Adventures of Mana

Adventures of Mana is nostalgic in the best way possible, offering you a solid adventure, clever puzzles, and a breathtaking soundtrack.

Adventures of Mana is likely the best version for the first installment of the Mana series. but the PlayStation Vita port is not as good as it could be.

This game makes a 25 year old Game Boy game relevant for current gamers. It is true to the original, which makes it a lovely blast from the past to carry around with you.

Adventures of Mana is a short, enjoyable, and addictive little trip back to the humble beginnings of handheld gaming and the wildly popular Mana series, and the improved graphics and dedication to reproducing the original game’s feel are evidence of this.

To be sure, I never fully understood the end goal of what I was doing in Adventures of Mana. But, for whatever reason, that didn't bother me all that much. I can't say that the game has given me any insight whatsoever into why Final Fantasy — or even the Mana franchise — has endured for so long, but I can definitely say that if I'm looking for an easy-to-pickup RPG to play on the go, this is a game that's right near the top of my list.

In general, Adventures of Mana was a simple, charming remake of the game that kicked off the Mana series. Despite lacking in some areas, it’s still a fun game to play, especially in spurts.

If you can forget about the annoying flaws in some of the puzzles and accept that you’re going to have to do a lot of backtracking, Adventures of Mana should certainly be a title every Vita owner considers adding to their library.

Adventures of Mana has a great, olden feel to it, capturing what made the beginning years of the medium so special. While rough around the edges, this inspired RPG has a perfect home on Sony’s handheld powerhouse.

Quotation forthcoming.

Adventures of Mana is a low-budget title that will appease all the fans of vintage RPGs. For a game that should have celebrated the 25th anniversary of Mystic Quest (Game Boy), it could have been much, much better.

Adventures of Mana worked better on mobile devices than it does on Playstation Vita, because broken AI, framerate issues and repetitiveness are minor problems if you only play for fifteen minutes per session. You may want to give it a try just for the dreamy soundtrack.

I was a little disappointed with a few aspects of the game, like the combat and screen loading but in general its fun to play.

The role-playing genre has come a long way since 1991, but that doesn't mean Adventures of Mana should be cast aside. The simplicity of its gameplay makes it a nice portable snack, and as a faithful remake of a Game Boy title, it's hard to fault – just don't expect to get too excited over this dusty old quest.

Adventures of Mana proves to be a fun trip down memory lane, however archaic design choices leave you wondering what could have been rather than what you have. It acts as an interesting history lesson as to where the roots of the Mana series began, but unfortunately it amounts to little more than that.

I played some of the original Final Fantasy Adventure but never completed it. Now that I've played Adventures of Mana, I don't think playing the original again will ever be necessary. Square Enix originally made this version for mobile phones, which perhaps explains why not much was changed. It's still a minimally-altered rendition of something I wasn't enthralled with in the first place. Many others have much more affection for the original than I do, and will doubtless be overjoyed that Square Enix allows them to play it on a modern platform without rendering any memories of how to progress inaccurate through alterations. Those hoping for something more akin to certain acclaimed later installments of the series, or a title that plays in a fashion better taking advantage of the Vita's capabilities, will be disappointed.

It's just a primitive action RPG that, in many ways, seems outmoded in this day and age.