content is enthralling to me. Thanks again!
Best Video about Secret of Mana on RUclips!
wow thanks so much!
Finally a video I can point to if I ever want to share the making of my favorite game.
Thanks for this man, really loved it.
That's really cool to hear!
That was the best gaming documentary (if that’s the right word) I’ve ever seen in my entire life!
Thank you for putting together such a wonderful summary to an epic game.
Glad to have played this when growing up.
Really cool to hear! Thanks so much! :)
Makes me appreciate this game even more! Absolutely love the music in this game! Definitely my favourite game on SNES!
I remember when the words "Programmed by Nasir" were a big deal
Welcome back! Fantastic production work as always.
Thanks! :)
An amazing piece of gaming history. Your insight and knowledge of the 16-but era is encyclopedic. Thanks for making these videos, especially this one. Secret of Mana is one of my all-time favorite titles ever. This was a great trip down memory lane.
I can't believe this video is real... The writing... The narration... The animation... The use of music... I learned a lot of things from this video which I thought I knew everything about this excellent game. Dear Strafefox, you deserve a lot more views, subscribers and a bright future with your channel!
Thanks so much for this sweet comment! Really makes my day :)
Just found your channel and am working through all your videos now. Blown away by the quality and content. Well researched with professional quality production. Keep up the amazing work. You deserves way more subscribers.
I'm very glad I found this channel... IDK how I could have missed it. Amazing videos 10/10.
The quality and presentation of these documentaries has earned my subscription and admiration. Spectacular job to you all
Thanks so much!
The fact that one game became 2 iconic games is insane. They put their ALL into games back then
Woah. I don't think that anybody can name a retro gaming channel that has better production than this. My favourite channel by far. This video actually brought a tear to my eye. Please contact Nintendo. You would easily make the best videos for it. Also, I wonder what the video creator thinks of Xenogears.
Thanks so much! I must admit that I never played any of the Xenogears games :0
The thing is.. when the 16-bit era ended I got my first fulltime job and gaming went on the backburner for me.
So with the exception of Castlevania, ff7 and Metal Gear Solid, I skipped over most of the games from that generation.
But Xenogears looks fun!
Not that this video is insanely awesome but to be honest.. anything i see about Secret of Mana brings a tear to my eye.. This game... i cant explain what it does to me
Brought a tear to my eye too. Especially the bit talking about the composer. I can't say enough about how much the music in SoM means to me.
Thoroughly enjoyed this game back in the day. Good to see how it was made many years later.
This is easily the greatest video ever covering Secret of Mana. You dropped gems on here, thank you. I don't think the world quite understands yet but they will
I don't think there is a single content creator on here that does your kind of work that is anymore near as thought provoking and moving as how you present the material. You always manage to share the details of each game's development as crowning achievements in humans' history and makes me as a fellow content creator moved by the love and care that goes into each video. Your work is amazing, never stop.
Thanks so much! Really cool to hear!
"The active battle system was seen as too much of a departure for final fantasy 4" - oh boy just you wait
This is one of my most cherished games. Your video more than does it justice. What a fantastic tribute to the makers of this game. You should be proud.
I just watched this again. thank you so much for the effort you put into these, you're truly my favorite.
This gave me goosebumbs. Not only because I love the game so much, its because of the quality of your video. Your reading / voice , the clean pronounciation and of course the video editing is fantastic. It reminds me of a documentation, well written and scripted and even the outro is absolutly well executed. Thank you for sharing
Wow that's really cool to hear! Thanks! :)
5:00 Goosebumps when the music kicked in
Secret of Mana gets as much love from me as your Channel does too! Both way too underrated!
Love your work. A super rare combo of nerdiness, high quality production, sound research and philosophical reflection. Keep up the great work. PS Secret of Mana is my first SNES RPG ... the feels
This is amazing production value. Deserves more likes.
85.000 people here only? This is unfair, your work is outsanding, congrats.
Thanks! :)
The way you produced this video is astonishing. I expected a narration while some random footage of SoM is shown, but this blew my mind. You have a new subscriber.
Had to subscribe, some of the best production I have ever seen in a RUclips series.
Secret of Mana is what got me into Game Development. Ever since I was a kid, I made up RPG systems with my pet toys. (I wasn't allowed to play the SNES on weekdays). There is just something about the game that was and still are magical to this day. Secret of Mana was flawed in a couple of ways but you can't help admiring the team for making such a great product.
