Oh! Emperor Vandole is a DOG. - Let's Uncover the Secret of Mana!

The sword being where it was because the mana knight put it there would make sense—in fact, if he put it there just before he died, that would explain why his ghost appears there when Randi Boss removes it from the stone. It would also explain why Randi's Boss's mother leaves him with the Potos Village elder when she has to go be the Mana Tree.

Isn't one of the other games a direct prequel to Secret? It might actually be FFA (which would make sense); this sounds a lot like setting up this game's backstory, save for not actually featuring a Mana Fortress.

Actually, there's quite a lot of evidence that Secret of Mana is the prequel to the original game. The biggest being that Vandole is mentioned in FFA as an empire that once tried to seize the power of Mana, and the empire in SoM is called the Vandole Empire. Kinda damning evidence, really.

EDIT: Mistyped before, sorry! Evidence is that it's a prequel, not a sequel.

So FFA takes place between Secret and its backstory. That would match up with the few fan-created timelines I could find.

Japanese script question on that note: Gemma in FFA and Jema in SoM. Are these the same in Japanese?

Yeah, they're spelled the same (ジェマ) in Japanese.

Which, of course, just provides more evidence that SoM is the prequel to FFA. The Knights of Gemma/Jema in FFA are very likely the warriors who followed the character by that name in SoM.

After starting this thread I decided to start playing this game for the first time. It seemed to combine two things that I love, JRPG's and action oriented battle systems. At first I was really into it, but at this point I just get angry when I play it. I don't want to throw controllers and my fiance doesn't want to sit next to me. So I've put it on hiatus until I asked you guys... Am I playing this wrong?

I can't ever figure out if I'm hitting enemies. I always feel like enemies are in invincibility frames when I try to hit them, so I waste my attack. And even if I do hit them, sometimes the damage numbers are delayed. Together this leaves me feeling like all the swinging I'm doing is fairly useless.

I want to like this game, and I'm willing to give it another chance. Let me know if you have any advice.

The game in general—and hit detection especially—is buggy as heck. Between this and the insanely grindy leveling system, the experience is only saved by the inherent fun of cooperative multiplayer. Even with the charm of its music and art design, unless you have someone to play it with, I'd say just listen to the soundtrack and read this here LP.

For a game that pulls off Secret's concepts well, play Seiken Densetsu 3.

Nasir's game engines are notoriously buggy and laggy, and this game is probably one of the biggest offenders. That said, it's not impossible to deal with. There's just a few things you have to get used to.

The first big one is distance: how far away you are from the enemy when you attack affects how likely your blow is to actually land. The difference in distance can be ludicrously short (all of 8 pixels), yet have a huge impact (not being able to ever land a hit versus landing a super-strong blow). To the best of my knowledge, enemies have a much harder time blocking powered attacks.

The second big one is timing. As I've noted already, you can't unleash an attack at sub-100% power and expect to do much of anything damage-wise. Similarly, you need to execute specials some distance away from your target, as they can and will knock you backwards in the starting frames of said animations otherwise.

Once you get access to magic (spoilers: Secret of Mana has a magic system), you can cheese most of the big threats by stun-locking them with a spell and then laying on the pain with weapons while you wait for the animation to finish. You can also chain-spell an enemy to death with repeated castings, but this eats up MP like candy and is best reserved for boss fights.

I love everything about cannon travel. Not only do you get blasted across the whole continent, the guys operating the cannon are cavemen.

Even back in the day I felt the gameplay was a half-baked attempt at doing a new fangled game that mixed action with RPG elements, an action RPG if you will. And I slogged all the way to the end. Having to manually whack away, while getting little say in what I can actually dodge? No thanks. After I defeated the first boss, I decieded to just hex edit SD3, which I'm playing through right now, and I'd do the same for this if I ever replay it.

Just wanna say that I support this 100%! Do what makes the LP fun.

Later Square-Enix would look at Secret of Mana's (and SD3's) gameplay engine, decide it was actually pretty spiffy, and rework the concept of it into the battle engines of Final Fantasy XI and XII. Nasir's legacy lives on, like it or not.

SoM being a prequel to FFA seems to make the most sense. But I was always of the opinion that the Mana series is best if all the games are thought of as alternate universes with similar backstories.

