Secret of Evermore
Developer(s)	Square USA
Publisher(s)	Squaresoft
Designer(s)	Doug Smith
Release date(s)	September 18, 1995 (N.America) February 22, 1996 (Europe)
Genre(s)	Action Adventure
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	ESRB: K-A (Kids to Adults)
Platform(s)	Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Media	24-megabit SNES cartridge

Secret of Evermore, released in North America on September 18, 1995, is a role playing video game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console. The game was created by Square Co., Ltd.'s new development house, Square USA. Evermore was not met warmly, because many believed it to have been the reason why Seiken Densetsu 3 was not translated or released to the stateside market. Image File history File links Secret_of_Evermore. ... A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual) that creates computer or video games. ... Square Co. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Square Co. ... A game designer is a person who designs games. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... September 18 is the 261st day of the year (262nd in leap years). ... 1995 1995 in games 1994 in video gaming 1996 in video gaming Notable events of 1995 in video gaming. ... February 22 is the 53rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... See also: 1995 in video gaming, other events of 1996, 1997 in video gaming, history of video games Events DigiPen Institute of Technology receives accreditation, first school in the world to offer college degrees in video game development. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... Action-adventure games (British English: arcade adventure) are video games that combine elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. ... In computer games and video games, single-player refers to the variant of a particular game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. ... The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is a self-regulatory organization that applies and enforces ratings, advertising guidelines, and online privacy principles for computer and video games and other entertainment software in the United States and Canada (officially adopted by individual provinces 2004-2005). ... The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, also known as Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit video game console released by Nintendo in North America, Brazil, Europe, and Australia. ... In a variety of electronic equipments, a cartridge (in video game terms, cart, game pack, or Game Pak) can be one method of programming different functionality, providing variable content, or a method by which consumables may be replenished. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... September 18 is the 261st day of the year (262nd in leap years). ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... It has been suggested that Multiplayer Video Games be merged into this article or section. ... The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, also known as Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit video game console released by Nintendo in North America, Brazil, Europe, and Australia. ... The Atari 2600, Sony PSOne, Nintendo Gamecube, and Xbox 360 A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer. ... Square Co. ... Square Co. ... Seiken Densetsu 3 ) is the third installment of the Seiken Densetsu series, released exclusively for the Super Famicom by Square Co. ... United States is the current Good Article Collaboration of the week! Please help to improve this article to the highest of standards. ...

Secret of Evermore's creation was Square, Co. Ltd.'s primary reason for opening Square USA. This new team of developers was responsible for working on the game while their existing American subsidiary Squaresoft operated as normal, handling the translation of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars among other tasks. Squaresoft was also responsible for the marketing of Secret of Evermore. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (スーパーマリオRPG) was the last Mario game made and released for the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and was the last Square-produced game for a Nintendo video game console until 2003, with the debut...

In February 1996 the game saw release in the PAL territories of Australia and Europe. For the non-English-speaking market, it was translated into the French, German, and Spanish languages. PAL, short for phase-alternating line, phase alternation by line or phase alternation line, is a colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in large parts of the world. ... World map showing Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is one of the six inhabited continents of the Earth. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

Gameplay

Screenshot of Gameplay.

The game shares two major surface similarities with Secret of Mana: It uses a freshly-coded interpretation of that game's ring-based menu system, and it requires the player to control multiple characters one-at-a-time. The player guides both the boy and his apparently shapeshifting dog through Evermore, free to switch between characters and sometimes forced to do so to solve various puzzles. Image File history File links Screenshot of gameplay from the 1995 SNES game Secret of Evermore by Square USA. This is a screenshot of a copyrighted computer game or video game. ... Image File history File links Screenshot of gameplay from the 1995 SNES game Secret of Evermore by Square USA. This is a screenshot of a copyrighted computer game or video game. ... Secret of Mana ) is the second video game in the Seiken Densetsu series of role-playing games, the first game of the series on the Super NES and the only Seiken Densetsu or Mana game released on this platform outside Japan. ...

A unique element to Secret of Evermore is its system of magic. Rather than using a traditional system of collecting magic points and using them to cast learned spells, the boy must, with the help of his trusty dog's nose, find various ingredients that may be used to perform alchemic formulas which the alchemists across Evermore teach him; the rarer the ingredient, the fewer times a particular spell may be cast. Some ingredients are rarer than others, making players turn back to previous areas to collect them in order to cast various spells. With repeated use, alchemy spells go up in level, enhancing their curative, offensive, or support abilities, depending on their use. Spells begin at level zero and can reach a maximum level of nine, and up to eight spells can be equipped at a time. Furthermore, items known as Call Beads can be utilized to summon the various powers of each of Evermore's leaders, usually in the form of a strong offensive spell. For other uses, see Alchemy (disambiguation). ...

