Secret of Mana version differences

The following is a list of version differences between the various releases and remakes of Secret of Mana.

Super Famicom

Initial Release

The first iteration of Seiken Densetsu 2 was released in Japan on August 6, 1993.

Super Nintendo

North American Release

The first international edition of Secret of Mana' was released in North America on October 3, 1993.

Name change

• The game was renamed Secret of Mana for the North American market for unknown reasons, establishing the name's franchise outside Japan.

Graphical changes

• The opening screen that depicted a large portion Mana Tree was now zoomed in and blurrier, focusing instead on the three heroes.
• The Gnome spell Earth Slide icon in the ring menu was changed from a catfish to an exploding boulder. In Japanese folklore, Namazu is a giant catfish that can create powerful earthquakes.
• The colors on the buttons in the Window Edit and Controller Edit menus were changed to reflect the North American SNES controller. Due to palette sharing, these changes also affected a few other screens.
• The addition of a lavender palette for the North American buttons also affected the action grid. These changes were (perhaps unintentionally) carried over to the European version.

Script

• The North American font size causing space limitation, further aggravated by translator Ted Woolsey having only six weeks to translate the game, made this version missing many dialogue and story elements present in the original Japanese game.
• The introduction screen in the Japanese version uses poor English that was rewritten and condensed for the North American release.
• Several japanese terms were changed or mistranlated. Examples of this for characters are Molière changing to Meria, Nikita to Neko, and Dirac to Dyluck.
• Likewise, some spells had the same treatment in translation, like Syringe turning into Energy Absorb or Quick to Speed Up.
• Surprisingly, the Defender spell shares its name with the Broad Sword's japanese name.

Censorship

• Due to Nintendo of America's policies on religious imagery, the warp portals were altered from depicting triangles instead of hexagrams.
• The Kettle Kin boss was censored in the North American version by removing its chainsaw, making it look like an identical palette swap of the earlier Kilroy bossw with different stats. In its second phase, the drill part is also removed.
• The Heck Hound was originally called Hell Hound in Japanese.
• The National Scar enemy was originally called Devil Magazine in Japan. Suprisingly, its rare frame depiction of a naked woman while flipping its pages was left intact, probably due to oversight.

Minor changes

• The opening logo was given a trademark (™) in the North American version.
• An additional frame depicting the English text "ALLRIGHTS[sic] RESERVED BY SQUARE" in the japanese version was scrapped in the other two Super Nintendo versions.

European release

The european release of Secret of Mana was released on November 24, 1994.

The game was translated in british English, German and French.

Graphical changes

• The French and German versions kept the North American button remodels for the Window Edit and Controller Edit menus, but reverted back to the japanese color scheme.
• The Action Grid menu has a lighter lavender palette compared to the North American and Japanese versions.
• The Satus menu was also affected by the lighter palette swap.
• For better readability, the European versions added a much needed space between the skill level and the names of the weapons and spells. However, the typo "Skil" still remained in the English versions.
• The European version received a thicker, more readable font.

Minor changes

• The SQUARESOFT^TM was replaced by NINTENDO on the opening screen since the game was published by Nintendo in Europe.
• The year 1994 was added to the copyright in the opening sequence and the NINTENDO font from the opening screen was reused.

Mobile phone

Japan

A mobile phone release of Seiken Densetsu 2 was observed in Japan on October 26, 2009.

Graphical changes

• The main menu was overhauled for a touchscreen, adding buttons links to the SquareEnix, World of Mana website, and more, as well as adding a sliding menu containing new options like a manual, game options, & official website.
• The opening cutscene was scrapped, leaving the main menu with the original artwork with its signature red birds moving from right to left of the screen. Lighting effects piercing the Mana Tree foliage was also added.
• Water found in rivers and ponds is now highly reflective, with the Sun and passing clouds depicted in.
• Rings of water forms around the player characters while moving in bodies of water.
• The flashing lights, for instance while Randi is pulling the sword, are slightly less intense and have a shorter lasting time.
• The flickering effect for ghost characters were removed, leaving them with fading but solid palette instead.
• Light radiuses can be found indoors, independently from light sources.
• Most monsters now have their design changed to their Sword of Mana counterpart if applicable.
• Enemy death animation is less detailed and shorter than in the earlier console versions.
• Boss death animation removes the orange gradient applied to sprites, only leaving the explosion animation.
• Enemy treasure chest drops now immediately appear after their death.
• Ring menus now display the player character's face in its center instead of relying on colored cursors.
• Cannon Travel shooting sequence is now signifiantly shorter.
• Dialogue choices are now highlighted in blue, making a better contrast with the background.

Audio changes

• Background music now immediately changes while the player character exits an area. Beforehand, the music would continue playing until a short interruption took place in the next area.
• The sound effect immediately head after defeating a boss is shorted to make way for the victory fanfare.
• Some background music end abruptly instead of fading in to silence like in the original release.

Gameplay changes

• A pressing button icon was added during dialogues to advance the story.
• A run button can be pressed on the bottom right side of the screen.
• A moving stick pad was added to the left of the screen, allowing 360° rotation. The player character is still limited to 8 directions, however.
• An exclamation mark button was added for interacting with the environment, such as talking with NPCs or triggering switches. This button also doubles as using the current weapon equipped.
• Players can now run through stairs, as the collision detection on each step was removed.
• Enemies' movements and attacks are generally slower.

Minor changes

• The opening scene changed its SQUARESOFT logo to SQUAREENIX, reflecting the fusion of the two companies in 2003.
• 2009 was added to the copyright.

Worldwide

The international edition of the mobile remake of Secret of Mana was released on iOS December 21, 2010.

The same game was later ported on Android devices on October 30, 2014.

HD remake

Worldwide

A 3D remake of Secret of Mana was released worldwide on PlayStation 4, PSVita, & Windows on February 15, 2018.

References

• Wikipedia
• Censorship fandom
• The Cutting Room Floor