When comparing Secret of Mana vs TinyKeep, the Slant community recommends Secret of Mana for most people. In the question“What are the best Android games without in-app purchases/paywalls?” Secret of Mana is ranked 57th while TinyKeep is ranked 79th. The most important reason people chose Secret of Mana is:
Twenty some odd years later and Secret of Mana is still considered one of the best action role playing game experiences there is.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Has stood the test of time
Twenty some odd years later and Secret of Mana is still considered one of the best action role playing game experiences there is.
Pro Unique ring command system allows for easy menu selection
The ring command system used for selecting equipment and other options is still as innovative today as it was back in 1993.
A first at it's time, the ring command system allowed for users to select their weapons and equipment easily without having to leave the main game screen, making for selecting quite easy.
Pro Shift in gameplay for Squaresoft/SquareEnix made RPGs
Secret of Mana features a top down real time battle system akin to other action role playing games such as Legend of Zelda that at the time was a large shift from the turn based fare that Square created. Even today Square Enix does not foray too often into the action role playing genre, making for a unique experience when it comes to Square created titles.
Pro Considered one of the best stories in RPG's young and old
While the outline of the story is the normal RPG fare, where a young boy is tasked with saving the world, the characters and their journey still holds up as one of the best ever written.
Pro Colorful 16bit era graphics
Secret of Mana was created at the height of the 16bit SNES era and utilized some of the most colorful and stylized fantasy role playing game graphics. While it would have been nice to see Square polish them up a bit for HD devices, they still hold up, especially in a market that has many games designed with bit graphics as a current trend.
Pro Randomly generated levels allows the game to always stay fresh and new
Each level is randomly generated, allowing each play to feel fresh and different from any other. There is no telling how each floor will be laid out, which makes for a game with limitless replayability.
Pro Immersive mode suppot allows the game to play in full screen, hiding the software navigation and notification bars
TinyKeep has support for immersive mode on Android 4.4+. This allows the game to be played in the entire screen on devices that uses navigation software buttons.
Pro Good controller support that makes for more tactical control of the game
TinyKeep has controller support for SHIELD devices as well as any HID controller, which is great for those that would prefer to play the game with a controller over using a touch screen.
Pro Being SHIELD compatible and Tegra optimized allows for a more graphicly intensive experience over the majority of games found on Android
Tiny Keep works with all SHIELD devices as well as other Tegra devices such as the Nexus 9. This allows for a more graphically intensive game, due to taking advantage of the Tegra GPUs.
Pro Different endings and Game+ mode give plenty incentive to play the game for a long time
There are 3 different endings to the game, which gives a good bit of incentive to replay numerous times in order to see them all as well as a Game+ mode that makes the game even more difficult.
Pro Fun mechanic where the environment can be used against enemies
Parts of the environment in the game can be used against ones enemies, such as spike floor traps, turned over fire pits or even captive NPCs. Utilizing these objects or NPCs adds an extra set of tools to aid in the players fight to reach the end of each level.
Cons
Con Graphically, almost a direct port
Square Enix has done nothing to polish the graphics in this port which for the price point is a little disheartening. The black borders on both sides of the screen are also disappointing. To see Square do so little to accommodate HD devices and their swath of screen sizes, it makes one wonder how they get away charging the prices they do.
Con Only works on limited devices
TinyKeep, being a very graphically intensive game has been ported specifically for Tegra K1 devices with newly added support for the Tegra 4. Sadly this means that devices without a Tegra K1 or 4 will not be able to run the game.