When comparing Secret of Mana vs DuckTales: Remastered, 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 DuckTales: Remastered is ranked 61st. 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.
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 Immersive mode
DuckTales: Remastered features immersive mode support for full screen gameplay on hardware with software navigation buttons.
Pro Non linear gameplay with branching paths and hidden areas
The original DuckTales for the NES was created with the MegaMan engine by the main MegaMan design team. This allowed for a non linear gameplay design as well as many hidden areas, paths and treasures. The HD remakes still has all of this included in the game.
Pro Plenty of nostalgia for 80's kids
One of the main staples of having grown up in the 80's was Disney's after school cartoons. One of the more popular cartoons in this series was DuckTales, a tale about a rich uncle and his three nephews. To capitalize on the cartoons popularity Capcom created a platformer game from the franchise for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Unlike a lot of branded games of the time (E.T, Goonies) DuckTales turned out to be a very good game. One that just about anyone who grew up in the 80's should be familiar with, and even if not is at least familiar with the cartoon itself.
So now that 80's children have grown up and have jobs and money, the current trend is for companies to capitalize on that nostalgia. DuckTales: Remastered is an effort in that direction that sees the original NES title remastered with HD graphics and released on every platform known to man.
Pro HID controller support
DuckTales: Remastered has built in HID bluetooth controller support. This makes for a great game to play on tablets and Android box tops for the TV.
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 Expensive
While some people may not agree, to see a 2 year old remastered port of a port be released at a price point of $9.99, the price is not really justified. While it is great to see more up front priced console quality games released for Android, 2 year old ports priced at premium prices (for the platform in comparison to other titles) is only showing Disney's greed at taking advantage of the fact that there are so few currently.