Search
Search
Sign on Options
Theme: [Light Selected] To Dark»

Children of Mana gets delivery date

By Hirohiko Niizumi

Nintendo DS action role-playing game from Project Mana should hit Japanese stores in February.

TOKYO--Square Enix's much-beloved action role-playing Seiken Densetsu games (most familiar in the US as the series springing from the Super Nintendo's Secret of Mana) seem to come few and far between, so fans will no doubt be pleased to learn that the first installment in more than two years is scheduled for release in early 2006.

Square Enix today announced that Seiken Densetsu DS: Children of Mana has been scheduled for a February 23 release in Japan, with a price of 5,040 yen ($42). No American release has been announced for the game yet.

Seiken Densetsu DS is apparently related to the original Game Boy release from 1991, which was released in the US as Final Fantasy Adventure and remade for the Game Boy Advance as Sword of Mana. The game will take place on the island of Illusia, known for a huge Mana tree that has been present since ancient times. According to legend, Illusia was once the center of a catastrophe that spread around the world, causing death and chaos throughout the globe. However, the world was saved thanks to a boy, a girl, and a holy sword.

At the outset of Children of Mana, years have passed, and the world has returned to peace. Players will take control of three children--a young swordsman named Frick, a boy named Pop, and a female dancer named Tumble--and embark on a journey to discover the secrets of Mana.

Seiken Densetsu DS: Children of Mana features a number of big-name staffers working on it. Producer Kouichi Ishii has worked on previous Seiken Densetsu titles, as well as Final Fantasy I, II, III, and XI. The game's scenario is being handled by Masahito Katou (Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Xenogears), with character designs by Nao Ikeda (Seiken Densetsu: Legend of Mana, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance). Kenji Ito (Romancing Saga series) will serve as the game's music producer, with assistance provided by Masaharu Iwata (Fantasy Zone, Ogre Battle) and Takayuki Aihara (Ridge Racer series, Soul Edge).

While Seiken Densetsu DS will be a handheld game, it will feature animated sequences courtesy of Production IG. In addition to working on film and television properties like Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol. 1, Production IG has provided animation for numerous games, including Tales of Legendia, Namco x Capcom, and Surveillance.

18 comments
  Livefyre
Sort: Newest | Oldest
EvanO_O
EvanO_O

The game in Japan isn't Wi-fi compatible, yet Nintendo may change that for the version here in the United States.

wreslur
wreslur

I found lengend of mana not that bad... okay yeah it sucked but the character art and the sprites on hand drawn 2d backgrounds we're gorgeus.

Lord_Baal_
Lord_Baal_

I hated legend of mana with a passion GAK! I too hope this is multiplayer because as good as Secret of Mana of was getting a friend to play with you made it a hundred times better.

Sonicgod
Sonicgod

Sounds good all my fav people, working on it, but I HATE Nao Ikeda character designs with a passion! Sword of mana characters looked alright some what close to secret of mana............. But legend of mana? One damn ugly looking game! I feel like I am playing a whole seprate game series and not in a good way either. What happend to the pretty classic Secret of mana character styles or even seiken 3? Now they are pretty. SEriously after how long i waited for a new game that matched secret of mana,Legend of mana was a huge let down! They should have just packaged Seiken Densetsu 3 and secret of mana on one cd on the PS1 rather than hand out legend of mana to the public. After tricking me into buying "Secret of evermore" thinking it was the real "secret of mana 2 "(AKA Seiken Densetsu 3) they owe It to me to make a pack of secret of mana games.

Kilik_Raizen
Kilik_Raizen

the mana series still rlz to the bones. this will be sweet

sinceps1
sinceps1

Awesome, finally a sequal to sword of many. It looks like alot of strong development is going into it, and animation sequences to? Sounds pretty cool.

aj_911
aj_911

I agree with Symytry. That would be great.

Symytry
Symytry

Still no word on the multiplayer... I'll be disappointed if this is just a single player game. I want wi-fi co-op from the start (Or close to) like in Secret of Mana and Seiken 3.

kadealo
kadealo

that is cool but i hope the price is cheaper. if it isl get it.

wayofthesauce
wayofthesauce

Wow, I loved the music in the romancing saga series (well at least the ones on SNES) and the stories in chrono cross/trigger and Xenogears were quite good too. This is truly a meeting of some of the industry's finest and will produce a sterling product. However, I haven't been into the mana series for a long time since I borrowed the Secret of Mana for the SNES around 8 years ago. Hopefully the story won't be so complex as to alienate people like me.

KakarotTheMonky
KakarotTheMonky

I hope it plays like the SNES games. Those were great.

Eribuster_basic
Eribuster_basic

Heh, spelling mistake. _ This sounds great. I hope this game turns out well. It would be nice to have on the DS.

superkoolstud
superkoolstud

its Xenogears not Zenogears please correct it.

Petri87
Petri87

OW YEAH!! Cant wait to get my hands on this one

bryehngeocef
bryehngeocef

Awesome news. This feels like a real quality title. Plus Production I.G.'s work is outstanding too.

hogthershod
hogthershod

Wow, it's like a video game super group working on this. Let's just hope it actually gets better reception than the last couple of Mana games.

Conversation powered by Livefyre

Hot Stories

Newsmakers

Featured Stories

Submit News

Got tips? Send them in!