Also... ONLY 14k SUBS? What?!
I was really impressed that if you had one of those four-controller things you could actually play secret of mana with three people.
The editing in this video is really unique, haven't seen anything like this yet
Incredible work as always! Seeing just about anything on this game takes me back, but seeing the professional production values on top just takes it to a whole other level.
Thanks Austin! And now I finally have the time to watch your recent Castlevania let's plays :)
3 player action RPG in 1993? Everyone knows how awesome that was! Classic game.
From the bottom of my heart, I really thank & appreciate everyone who was involved in creating this masterpiece. You guys made my childhood really colorful & special with this game. I remember vividly the moment I bought that game & first played it in my living room. I felt as if I was sucked into a fantasy alternate reality of heavenly world which was unlike anything I'd experienced before. Fast forward 28 years later, reminiscing of SOM will still put a smile on my face. 本当にありがとうございました🙏
How can people dislike this video ? It has so much information and is just made awesome!
Not perfect, it has it's flaws, but Secret of Mana is a damn good game.
Wth? The 3d model, background, particles, and rendering style all top notch. Wow, high quality production.
Amazingly well put together! Truly worthy of a DVD box set, I know how my children will learn about games one day.
It actually feels like a relief to hear you mention Chrono Trigger splitting from Secret of Mana, because my gosh did those couple of main characters remind me of each other... makes a lot of sense! Amazing to think a game like Chrono Trigger was a splinter of an original idea.
Thanks so much! I'm planning to update this video with more info on Chrono Trigger.
The production values are better than most TV documentaries. Outstanding.
Thank you for creating this video. Secret of Mana is my all time favorite game. It holds a special place in my heart.
Truly excellent and informative video with outstanding production value. A rare sight on YT these days.
RUclips first brought me by luck to your video about Donkey Kong Country, I really liked it so I decided to subscribe.
Then I was recommended this video of yours about my favorite game ever, and I have no word: the amount of information (so much I didn't know about!!), the editing, the narration... Bravo! I wish many people can see your work, this is simply wonderful!
Discovering your channel was the best things that happened to me this week, information presented in such quality! Can't wait to watch more of your content
Thanks! It's always great to hear that people like my work!
Holy hell the editing on this video is absolutely sublime. Thank you for such an insightful video into the making of my all-time favourite game :D
One of the best RPGs ever made. This one game encompasses a significant chunk of my childhood memories and is one of the reasons why I will always be madly in love with video games. Great video.
I just came across this video. Hands down my favorite SNES game. I'm not saying it's the best SNES game. But it has always been my favorite. I played the heck out of it back in those days. Even played through it again recently.
I admire your work so much. So much effort put in every video!!!!
Thanks for this EXCELLENT piece of oustanding work team of Strafefox!
Thanks so much! :)
Hiroki Kikuta, your tireless efforts have touched my heart for 20 years thank you for going above and beyond in your creative effort.
How am I just now discovering this channel? This is so professional and you have the perfect voice for this. I thought this was from Nintendo at first and was an official "making of" documentary. Wow, man, great work!!!
Thanks so much! Really great to hear :)
It's amazing how today I was searching about Hiroo Isono art and this video pop out of nowhere and makes me learn a bit more about him and his other works. This Maru Project is something I never quite heard of, I knew both games were really close each other but not this close. This also makes me wonder why Square Enix doesn't just restart the Maru Project again instead of rehashing/remaking the first 2 Mana games over and over again now that they have the resources. Chrono Trigger with the Mana's combat would be the dopest thing ever!
Loved the format of this video, incredible work!
Thanks so much! Yeah it would be interesting to see Maru Island released today, although it would be very difficult and a big risk. The thing is that a lot of ideas were actually already used in Secret of Mana, Seiken Densetsu 3 and Chrono Trigger so it would probably feel like a rehashed game. And the biggest problem is..Square really was in their prime during the 90s. They would have to bring the team together and capture that lightning in a bottle again. But I agree, I would love to see a new Mana game created with the same care as Kingdom hearts for example.
Best narrator ever.
Nice vid as always.
I agree Chase did a marvelous job!
I was looking forward to a new video since many weeks!!! You should have more subscribers. Your videos are just awesome and Secret of Mana still one of the best games ever! Thanks and thumbs up!