The boy wields four different styles of weapons throughout the game: sword, spear, axe, and bazooka. His Bone Crusher is roughly categorized as the first sword. Each type of weapon has different characteristics; for instance, the spears at a high enough level may be thrown at an enemy across the screen, while the swords and axes can cut swaths of destruction around the boy's vicinity. With the exception of the Bone Crusher, all swords, axes, and spears may cut through vegetation. The boy operates the bazooka for the first battle of the game, but abruptly loses it and only receives it again at Ebon Keep to utilize against the deadliest monsters near the end of the game. Each category of weapon has four versions (one for each world the boy visits), and repeated use of them can increase their levels to a maximum of three, unlocking a new charged attack move with each level. The bazooka has three types of ammunition, each more destructive than the last; no charged attacks are possible, and when ammo runs dry, the bazooka can be swung as a weak club. Swiss longsword, 15th or 16th century Look up Sword in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Hunting spear and knife, from Mesa Verde National Park. ... Axe For other uses, see Axe (disambiguation). ... The bazooka weapon was one of the initial anti-tank weapons based on the High Explosive Anti-tank (HEAT) shell to enter service, used by the United States Armed Forces in World War II and the Korean War. ... Vegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region; it refers to the ground cover provided by plants, and is, by far, the most abundant biotic element of the biosphere. ...

Although both the boy and his dog are playable characters for the majority of the game, Secret of Evermore is a single-player game. To remedy that, a member of the emulation community created a patch file that allows for two players to play the game at the same time, one controlling each character à la Secret of Mana. A console emulator is a program that allows a computer to emulate a video game console. ... In computing, a patch is a small piece of software designed to update or fix problems with a computer program. ...

Story

Concept art of the game's protagonist wielding a bone, in-game called the "Bone Crusher", as a weapon.

The story of Secret of Evermore revolves around an anonymous teenage boy and his dog, whom the player may assign names of up to fifteen characters each (a tremendous amount at the time, when names were typically six characters or shorter). In the beginning of the game, the boy, who has a penchant for B-movies, is leaving with his dog from a matinee in a small town called Podunk, USA. Upon leaving the theatre, the dog begins to chase after a cat in the street. The boy hurriedly follows his best friend, finally reaching a large, abandoned mansion. When the dog begins to chew on some wires in a hidden laboratory, the pair soon find themselves transported to the mysterious world of Evermore. Image File history File links Concept Art of the player in 1995 Square USAs game Secret of Evermore, that was released as promotional art. ... Image File history File links Concept Art of the player in 1995 Square USAs game Secret of Evermore, that was released as promotional art. ... The term B-movie originally referred to a film designed to be distributed as the lower half of a double feature, often a genre film featuring cowboys, gangsters or vampires. ... In American English, Podunk, or Podunk Hollow has come to denote something, usually a place, of small size and is often used in a context of dismissing significance or importance. ...

Throughout the course of the game, the player explores Evermore's main areas, many corresponding to different epochs of Earth's history: Prehistoria is an area with dense jungle and primitive men; Crustacia is a land of pirates; Nobilia remembers the Roman Empire and Ancient Egypt; Gothica draws on the Middle Ages; and Omnitopia is a futuristic space station. The planet Earth, photographed in the year 1972. ... Look up pirate and piracy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Roman Empire is the name given to both the imperial domain developed by the city-state of Rome and also the corresponding phase of that civilization, characterized by an autocratic form of government. ... Khafres Pyramid (4th dynasty) and Great Sphinx of Giza (c. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... The International Space Station in 2006 Computer-generated image of the completed International Space Station A space station is an artificial structure designed for humans to live in outer space. ...

Searching the world of Evermore, the dog's body transforms in a manner that corresponds to the theme of the area in which players find themselves. For example, in the world of Prehistoria, the formerly friendly mutt is transformed into a feral wolf, in the Crustacian/Nobilian region he becomes a jackal, in Gothica he takes the form of a fancy poodle, and in Omnitopia he becomes a robotic toaster dog capable of shooting lasers. Wolf Wolf Man Mount Wolf Wolf Prizes Wolf Spider Wolf 424 Wolf 359 Wolf Point Wolf-herring Frank Wolf Friedrich Wolf Friedrich August Wolf Hugo Wolf Johannes Wolf Julius Wolf Max Franz Joseph Cornelius Wolf Maximilian Wolf Rudolf Wolf Thomas Wolf As Name Wolf Breidenbach Wolf Hirshorn Other The call... Species Canis aureus Canis adustus Canis mesomelas Canis simensis A jackal is any of four small to medium-sized members of the family Canidae, found in Africa and Asia. ... The Poodle is a breed of dog; specifically, it is a gun dog noted for its ability in the water and bird hunting skills. ...

