Legend of Mana 'Ring Ring Land' Minigame Explained
By Jack O'Dwyer
Legend of Mana's Ring Ring Land minigame has received a re-release alongside the game's remake.
Western fans will be able to experience a brand new part of Legend of Mana they previously had no access to. Thanks to the game's re-release, Ring Ring Land is finally available to North American players—completely reworked and ready to play. For those unaware of exactly what this addition entails, we've taken the liberty of explaining below.
Monsters aren't just enemies, they can become your pets, too!
— Mana Series (@ManaGame) July 1, 2021
Capture some eggs on your adventures across #LegendOfMana and once hatched your new friends can join you in battle, and even unleash helpful Synchro Effects! pic.twitter.com/sVipb9UoAo
Legend of Mana "Ring Ring Land" Minigame Explained
Ring Ring Land is a minigame that is supposed to be something akin to an epilogue or ending addition to the main story.
Players originally needed to use a Pocketstation to play it. Basically, it served as an extra bit of content that expanded as the individual progressed through the story. Ring Ring Land's game board was composed of 31 squares arranged in an infinity-symbol pattern. As the player uncovers more lands, the board fleshes out further.
Pets are used as the main "pawn" in-game. As they move around the board, they'll be met with different encounters, including monster battles, dungeons, and special rewards. Each lost battle depletes the pet's health until it hits zero. At that point, they lose all the experience and items they were carrying.
According to Masaru Oyamada, a producer for Legend of Mana, there were a few difficulties involved in revamping and localizing that part of the title. Due to its removal from the North American version used as a base for the remake, Oyamada and the team often had trouble figuring out which parts were assets and which were issues.
"We don’t have the original game documents from back then on hand anymore, so there were some points that we were unsure whether they were bugs or indeed intentional," he explained in an interview with Prima Games, "The task was more troublesome and tedious than you might expect, as we were verifying movements by visually comparing them against the original."
Nevertheless, they managed to figure it out, and now fans all over the world can enjoy the game.