Ha, that's great to hear! Thanks so much! :)
strafefox greetings from Switzerland:)
This is my first time catching your channel. I have to say that I don't think I've seen any video ever on here that was this well edited. Not to mention there was so much information that I (a longtime SE fan) I had no idea about until just now.
You are getting better and better. Where are all the subscribers, why don‘t you have at least 5 million subs? It drives me crazy!!!
I liked the forest background, tree stump, and all the cool lighting effects and fireflies. Very beautiful scene to setup the telling of the game. Thanks for making these awesome videos!
Thanks! Glad you liked the 3D setting. It was fun to make but took a looooong time to render all frames haha :)
Insanely good production value. Subbed.
Thanks so much for the sub! really appreciated
Subscribed without hesitation. Beautiful work. I echo all the comments about more subs! Secret of Mana remains one of my main artistic inspirations. What a great balance they struck with this game between the visuals, music, story and gameplay.
I wish I could give you a million likes. Your work is that good.
Well.. you could create a million youtube accounts... haha! Just kidding!
Thanks so much for this great comment! Your thumbs-up feels like a million likes to me :)
Don't tempt me. I would seriously consider it. You are that good.
Some of the best production I've seen on RUclips. Great work!
The work you do on these videos is amazing Strafefox. I love Secret of Mana and really appreciate this video!
HOLY CRAP the production value in this video is astounding! Well done!
This video was astonishingly well crafted!
The 3D-Effects and Scenes, especially when the game was taking place in a TV in the Secret of Mana Environment were beautifully animated. Have not seen such a good work in a long time. I like your attention to detail and I am looking forward to see more of your gorgeous editing (+50 Admiration, +200 Nostaligia Tears, +1 Sub)
+1000 Appreciation for your awesome comment and sub! :)
Whaaat is this? So many footage, so many backstories, so many everything. I love this video!
Im a huge Mana fan and i never heard of Maru Island. Great stuff, guys.
Thanks! I can see that you're a huge fan (the rabite) :)
Yep, our house hold came to love it because I have 2 siblings around my age, we also had two college age sisters who didn't care about video games. The three of us would rent it all the time with super bomber man so we would have the multitap (no extra controller tho and you couldn't rent one, had to buy one), we rented so much that our dad just went out and bought a used copy and a new Hori multitap. He probably thought we would save money in the long run, lol.
This goes beyond the quality of a standard youtube video man! Amazing work!
First time ive seen your work, going back through all of your videos now. This was incredible.
30 seconds in and Im already in love with your channel dude.
i grew up with the mana series and i have to say what a grand job you have done here this is just incredible love this video so much fantastic.
I love how you implemented the soundtrack from the legend of mana at the end!
A masterful work you did! Love the detailed information. Should have half a million views tbh.
The presentation in this vid is flippin nuts man. Absolutely gorgeous set pieces, great job of immersing us in the SD2 world.
Thanks so much! :)
Seiken Densetsu II and Chrono Trigger are so interestingly linked. The hero of SD2 even looks almost just like Crono, and the heroine like Marle.
Side note, I REALLY wish we had gotten SD3 in America. :(
"However, it seemed too far removed for a Final Fantasy game, but it was perfect for Mana." Ahh, back in the days when Square gave a single shit about franchise gameplay consistency. Good times!
Just subscribed off the back of this video alone. Thanks for giving the right amount of love and attention to a game that truly deserves it.
Awesome! Thanks so much!
Oh my! Just discovered this channel. The production value of these videos are extremely high. Keep up the great work.
Thanks! And thanks for subbing! :)
Absolutely excellent presentation. You deserve a ton more views and likes. You got me wanting to collect all these games and I barely play video games. I just love the history of games.
The quality of this video blows me away. Absolutely amazing. And I loved your narrative. Keep up the good work!
Thanks! :)
This is still my favorite game of all time, my brother and I spent many months playing through this.
I wasn't an rpg fan as a kid but I have so many memories of my brother playing this. I was always impressed by this game. I may actually play it for once, never forgot it even as just as a spectator.
wow! easily one of the best produced and visually impressive youtube videos I've seen. Would not be out of place on television at all. Not to mention the great information. seriously awesome work. instant sub.
Thanks so much! :)
That Legend of Mana music at the end was perfect! 💎