Secret of Evermore is the first Square RPG made in the US and there have been a lot of mixed reactions to that. This is a game where you either love it or you hate it, but either way you have to give credit to the guys that made it. There is a lot to do and see in this game as well as a lot of people to meet along the way, although your only companion on the trip is your faithful dog, who actually turns out to be a lot more powerful than you are. The main character often will describe a situation or offer a bit of advice by saying the name of a non-existent movie title, some people like this, others hate it, and some think that it is a splendid and humorous idea.

The story starts after you and your faithful dog have just finished seeing a movie. Your dog sees a cat and, of course chases after it. Your dog leads you to an abandoned mansion where there is a very large and old machine. Your dog, being the stupid dog he is, turns the machine on and you are transported to an alternate world, a space station to be more precise. But you don't remain in the space station undetected, you have to battle a few guard bots and you are then shot down to a prehistoric land in a ship. Once you get near the village entrance you are attacked by a pack of raptors, which are easy to beat, if you find their pattern. That's where I shall leave you to discover the rest yourself. Story gets an 86%.

The graphics are decent for an SNES game. The magic attacks and bosses are very well designed and look pretty good. Some of the backgrounds are very cool, some almost breathtaking. Each of the four areas (there is a gothic area, a prehistoric area, an Egyptian type area, and a space station) has its own distinct feel and look about it. In most cases each of the cities has its own feel and look. The character designs are decent and are nothing disgusting or beautiful. The characters and enemies' animation is well suited and seems realistic enough. Your view is the typical 16-bit RPG overhead view. Every new city you encounter has a distinct style of architecture and clothing style. The different architecture styles can be confusing because in one town you discover an inn but in another town you have to search for ten minutes going through all of the houses. The graphics get an 87%

The music is well suited and has few different songs to produce tension or create a very eerie environment. The sound effects are good. The dog's sound effects sound very little like a dog and more like a dying giraffe. The sound effects for the magic attacks are virtually all the same; same with the items that you use, they all have a very similar sound. The background noise in some of the cities is fantastic. In one city the roar of the crowd is so realistic you will wish the graphics matched it. The sound gets an 80%

The gameplay is intuitive and fairly simplistic. The game play style is almost exactly that of Secret OF Mana. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Secret of Mana style item usage, equipment, and magic usage, it is all done through a small ring that surrounds your character. Some people like it others don't, you have to decide for yourself. The magic system is actually quite good and is called alchemy in the game. To use magic you don't use MP but rather you have ingredients that create a spell. Ingredients can be purchased or you can have your dog sniff them out for free. Leveling up is very easy, to level up alchemy spells you simply have to use them a lot. Same with leveling up a weapon, you just kill a lot of enemies with it. The dog's attack levels up quite differently actually. Once he reaches level three he stays at level three forever, so it is good to level him up right away.

Leveling up your characters works just as in any other RPG: you just kill things and get experience, and the higher your level, the higher you Hit Points and defense and stuff. The money issue is debated constantly between my friends and I. I say it is very realistic and others say that it is just a hassle. Well here is the money situation: every area or continent you go to has a different currency and thus you have to exchange your old money for new money which may be a lot more or a lot less. It can be somewhat of a hassle to find a money exchange booth sometimes. I give the gameplay an 85%.

The game as a whole is quite large (you visit every area twice at least) and every time you go back you discover a new section of it. There are also numerous little things that you can do within in the game, like finding all of the rare items. The story is very expansive and is told very well. The gameplay is not as deep as hard core RPG gamers would like. The size of each continent and city is just about impossible to comprehend without playing the game. There are all sorts of hidden areas that you would not even know of if the story did not hint you in that direction. The game overall gets an (drum roll please): 89%.