Collection of Mana
Collection of Mana includes the original three games in the Mana series, and marks the first time that the third game, newly dubbed Trials of Mana, was released internationally. Originally a near-launch title for the Nintendo Switch in 2017, it was later released in English, German, French, and Spanish on June 8th, 2019 for the Nintendo e-shop and as a physical cartridge on August 27th of the same year.
| Collection of Mana | |
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| Basic Information | |
| Kana | 聖剣伝説 Collection |
| Romaji | Seiken Densetsu Collection |
| Publisher(s) | Square Enix |
| Developer(s) | M2 |
| Console(s) | Nintendo Switch |
| Rating | |
| Genre | |
| Players | |
| Development Team | |
| Producer(s) | Masaru Oyamada |
| Director(s) | |
| Programmer(s) | |
| Writer(s) | |
| Release Info | |
| Japan | June 1, 2017 |
| North America | June 11, 2019 |
| Europe | June 11, 2019 |
| Series Info | |
| Series | Mana |
Blurb
Official Square Enix website
Collection of Mana brings the first three titles in the seminal Mana series to the Nintendo Switch in an all-in-one package. The collection is the essential bundle for new fans who want to play the classics for the first time, and nostalgic core fans who want to relive fond memories of the high fantasy adventures on the go.
Development
Collection of Mana began as the 25th anniversary celebratory game for the series, with the caveat being that the year between 2016 and 2017 being the target date instead of strictly June 08, 2016. The Nintendo Switch was chosen as the hardware due to its portability, reflecting the series' origins as a Gameboy title. Porting experts M2, famous for preserving countless arcade classics through future-proofed modifications, was hired to handle the conversion and bug-checking work. Thanks to M2's talents, all three titles are perfect transfers of the original with no additional bugs or performance issues on the new hardware.
Producer Masaru Oyamada was initially skeptical of an international release due to the difficulties in localizing Seiken Densetsu 3, and also because his focus was on the HD remake of Secret of Mana that was simultaneously in production[1]. International release for CoM was first considered due to fan demand upon the Japanese release in 2017. Once work on the HD version of Secret of Mana was completed, the development team created a prototype for a 3D Seiken Densetsu 3 and showed it off to the various branches of the company to gauge internal interest. The Western branch of Square Enix reacted very positively to the build, and also expressed a strong interest in seeing the original being made available internationally as well. This external and internal push for SD3 convinced Square Enix to begin localizing the title, which would be the only title in the package that required additional work[2].
Square Enix and M2 worked closely with Nintendo for familiarity with SNES hardware and specs, with the translation period for SD3, now dubbed Trials of Mana, taking one year. The new font size was the largest issue, with the original using a fixed-width font that had to be scrapped for a variable-width font to properly convey dialogue and information within the textboxes. This meant that the ROM capacity had to be increased significantly[3]. Trials of Mana within the collection has a file size of 6MB, making it one of the largest SNES game along with Namco's Tales of Phantasia and Square Enix's own Star Ocean , and the modified ROM is fully compatible with the original hardware[4].
External links
Notes
- ↑ https://www.usgamer.net/amp/the-secret-of-mana-remake-is-being-considered-for-the-nintendo-switch
- ↑ https://www.rpgsite.net/interview/8642-mana-series-interview-and-hands-off-demo-at-e3-2019-we-chat-with-series-producers-about-re-releasing-and-remaking-a-classic-series
- ↑ http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/06/feature_behind_the_scenes_on_collection_of_mana_and_trials_of_mana
- ↑ http://archive.fo/lTpmu
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