In each of the four areas, the boy will encounter a citizen of Podunk involved in the original experiment gone awry 30 years ago in the same mansion where the boy and his dog were transported to Evermore. The player will learn that the regions are manifestations of those citizens' personal Utopias. The boy's ultimate goal is to escape from this fantasy world and return to his hometown of Podunk. In American English, Podunk, or Podunk Hollow has come to denote something, usually a place, of small size and is often used in a context of dismissing significance or importance. ... Left panel (The Earthly Paradise, Garden of Eden), from Hieronymus Boschs The Garden of Earthly Delights. ... A fantasy world is a type of fictional universe in which magic or other similar powers work. ...

The game's central themes of a boy and his dog and campy B-movies were dictated from overseas and fleshed out by Square USA, resulting in dialogue and themes uncharacteristically American for any previous console RPG. Due to copyright issues, all of the boy's references to B-movies had to be imaginary (the writers often poked fun at B-movie titles, such as when the boy observes that a gladiator battle reminds him of a scene from Blood, Dirt, Sweat, and Togas). Puns are another common source of humor in the game, such as a fight with a living stained-glass window in Gothica whom the boy calls a "pane in the glass". It has been suggested that dajare be merged into this article or section. ... Strictly speaking, stained glass is glass that has been painted with silver stain and then fired. ...

Soundtrack

Secret of Evermore Complete Soundtrack
Studio album by Jeremy Soule
Released	October 1, 1995
Recorded	1995
Genre	Video game music
Length	54:41
Label	Squaresoft
Producer(s)	Squaresoft

Particularly of note is the score composed by the revered video game composer Jeremy Soule of Icewind Dale and Morrowind fame. While still in high school Soule was a large fan of video games and he felt that the scores in most games "lacked drama and intensity" [1] and after completing high school created an experimental demo showcasing what he felt video game scores should sound like. Soule was hired by Squaresoft after reviewing the demo and was promptly given the task to score Secret of Evermore. As a result Secret of Evermore's score differed greatly from all previous Squaresoft games by incorporating organic environmental sounds like wind blowing and rain falling into the music utilizing a more mellow tune for an orchestral score that contrasted completely the epic scores of Secret of Mana and Final Fantasy VI. Image File history File links Album cover to the soundtrack released for the Square USA game, Secret of Evermore. ... A Studio Album is an album of regular studio recordings. ... Jeremy Soule is an award-winning American composer prominent in game music scores. ... October 1 is the 274th day of the year (275th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A music genre is a category (or genre) of pieces of music that share a certain style or basic musical language (van der Merwe 1989, p. ... Outrun (1986) is an arcade game with an integral soundtrack. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Square Co. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the performers, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes . ... Square Co. ... Jeremy Soule is an award-winning American composer prominent in game music scores. ... Icewind Dale is a computer role-playing game (CRPG) series developed by Black Isle Studios. ... The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, also known simply as Morrowind, is a first-person (also playable in third person) computer role-playing game in Bethesda Softworks The Elder Scrolls series. ... Secret of Mana ) is the second video game in the Seiken Densetsu series of role-playing games, the first game of the series on the Super NES and the only Seiken Densetsu or Mana game released on this platform outside Japan. ... Final Fantasy VI ) is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square Co. ...

Because of the limited success of Secret of Evermore Squaresoft produced only a small number of albums, making it to this day the rarest Squaresoft album produced and is highly sought after by collectors.

Track listing

1. "Hello World"
2. "Variations of Castle Theme"
3. "The Secret of Evermore"
4. "Ancient World"
5. "Greek Temple"
6. "Pirate Theme"
7. "Ocean Theme"
8. "Merchant Theme"
9. "The Queens"
10. "Flying"
11. "Greek Temple"
12. "The Scientist"
13. "Introduction"
14. "Puppet Song"
15. "Mini Boss"
16. "Greek Temple II"
17. "Cecil's Town"
18. "Over the Waterfall"
19. "The Rat's Chamber"
20. "White Castle Town"
21. "Quick Sand Field"
22. "Dark Castle"
23. "The Tinkerer"
24. "White Castle"
25. "Freak Show"
26. "Dog Maze"
27. "Final Boss Music"
28. "Ending Music"
29. "The Return"

Controversy and Seiken Densetsu 3

There is an unfortunately strong misconception among video game fans that this game was released in lieu of an English language version of Seiken Densetsu 3, the follow-up to Secret of Mana. These ill feelings probably stem from titular and mechanical similarities. Seiken Densetsu 3 ) is the third installment of the Seiken Densetsu series, released exclusively for the Super Famicom by Square Co. ...

The reality is that Secret of Evermore did not have any effect on any translations of Square's Japanese titles. The decision of its parent company, Square, Co. Ltd., to add a new development team to its existing Squaresoft office in Redmond had absolutely no effect on any such translations and did not tie up any of the people involved in translation. It was the parent company's decision not to continue translating titles, including the sequel to Secret of Mana.

