My Life in Games - Secret of Mana (SNES)

I've decided to start a personal project where I make small illustrations for all the video games I loved as a kid. My most vivid memories of childhood usually related to video game in some way.

To start, here's Secret of Mana. It was the summer of '94. My best friend and I were both going to day camp at a nearby tennis/golf club. We would talk about the game at camp and start playing as soon as we got home. It was everything I loved about RPGs and adventure games put together.

This illustration shows Spikey Tiger, one of the early bosses in the game. This guy was a HUGE pain in the ass for me (and I don't think I was alone). I can't remember how many days it took me, but GOD did it feel good to kill him.

Even though I call this one of my all-time favorite games, I never actually beat it. The final part of the game involves a long, painful slog through the hardest enemies in the game, followed by the last boss. Now, to stand a chance against the boss, you have to cast a special enchantment on the hero's sword, buuuut I had already used up all of my magic just to get that far. All I could do was stand there and wait for death. Frustrated, I put the game away for a while and just never picked it back up...