Secret of Mana

Secret of Mana is one of Square's most well-regarded SNES offerings. A sequel to Final Fantasy Adventure on Game Boy, it's an action RPG for up to three players featuring bright, colorful graphics and quirky monsters, and one of the best soundtracks on the SNES.

Mana Sword


Barring glitches or cheat codes, it's impossible to get the sword up to level 9, unlike every other weapon. However, if you do get an extra Sword Orb by whatever means, it can be upgraded, and comes complete with an icon that's never otherwise seen. Normally this sword is gained only in the final battle by having both the girl and the sprite cast Mana Magic on the hero, but it's applied more or less the same way as the elemental "Saber" spells, and thus doesn't change anything on the menu. Be warned, however, that even if you do cheat your way into possession of this sword, it does not deal extra damage to the Mana Beast. You still need to have both the girl and sprite use Mana Magic first.

Unknown Item
There exists in the ROM an unused, dummied item that acts like a healing item upon use, but has no apparent effects. It is possible, judging from the way the object looks, that it was meant to be a sprite to show the Weapon Orbs in your inventory.

Ruby Armet
The ruby armet is a helmet for the girl with a defense of 46, unused for some reason... Use PAR code to put it in a helmet slot.

"Max Candy"
Use the PAR code to put this item in a arm protection slot, for example. It has no name, looks like a Candy and has a defense of 255! Maybe a test item?

Bare Head/Body
Value for the armor modifier code gives a miscolored trashcan with the description "Bare head" (translated from French here), values  and  gives similar item with the description "nothing". These might have been intended to remove helmets, armors and arm protections respectively.

Unused Sprites
Secret of Mana contains a plentiful amount of unused sprites and animation frames and characters.

White Sprite
Using the PAR code will change the Boy into a completely whited-out Sprite. There exists several duplicates of the Boy, Girl, and Sprite in the character data, some with alternate palettes (such as for the fight against the clones in Sage Joch's cave), but this white palette is unique to the Sprite and not used anywhere.

Neko Back and Walking Frames


The PAR code will change the Boy into Neko. Neko never moves from any place where you find him standing in the game, but with this code, you can see that he has unused walking forwards and backwards sprites. He will blink his eyes as he walks. This is also the only way to see him from behind.

Watts Unused Tile


Watts has an unused tile. the right sprite shows how it could be used. The main difference is his beard color.

Sage Joch Walking Frames


The PAR code will turn the Boy into Sage Joch and you will see that he has walking forward sprites. Joch never moves from the spot he is standing on during normal game play. However, it's possible to activate this animation by standing behind him and talking to him. Characters are programmed to turn and face you when you talk to them from behind, but since Joch has no back view, his walking animation is called up in place of it. This was probably an oversight on the programmers' part.

Scorpion Leader Unused Tile


The Scorpion leader has also an unused tile. The right sprite shows how her head would look like, no match could be found with body tiles. Her hair is different and her cape seems closed over her shoulder.

Dyluck Walking Frames


Most NPCs have a complete set of walking frames, but some do not use all of them. Here, Dyluck's downwards walking frames are unused.

Geshtar Unused Frames


Geshtar has downwards and sideways walking frames, which are unused, but no upwards walking frames. On the other hand, he has an alternate downward standing sprite, holding the Mech Rider helm. This can be seen by using the PAR code and walking upwards.

Unused Character


The PAR code will change the Boy into an unused character in a white cloak. This character is right between Fanha and Sheex in the character data, so he was most likely meant to be another servant of Emperor Vandole.

Sheex


Sheex uses downwards walking frames, but extra tiles can be seen around the sprite. Moreover, the shoulders seem off for two frames. Using the available tiles, the sprites can be corrected. In addition, the upwards walking frames are unused.



More interesting is another head for Sheex, with a helm. There is a version available for all his frames (first line is as observed in the game with extra tiles cleaned, second line corresponds to corrected sprites). The white spot on the helm makes it look unfinished.

Thanatos Walking Frames


Like other characters, Thanatos has unused frames, sideways in this case.

Elinee Without Hood


The PAR code will turn the Boy into the witch, Elinee. Slide left or right to activate an unused sprite of Elinee without her hood. There is an additional sprite without her hood and with her mouth open. This can be seen by bringing her to an area with ennemies, but may freeze the game.

Cannon Travel Man Back View


The PAR code will turn the Boy into the Cannon Travel Man. You can hold up to turn him around and see an unused back view sprite. During normal gameplay, the Cannon Travel man is always situated against a wall or table so he cannot turn around.

Truffle Walking Frames


All walking frames of Truffle are unused. It is interesting to note that his sprites are obtained by adding a crown and moustache to the regular mushrooms sprites.

Toppled Snowmen


The PAR code turns the Boy into a Snowman. Holding up or down reveals an unused sprite of the Snowman crumbling apart.

