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Welcome to the Ice Country/ Ice Palace from Secret of Mana for the SNES, the greatest snow levels of all time!



For those of you who haven't played this game, the these are the three main characters, and we're trying to collect all the mana seeds in order to something something evil prophecy. They are elemental based, so obviously naturally there's an ice level.



We head to the south, as it's the only way we can actually go.



A neat little stone house with a deer outside. Deer, oh that's right...



Rudolph. It's literally Rudolph the red nosed reindeer. His "master" is gone and we need to save the day.

We head further south.




This is a Pebbler, some kind of hedgehog or something. Not sure what it's doing here.



Winter wolves though. Oh sorry, Howlers.



After heading north we get to obvious boss arena #1, and begin to fight.



And appropriately for a snow forest, our boss is bright red and orange, with a pineapple instead of a torso.



He also spawns these vines, but you only have to hit them once to get rid of them. He's not that hard.



I did take some hits, so some quick cure magic does the trick.



RIP obviously lost tropical plant




Er. OK?

This random dude starts talking at us.

Hey, who're you? Haven't we met? Oh well. Watch this stove.

We have met. You'd think he'd remember the last time they were thwarted.

Just whack it if it cools down OK?

After several whacks, we open it up to check out what's going on.



So they were using one of the eight elemental spirits to make a random town hot. We now get fire magic though, so that will probably come in handy, this being an ice level and all.

How DARE those creatures use me for a heater. Now, let me teach you the power of FIRE



Meet our fabulous villain!

YOU again!? Didn't you recognise them?
Uh, sorry...
Everyone's gone! I was about to become rich! Huh? Fire palace seed? Haven't a clue!
I saw an old guy when we nabbed Salamando!
Don't HELP them! See ya, bye!



"I would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for you meddling kids!"

We head north of the now frozen town.




It may seem hard to believe, but this isn't even a reskin. The first time you see a turtle in this game is the snow level. It does have a rather fetching star covered purple shell though.



Heading northeast



This is Neko, travelling merchant cat, so we pick up some healing items just in case.



Onto the final area.



Ice castle! And more wizard turtles.



After a quick switch puzzle we move through the lobby.



Oh man, I hate it when this happens. The blue slimes regular attack immobilises you by turning you into a snowman.



True story, I spent more time getting through this one guy than any of the actual bosses. They can multiply, have high defence, and you can't even just run past because of the width



Please go away, worst enemy.



In this thrilling puzzle you have to step on both switches to open the door.



We appear to have found the library. It's pretty massive




This room doesn't appear to have en exit.



It does however have a switch.



And a pit.



Welcome to a really disturbing boss fight! Three eggs literally with a love heart on them.



They hatch into these bright pink tadpole creatures, who aren't aggressive, probably because they have literally just started existing. You have to keep attacking them though.



After bludgeoning the poor infant, it grows up into a lizard wearing a crown.




The poor creatures try to defend themselves by eating us.




We slaughter the defenceless infants like a big brave hero.



Not sure how we got out. We have a magic rope, but I think it more likely our characters should repurpose it after that fight.



We jump across the chasm with our whip.




Quick heal before obvious boss fight.



You can actually just leave at this point, but come on.



It's on!



This is the Frost Gigas, and he's pretty tough.



He can split into ice cubes and fly around. He can't attack or be attacked while doing this though.



He also hase some pretty strong ice magic.



This nasty spell lowers physical defence for a short period.



He also does this, rendering you characters unable to act. They also can't take damage though, so it can actually be good sometimes.



Our sprite casts some fireballs at him



The boss imbues our weapons with ice, meaning they do less damage to him. There is a quick way around it though, thanks to Salamander, the elemental we picked out of the oven 15 minutes ago.





Big damage from the now fire imbued weapons.



Little dude died, so we'll get him back up and casting fireballs with the Cup of Wishes.





Finally Frost Gigas falls, and appropriately bursts into flames and explodes.



But wait, it turns out that the Frost Gigas....



Holy shit.
...and you are

Master! Santa Claus! Are you all right?

Oh!.. Rudolph! Sorry to have worried you! I'm fine now! I turned into Frost Gigas because children no longer believed in me. When mana fades, kids lose their hopes and dreams. I wanted so badly to bring back all of their dreams. Then I heard that Mana trees grow instantly and become huge! I set of to find a Mana seed, thinking I could grow a huge Christmas tree, but it was the SEED that changed my body and turned me into a monster. If the power of Mana is abused, it can be very dangerous. Here, take the fire seed, you need it right?

So make sure you believe in Santa or he will be turned into a monstrosity that uses his icy powers to kill anyone he comes across.