Well I think I'm going to leave this game in the "Read the LP Zone" and maybe pick up SD3 in the future. I've already found something else to occupy my time anyways.
You know looking back it's really interesting to see the concepts from SoM's battle system that were in FFXII. I absolutely loved that system so I guess I loved the spawn of this game? Whatever the term it's always cool to see the origins of these ideas.

I would say you're crazy for passing up on SoM, but I might be biased... it was very much a game I adored in my childhood, but going back and playing it today does show how poorly the battle mechanics and translation have aged over the years. I mean, it isn't terrible, just clunky and really rough around the edges. It's still a very pretty game with awesome music, though, and despite it all, still really fun.

Anyway, I'm stoked to see some insight into the translation of the game. There were some parts I never quite did understand.

It's so much better with a friend, and I don't know if I would like to solo it now if it weren't for the nostalgia of playing with a friend.

I agree 100%. I played through this game twice as a kid, both times with two friends, and those are some of my most treasured gaming memories from the time. But over the past decade or so, I've tried time and time again to replay the game on my own, and I end up dropping it fairly early every time. It's not terrible or anything, but it's definitely a game that I'd rather revisit through an LP than a replay.

The last time I finished it was on an emulator with an unlimited MP code, so I spent the entire game with saber spells on and actually used status effects. It was pretty interesting not saving all my MP for healing and stun-locking bosses.

Secret of Mana is a game with charm, and its one of the best looking mid-generation SNES games I've seen from Square. I just don't like that its A.I. is terrible as all hell and your comrades love getting themselves killed. Sometimes I wonder what would've happened if Nintendo went through with its deal with Sony and produced that SNES CD add-on? Oh the wondering...

On the other hand, this is one of the best ongoing LPs I've seen for this game so far. So in-depth... <3

I find the best way to solo the game is to give the BOY the strongest weapon available and set him to full aggro, set the SPRITE to hang back and swap it between Bow, Boomerang and Whip and play as the girl with what is available and keep her alive manually because she has the healing magic and is the worst to have die because of crappy AI running into attacks.

I may have to try this the next time I decide to randomly play Secret of Mana.

If ever.

EDIT:

Okay, I was originally responding to another comment, but I just stumbled upon this and I feel it's more important.

Symphonic Fantasies is a series of orchestral game music concerts that take place in Germany every summer. It plays Square Enix stuff, and it's very, very well done.

Also in 2009 they played a 17-minute medley of music from Secret of Mana.

Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here.

Obviously, this spoils most of the game's music, but some of it has already been linked upthread.

Even though the special moves are kinda silly in this game, I have a strange OCD thing where I have to have characters always be learning something, so by the end of the game each character will have mastered about three weapons each. Some of the later moves are pretty badass.

I about crapped my pants the first time I got the glove leveled up enough to do a haduken!

Part III - We're Off to See the Witch! (And a Brown Belly Button, Too!)

Previously on The Misadventures of Boss: the titular hero managed to get blasted straight out of a cannon to the Water Palace, got told he's the Chosen One due to magical bureaucracy, and then proceeded to say "screw destiny" and head to the town of Pandora instead of to Gaia's Navel. We last left our poor witless hero when he met up with a fetching young lady. What was her name again?



I tell ya, those country folks have funny ideas about naming their kids... Anyway, now Boss has company!

(There's a nice little jingle that plays when a party member joins, but I cannot for the life of me find a link to it on YouTube! Sorry...)



♪♪ Wild Roses and Spirits ♪♪

This princess-y type comes complete with a set of jawbreakers! Do NOT piss this lady off unless you don't mind looking like a veteran hockey player 'til you can get to the dentist next!



Looks like Tomato's having issues with her father after all. What a twist!



You mean they're not all here for a deaf-and-mute convention!?

The current rumor is that the witch Elinee is draining people's energy. The ones affected keep going to the ruins in the southern part of this town. I'll take a look around there. Boss, go on ahead to Gaia's Navel!

Didn't you learn last time, dude? NOBODY tells the Boss what to do.



Except Tomato, of course. She's our de facto party leader for the next forever and a half. Complaints? I didn't think so. (Look, trust me, you don't want to argue with a girl who's got a right hook that can send you to Dreamland. And I ain't talkin' 'bout Kirby's Dreamland here, either!)

Oh yeah, NPCs. This one makes no sense.

