Proving once more that iTunes cards make excellent Christmas gifts, today Square Enix brings the classic Super Nintendo action role-playing game The Secret of Mana back to life on the iPhone.
The Secret of Mana is the Super Nintendo sequel to the Japanese Game Boy title Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden, released in North America as Final Fantasy Adventure. It's the story of a young boy who stumbles upon a magical sword and winds up being the only person who can save the world from imminent destruction. It sounds pretty unoriginal, but back in 1993 when the game was first released it was...okay, still pretty unoriginal.
But the action-RPG gameplay is top notch, the graphics were pretty gorgeous by Super Nintendo standards, and the game launched a long-lived series that's had fans eagerly awaiting a new entry since 2007's Heroes of Mana for the Nintendo DS.
The iPhone version of the game features all of the role-playing goodness of the original, with touch-screen controls replacing the standard Super Nintendo game pad.
What's not to like? Well $8.99 seems like a hefty price for a Super Nintendo port, but who can put a price on nostalgia?
Square Enix can, and that price is $8.99. Who's buying?