Furthermore, Secret of Evermore was not made instead of any new titles in any existing series: Its team was specifically hired to create it and they would not have been assembled otherwise.

On the other hand, one could argue that the release of Secret of Evermore could easily have filled up a release slot that may otherwise have been used by Secret of Mana's sequel. This scenario is what prevented the release of the original Mother title. For other uses of the word Mother, see Mother (disambiguation) Mother ) (Usually referred to as EarthBound Zero or Earth Bound NES) was a game released only in Japan for the Famicom (FC). ...

Miscellanea

• The "Secret of" prefix was tacked on shortly prior to the game's release. Until then, it was known simply as "Evermore." It was rumored that Jeremy Soule had written the word on a whiteboard and the team took a liking to it and eventually made "Evermore" the game's name. It was the marketing department's suggestion that the title be tweaked, perhaps to take advantage of those hoping that it was the sequel to Secret of Mana. ^{[citation needed]}
• Some of the cast of Final Fantasy VI — namely Terra, Locke, Strago, Mog and Umaro — makes a cameo appearance in the coliseum audience in Nobilia.
• In Ebon Keep, one of the store owners is Cecil Harvey from Final Fantasy IV. As can been seen in the game's soundtrack listing, Ebon Keep's theme is even titled "Cecil's Town." Cecil makes reference to his adventures on the moon, his becoming a Paladin, and his fight against Zeromus in the hopes the player will have heard of him.
• In the same store as Cecil, there are four swords sitting on a table which resemble the four stages of Link's sword in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.
• The player can collect the egg of a chocobo, a fictional bird from the Final Fantasy series. It functions as a relic which boosts the boy's hit points.
• In Omnitopia, the hero's dog resembles a toaster oven. If the player stands still for a certain amount of time, toast pops out of the dog's back. Many fans believe that the dog looks very similar to a K-9 from the Doctor Who series.
• At the beginning of the game, when investigating the Professor's deserted mansion, the boy says that he finds "a mummy ... a chainsaw ... and a balloon animal!" This could be an obscure reference to the LucasArts adventure game Maniac Mansion, which contained both a mummy (Dead Cousin Ted) and a chainsaw (hanging in the kitchen among other utensils). Or, this could refer in a roundabout way to the other characters involved in the experiment.
• The protagonist mentions several science fiction films throughout his journey including "It Came from the Swamp" and "Mars Needs Lumberjacks." These are most likely a references to the real films It Came from Outer Space and Mars Needs Women respectively.

Secret of Mana ) is the second video game in the Seiken Densetsu series of role-playing games, the first game of the series on the Super NES and the only Seiken Densetsu or Mana game released on this platform outside Japan. ... Final Fantasy VI ) is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square Co. ... Terra Branford , Tina Branford in Japan) is a fictional character in Square Co. ... Locke Cole , Lock Cole in Japan) is a fictional character of the Square Co. ... Artwork by Yoshitaka Amano Strago Magus is a fictional character of the Square Co. ... Mog ) is a fictional character of the Square Co. ... Artwork by Yoshitaka Amano Umaro is a somewhat-playable character in the Squaresoft game Final Fantasy VI. He is a large Yeti (or sasquatch in Woolseys localisation) who lives in the Narshe caves. ... Cecil Harvey is a fictional character in the Square Co. ... Final Fantasy IV ) is a console role-playing game developed and published by Square Co. ... Link ) is the protagonist of Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda video game series. ... The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, released in Japan on November 21, 1991, as ゼルダの伝説 神々のトライフォース (Zeruda no Densetsu: Kamigami no Toraifōsu, literally The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods... A Chocobo, as seen in Final Fantasy X A Chocobo is a large fictional emu-like bird that is a staple of the Final Fantasy video game series and has also appeared in several related products and spin-offs including Chocobos Mysterious Dungeon, Chocobo Racing, and the Legend of... Final Fantasy ) is a series of computer and console role-playing games produced by Square Enix (originally Square Co. ... K-9, or K9, is the name of several robotic dogs in the long-running British science fiction television series, Doctor Who. ... This article is becoming very long. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Maniac Mansion is a graphical adventure game originally released in 1987 by Lucasfilm Games (now known as LucasArts). ... It Came from Outer Space is a 1953 science fiction film starring Richard Carlson, Barbara Rush and Charles Drake. ... Mars Needs Women is a teen sex comedy film with a science fiction theme released in 1964, which features Tommy Kirk, Yvonne Craig, and Byron Lord. ...

External links

• GameFAQs entry for Secret of Evermore
• Secret of Evermore Complete Soundtrack at MusicBrainz
• Informal interviews with the creator of the game