Soldier: The country of Tasnica is our ally, and its citizens our friends.
Nobleman: Oh dear. Up to now this has been such a peaceful country!
Queen: Expelled from your village? Well, this realm too, is having problems. It would probably be best if you also left this country right away. {I'll do what I want, when I want, with who I want to!}

King: What a nightmare! The people in my country are acting like zombies! The troops I sent to fight the witch were captured...
Tomato: What? You and dad MADE Dyluck go to the witch's castle?! How DARE you try to drive Dyluck and me apart!
Soldier: How rude!
Tomato: Fine, be that way! Let's go, Boss! {Wow, Tomato doesn't think much of herself, does she?}

King's Bedroom
Soldier: This is the King's room.
Woman: This is the first time I've seen the King look so troubled.
Soldier: This is the treasure house. I must guard it for the knight in the legend.

This whole place sucks. Let's beat feet.



But first, let's set up Boss' Action Grid! Since he's on NPC duty now, we have to have him in top combat form. So we're gonna have him approach and attack as much as possible. He can take a few knocks, so he gets to play damage sponge to Tomato's lightning bruiser role.



♪♪ Distant Thunder ♪♪

Yikes, new enemy! Buzz Bees introduce us to a new class of enemy, and a new gimmick. So far, every enemy can be hit for full damage no matter when you swing. Buzz Bees are the first exception to this: you cannot damage them when they're getting up. This means that you need to time your strikes so you hit them just as they've recovered and started floating again! Or you can just hit them while they're down, which is the best strategy for most enemies if you can manage it.



Oh no poisonously poisonous poison poisoning! Actually, poison status in this game is pretty weak. It just causes a very slight (and I do mean VERY slight) drain on health of about 1 point per second for about 16 seconds. It stops being threatening around level 5 or so.



By contrast, unconscious is a nasty-mean status. It causes the afflicted character to be completely out of action for a good 16 seconds, which is a lot in an action RPG! The only way to undo unconsciousness is to get hit while knocked down. Not cool. Mushbooms shoot out spores that cause this, which is why you generally want to back the hell away when they take their caps off.



Hmm. Well, Boss does want to keep the hell away from Gaia's Navel for as long as possible, so KipperKippo Village it is!



♪♪ Together Forever ♪♪

No really I never would have guessed!

Little Girl: My dad owns the store here.
Man: To the north is Gaia's Navel, a deep cave where Dwarves live. They don't appear above ground very often, preferring to live underground instead. {Where they mine up precious ores and fight the Goblins. Strike the earth!}

In a House
Cannon Man: Dis's my home. Da misses is upstairs. {So where's the hits? Hooray typos!}
Woman: My husband's brothers all look alike!

In Another House
Old Man: I heard about the Kingdom. It's too laid back here!
Old Woman: My son Dyluck's too busy to visit me! {Wow, living parents for a major character? That's almost unheard-of in an RPG unless that character is gonna die or is already dead! ...Uh oh.}



Many first-time players never even discover Kippo exists, which is a pity since it has some great early equipment for sale. I've focused the shop ring on this particular item for two reasons, even though it's not equipment. One is to explain what it does: it revives a fallen ally, which you don't get the ability to do by other means for quite a while. The other is to note the price. They're not cheap right now!

This shop has a fairly good piece of armor for Tomato called a China DressKung Fu Dress, but it costs 350 Lucre. That's a lotta Lucre! But we're gonna get it, and better armor for Boss too, because where we're going we DO need armor!



This means running the path between Kippo and Pandora, and then back to Kippo again, and killing everything on the way. Doing so reveals the first of this game's dastardly treasure box traps: the poison needle! Yeah, it poisons you. As we've already discussed, poison is about as threatening as a cat scratch from a declawed cat in Secret of Mana, so this isn't that bad. What IS bad is that trapped chests give you zippo for items or Lucre. Boo!



One snug Kung Fu Dress later, the two make their way north in the general direction of Gaia's Navel. But what's this? The Haunted Forest is ahead! That's where Tomato wanted to go so she could rescue Dyluck! Well, since Boss wants to avoid destiny by any means possible, that's gonna be where we go!

Some crazy old man is hanging out in the flowerbeds here. A few of the flowers are man-eating carnivorous Lullibuds, too. I think he might be high.

I saw the floodwaters sweep some kid into it!!