The PAR code turns the Boy into the midget version of the snowman. It, too, has an unused frame of it slightly toppled over.

Casting Boy


Use code to turn the Sprite into the Boy. Then cast a spell. The animation is available! Note that some sprites may be used by other animations.

Laughing Boy and Girl


Only the Sprite laughing animation is used in game. Use codes and  respectively to display the animations.

Unused enemy sprites
Several enemies have some unused sprites.

This may have been intended as a hurt animation.

Some monsters have such fun sprites, but this one is unused.

Unused hurt and attack sprites for the fish monsters.

These unused eyes for the Mimic Box would probably have been overlaid on a chest sprite.

Some unused sprites for Nemesis Owl.

The body parts might have been intended as sleeping sprites, but they cannot be put to sleep. The tails may or may not match the bodies.

An alternate hurt or sleeping sprite.

Unused sprites for Weepy Eye and Whimper. Whimper has a crying animation, but the tear formation is unused.

Several unused sprites and parts of sprites for Werewolf and Wolf Lord, including a bloody bite.

The regular wolves also have an unused sprite, maybe intended as a preparation for a pounce or a howl.

Mysterious NPC


You cannot use codes to turn the Boy into this NPC. Its tiles are present in the ROM near the big-headed villager, which the Boy turns into for two consecutive values of the code. Maybe one of them was supposed to point to this one... Note that the palette of the Pandora guard was chosen for aesthetics reasons, but the actual palette might be found somewhere in the ROM.

Unused boss sprites
Even bosses have unused sprites or parts!



Neither Mantis Ant nor Metal Mantis turn their head like this, it always face directly down.



An unused part of sprite for the Gigas bosses. On the right is how the full sprite would probably look like.



Some unused sprites for the central eye of the Wall bosses contracting.



Two frames of animation for the wheel of Kilroy and Kettle Kin, with an oblique orientation. Sadly, no chain saw was found in RAM for the PAL version...



It would seem that Spring Beak or Axe Beak could have been able to run or kick. Their only moves in the game are jumps, and the feet stay the same.



According to this sprite part, Minotaur or Gorgon Bull could have fallen over, or maybe it is some sort of kick... It does not really fit with the rest of the sprites.



Unused parts of Aegagropilon sprite (actually on a background layer). On the bottom is how it would probably look like assembled. It seems that Aegagropilon could eat characters, like some other bosses...



An unused hand for Hexas, it would fit on the upper arms.



These are present with the sprites for the Dragon bosses. The shattering ice block was certainly made for Snow Dragon and the fire ball for Red Dragon. It is not clear what the third object would have been used for, or how to assemble it...

Unused Music


A pair of rather dramatic fanfares that are never heard at any point in the game. They don't sound much like the other music in the game, either, so it's pretty well impossible to place them anywhere.

Debug Room
Start a new game or load a saved game. Then turn on the code and exit the screen to enter the Debug Room.

Unfortunately, none of the people in the room seem to do anything except for the King. However, his effect is most interesting - talking to him starts the Intro sequence again, sending you straight back to that fateful waterfall near Potos Village.

Medicine
Text for some kind of medicine, possibly intended to restore HP/MP.

English: Drink this medicine! It'll fix ya right up!

Japanese: やどやのかわりに、タスマニカ めいぶつ、パチパチドリンクじゃ！ひとくちのむだけで回復する！

Diary Entry
An incomplete diary entry that refers to the fake emperor. The parts in parentheses appear in the actual dialogue.

English: (Unfinished diary entry) ...My cover's been blown... Some monster's using the Emperor's body to (Text suddenly stops) [PLAYER]:What does this mean?

Japanese: (かきかけのにっきがおちている) 「[・・]ダメだ、ついに見つかって しまった[・・]. 皇帝はニセモノだ！ 魔者が 皇帝になりすまし[・・][・・] (にっきは ここでとだえていた)『どういうことだろう[・・]

Hidden Programmer Credit
To see this, you have to hold down L + A on controller 1, press R 39 times, release L + A, then press R once. The game will freeze, NAS will appear on your status bar for less than two seconds, vanish, and the game will resume normally. The letters are a reference to Nasir Gebelli, the game's programmer. This can only be done when your character is wielding a weapon.

Scrapped Alternate Events
To recruit the girl normally, the protagonist has to either be captured by the goblins, or meet her in front of a certain wolf boss. However, a third method was planned, but apparently left unfinished.

By not talking to any of the soldiers (including the girl's lover) in front of the Water Palace, then returning to the castle, the goblin cutscene is never triggered. In Pandora's tower, the girl won't join you, instead escaping. You can access a room with the girl's pretendant (a palette swap of Elliot). You can then find her again with her father in her house in Pandora, although she abruptly disappears when talked to, hinting at the unfinished nature of this event. In the US version, talking to her father will crash the game as he says her name (which isn't entered yet); in the French and German versions, he simply says "..."