Secret of Mana VS Chrono Trigger VS Final Fantasy 6

Voted for FFVI, though I prefer FFIV over all 3 of those.

Chrono Trigger. I like FF 6 but it didn't make capture me the same way CT did.

Secret of Mana. All three are great, but Mana is the one I enjoyed the most, and still enjoy the most. In terms of story, play time, and amount of content, FFVI and CT are both better, but Mana has the better combat system, which feels almost almost like an arcade hack & slash brawler in a fantasy RPG setting. Mana also has multiplayer where a second or third player can drop in and out any time (arcade-style) and it has full open-world exploration (rather than just walking around on an overworld map).

Chrono Trigger!

I have only played ff6 and that was brilliant, i really want to give CT a go and will eventually download in on PSN.

@doodeeization: The original port of CT to the PlayStation was pretty bad with horrible loading times. This same version is on PSN. I highly recommend you avoid downloading that one. Just get CT for the DS or the SNES if you have one.

@fend_oblivion: DS or Wii Virtual Console would be the way to go, but otherwise I'd still take load times over paying for the SNES version(since obviously getting a physical copy isn't important for doodeeization). My first experience with the game was on PS1 and I loved it, however the load times did seem worse after playing other versions of the game.

Chrono Trigger gets my vote by the way, the other games are almost as good though. I like all of them.

Hype wise I'd say FF6 when it came out I had to hold a copy they sold out at the local retailer. Chrono Trigger kinda flew under the radar. I heard it was good & checked it out only to be blown away at the depth of gameplay. Its the superior game of the two althought FF6 kinda overshadowed it during the time they came out.

When Chrono Trigger came out, it was a new IP, and that was when the 32-bit era began, so it got lost in all the excitement over the new 3D era of gaming. Chrono Trigger's Western sales were initially worse than both FFVI and Secret of Mana. However, in Mana's case, that includes EU sales, whereas CT and FFVI never released in Europe (until years later). That's why, out of the three, Mana was the most well known in Europe at the time.

Interestingly, Final Fantasy, Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger were all linked during development. Secret of Mana was originally Final Fantasy IV, before it was renamed to Chrono Trigger, and then finally Seiken Densetsu 2 (in Japan) and Secret of Mana (overseas). And then Chrono Trigger became its own new project. So Secret of Mana spun-off from Final Fantasy IV's development, and then Chrono Trigger spun-off from Secret of Mana's development. It's a lot like how Devil May Cry was originally spun-off from Resident Evil 4's development.

Never played Secret of Mana, but I love Chrono Trigger a lot. Enough so that I got all the endings in the DS version. However, I loved FFVI even more. Loved the battle system, the story, character, music, etc. Plus, for God's sake, the villain had a lighthouse that show nuclear laser beams and that's metal as ****.

I personally think Secret of Evermore is maybe better than all those. Mother 3, too.

Like many Mana fans, I personally found Evermore quite disappointing. It had some interesting gameplay mechanics, like the alchemy system, but it lacked co-op multiplayer, and the world, story, characters and music felt a bit dull compared to Mana.

FF6, SoM is lacking compared to FF6 or CT. Its just an early action rpg that is straight forward with little to do. The world of CT and FF6 is bigger with better character stories.

I played SoM after playing CT and FF6 and I was completely underwhelmed by it. I could have done without playing it really.

Spot on.

Secret of Evermore is one of the best games on the SNES, one of the best RPG's even.

All great in a way. Secret of mana though, great music but gameplay and story and direction really sucks.

Best overall in my view is Chrono Trigger, perfect game and pace. Best music also. And FF6 is right up there also but more grindy and I prefer the Chrono Trigger battle system and characters.

All three have great music, its weird games so old have such memorable music in them.

Not surprised CT is winning, will always take Secret of Mana over the other two, however.

Trigger without a doubt. I can see how some people might like FF6 more though.
SoM is alright, but it takes more than having multiplayer to rank it that high

Chrono Trigger for me is head and shoulders above the others. Don't get me wrong, Secret of Mana and especially FF6 are great games but Chrono Trigger is the best JRPG out there.

Story, characters, graphics, sound, battles, Chrono Trigger is one of the best JRPGs in each of these categories. What really sets it appart though is how much the world reacted to your choices. Among linear JRPGs, Chrono Trigger managed to be less linear even than most western RPGs out there and it has been the favorite JRPG of many prominent western RPG developers.

If you believe that when it comes to RPGs C&C (choices and consequences) is god, then Chrono Trigger not only is one of the few JRPGs that has any (for example another one is Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor) but embraces it to an extreme degree.

Hard one between CT and FF but FFVI brought me into the world of JRPG.

Terranigma,the best snes jrpg.

Out of those I guess Chrono Trigger.

I just got a CIB copy of secret of mana with the strategy guide in a trade. I've never played it. Can't wait to dive into it.