Well, even MORE reason to stay the hell away from Gaia's Navel! Strong monsters AND a very real possibility of being offered "long pork" for dinner if we visit!



Yeah, we're gonna take our chances with the witch.



♪♪ In the Thick of It ♪♪

And here's the Haunted Forest, which introduces us to another new enemy type: the Chobin Hood! The Chobin Hood is a hard lesson for many first-time players who don't know about how to keep their AI allies in check. See, they're protected by rosebushes that are only penetrable with an edged weapon like the sword from one specific angle. The problem (and this is a big problem!) is that they have bows. And they hit HARD. Your allies, if left to their own devices, will stand there stupidly staring at the Chobin Hood as it unleashes pink arrow after pink arrow into their face, and die in about 30 seconds flat. You need to swap between AI allies frequently to avoid this happening.

Chobin Hoods also introduce another new type of damage-limited state, but we'll go into detail about that with the next type of demihuman enemy we fight.



Deeper in the forest, Tomato and Boss run into a sentient cat in a cape! He seems to be a merchant of some sort... This is Neko, known better in later games in the series as Niccolo, and has always been known in Japan as Nikita (yes, really; he's still a guy in that version too). I hope you don't mind if I refer to him as Niccolo from here on out, as it feels very wrong to refer to him as Neko for some reason...



Niccolo's thang has always been scamming people, and this is where it all began! He charges twice what any other shop does for every good he sells! And of course, he's the only source of a lot of those goods until very late in the game (and in some cases, the only source PERIOD!). He gets summarily ignored for now, save to use his Save function. Yeah, Niccolo's a living save point too. Thankfully he won't charge for this service.

(We'll visit Niccolo at his house later.)



Tomato: I've heard there's a Dwarf blacksmith in Gaia's Navel. There may be some good weapons there. We'd better go to Gaia's Navel first.

Sadly, the path is blocked until we can return with the power of ROCK! Or perhaps a woodcutting tool. I suspect either one would work. Also? New players take note: this is how you can get the lovely lady there to come with you to Gaia's Navel. She won't refuse to go in with you as long as she's seen the skulls in the Haunted Forest! Believe me when I say that this is the best way to do things. If you're still in doubt, you can see exactly what happens if you DON'T do this by checking the original SoM LP thread.



♪♪ Distant Thunder ♪♪

Ah, a new item type! Medical Herbs (called Puipui Grass in the Japanese version, after the sound they make when you use them) cure all status conditions. They're really damn handy for certain nasty conditions we have yet to encounter.



Anyway, Boss can't seem to avoid destiny, so into the earth's belly button he goes! Mostly because Tomato's in charge now, and he values his teeth too much to argue with her.



♪♪ In the Thick of It ♪♪

And here we have a Green BavaroiseGreen Slime! These enemies are your first introduction to the concept of "run away and live to see another day". Green Slimes have huge evasion, cause decent damage, inflict poison with their attacks, and have the ability to split into a second Green Slime that always starts with full HP. They're also immune to damage in their reproducing animation frame, to make things worse. Later we can take them out with superlative ease, but for now we're just gonna give 'em the slip.



Next up is the life-long enemy of the Dwarf, the ElfGoblin! These guys always start out asleep, which means you can get in a free hit if you nail 'em before they wake up.



One of them drops one of the other trapped chest types! Punching gloves do kinda-lowish damage (usually around 15?) to whomever opened the chest. Not too intimidating, in short.



A bit further down, the path is blocked! How will we ever get rid of this magma pit?



Aha, a resevoir of water! And another Goblin Kid! Notice that animation the Goblin is in? All demihumans have an animation frame like that, which I call their "stunned" frame. When they're stunned, you cannot damage them. Demihumans become stunned instead of knocked over if you don't hit them hard enough (ie. do enough damage relative to their max HP). In this case, the magic number is about 16 or so damage, which is a tough order for Tomato to fill sometimes!



Also new-ish in this area is the Blat, which also introduces us to another new gimmick: spellcasting. Blats can cast Balloon Lv.0 at your characters. Balloon status causes a character to "space out", ie. become immobile. It's even worse than unconscious at higher spell levels since being hit doesn't undo Balloon status! Fortunately, at lv.0 Balloon only lasts for about 2 or 3 seconds at worst. Oh, and another note about Blats: they also share the same hit immunity that Buzz Bees (and all fliers) do: you can't damage them when they're getting up from being knocked down.



