Secret of Mana is Square's 1993 Super Nintendo action RPG, known for real-time combat, cooperative play, and the vivid world of the Mana Tree.
Secret of Mana is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Released in Japan as Seiken Densetsu 2, it follows a boy named Randi and his companions Primm and Popoi as they travel to restore the power of Mana and stop an empire from reviving an ancient fortress.
The game replaces menu-driven battles with real-time movement and attacks. Players swing weapons directly on the field, wait for a power gauge to recharge, and use a ring-menu interface to select magic, items, and equipment without leaving the flow of exploration. Weapons can be upgraded into new forms, while magic grows stronger through use.
Its most distinctive feature is drop-in cooperative play for up to three players. One player can guide the party alone while the computer controls the other characters, but additional players can take over companions during exploration and combat, turning a story-focused console RPG into a shared couch experience.
Secret of Mana builds its adventure around bright forests, villages, temples, caves, and airborne travel across a colorful world map. Hiroki Kikuta's score gives the journey a mix of pastoral calm, danger, and wonder, while the sprite animation and large boss encounters helped define the game's expressive look.
The game became one of the Super Nintendo's best-known RPGs and remains a recurring presence on all-time lists, including Popular Mechanics' 2019 ranking of the 100 greatest video games. Its blend of action combat, party progression, and local cooperative play made it a reference point for later action RPGs, even as its ambitious scope showed some rough edges from development cuts and localization limits.