Game: Sword Of Mana (Square Enix, GBA)

Compilers: Troy Lundin, Tropicon & Paco

For this month's "Maps Of The Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to Troy Lundin's, Tropicon's and Paco's Sword Of Mana (GBA) maps.

Sword Of Mana is the prequel to Secret Of Mana, as well as a remake of the Game Boy game Seiken Densetsu (as it's known in Japan), also known as Final Fantasy Adventure (in North America) or Mystic Quest (in Europe).  Like any other Mana game, it features gorgeous graphics and captivating gameplay.

You know what I really love?  If you haven't guessed it, I love maps of RPGs, thoroughly marked with everything I would need to know.  I mean, wow, just look at the "Hot House" in this game.  Despite being a small area, there's so much info there!  That truly is hot.  And though the majority of the maps featured as Maps Of The Month were each created by a single person, it's such a wonderful thing when people can work together to create something beautiful.  Troy Lundin created the raw maps, then Tropicon and Paco filled in the sprites and details.  That's teamwork!

So to recognize the effort put into working harmoniously, Troy Lundin's Tropicon's and Paco's Sword Of Mana (GBA) maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps Of The Month for February 2012.

Discuss the Maps Of The Month here!

Game: Shining Force: The Legacy Of Great Intention (Sega, Genesis)

Compiler: xyzbilliu

For this month's "Maps Of The Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to xyzbilliu's Shining Force: The Legacy Of Great Intention (Genesis) maps.

With New Year's comes the making of new resolutions.  These great intentions usually lead to a legacy of failure, as one's yearly gym membership goes unused after the first month.  But older than that cycle is the Legacy of the Ancients, which refers to the Dark Dragon, a being who has been sealed away for a millennium, and is about to return.  Will you travel across the kingdom of Runefaust to the Castle of the Ancients to stop Darksol from reviving this ancient evil?

The Shining Force games are tactical RPGs originally for the Sega Genesis, a console which isn't usually remembered for its RPG selection.  But this game is an earlier example of a tactical strategy game, where one must manage positions of individual units during a battle.  Surely that distinction should count for something, and xyzbilliu has immortalized this legacy by mapping it all out.  All eight chapters, and all thirty battles (with mini-maps for each) are here for your viewing (and strategizing) pleasure.  Thanks, xyzbilliu!

So to recognize the effort put into fulfilling the intention to map this game, xyzbilliu's Shining Force: The Legacy Of Great Intention (Genesis) maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps Of The Month for January 2012.

Discuss the Maps Of The Month here!