In a little alcove nearby, we find a skull switch (imported straight from Final Fantasy V!). Smacking this with any weapon causes something to happen!

As you can see, the resevoir of water has gone and turned the magma flow below into obsidian, meaning we can progress. Gotta love 90s RPG "puzzles", huh?



There's an entrance downwards a bit further to the right from the obsidianized magma flow, which can be easy to miss. To make matters worse, it spits you out right next to two sleeping Goblin Kids! At least you get a free hit in on them...



In another side-cave off to the left, we find this rare prize! The Magic Rope lets you escape from any dungeon, free of charge, and never runs out of uses. Technically we didn't HAVE to get it yet, but we would be forced to do so later in the plot because the programmers decided it was easier to make it mandatory than to make it possible to exit a certain area via any other means. Hey, whatever floats their boat.



Deeper in the cave, we encounter some suspicious stalagmites! These types can actually be cut down... but only with an axe. Man, we are really jonesin' for one of those now!



A bit further in, we find what looks like a way into the Dwarf fortress! But what's this? They closed the drawbridge! Guess we'll have to find the lever to lower it.



There it is! Typical of Goblins, this one can't figure out how to operate a simple mechanism to allow for easy invasion.



In Dwarven mechanics, down is often substituted for any other direction that would make sense. Ergo the Dwarven drawbridge is actually a giant rock that falls from the ceiling.



What, did you think I was kidding?



♪♪ It Happened One Moonlit Night ♪♪

Yes. We won't be here long, as I don't think Boss or Tomato wants cave adaptation.

A while ago a Sprite's child was washed down here. It's doing magick tricks...
Urist Clearingsilvers: This is the Village of Dwarfs.
Catten Constructamused: You can hear rumblings from somewhere even deeper than here. Sounds like digging...
Morul Paddlewhipped: There have been so many small earthquakes lately! *the area shakes* There's another one!
Obok Daggerpaints: The Underground Palace? That's been buried for ages. There isn't any way into it at the moment.

Looks like a fairly typical Dwarf Fortress to me so far.



Like any good Dwarf Fortress, they're selling their goods too! Most of what's here is on par with Kippo's lesser stock, except for the Punk SuitSpiky Suit and Head Gear. Boss gets those promptly.



This is also a good time to mention that this game is a collection perfectionist's worst nightmare. You can't keep more than 8 of any given armor class at a time, meaning you're constantly selling off your previous armor pieces. No complete collection for you!



Anyway, we're gonna talk to this Dwarf. Watt's his name, and no I'm not going to do a Who's On First gag because damn it I just did anyway, didn't I?

I'm Watts, the blacksmith! I'll reforge it for 100 GPLucre!
> Please do! / No thanks!

Well, guess it's time to pay the piper and find out if this sucker really IS the Mana Sword...



Watts is lightning-fast with that hammer! He didn't even need 30 seconds to convert it from a rusted hunk of junk to a proper steel blade! Maybe he just covered it with Rustoleum... Anyway, he's impressed by the craftsmanship of the blade, so I guess it must be masterwork.

I hope someday I can forge such a spelndid sword! Huh? What on earth... My hammer has started to glow...
*The screen glows, presumably for emphasis*
Now wait just a minute! What kind of sword is this?
Boss: This may sound a bit wild, but... it's the Mana Sword.
Tomato: The...!?
Boss: It's a long story...{No it isn't. You pulled it out of a rock, end of story.} but I'm on a journey to restore the sword's power.
Watts: Astonishing! Perhaps the power of the Mana Sword has seeped into my hammer! Great! I think I'll try and make an axe with this. Come back a little later, ok?

Well, that's convenient! Almost, dare I say it, contrivedly so? (No? Too late, I just did!)



Hm, it's not quite the Mana Sword just yet, but this DefenderBroad Sword will do for now. It's officially our most powerful weapon again, though! It might even retain that distinction for nearly 15 minutes this time!



This guy doesn't seem suspicious at all, does he?

There are many curious things in this village. Why not take a look?

Will do, chief!

Looks more like a room than a hut to me...

Dwarf: Elder? Me? Naw, I run a show. Wanna see it? It'll be 50 Lucre, my friends!
> Pay / Leave

Why not? I've made worse financial decisions in this place for far more than that!



Oh boy!



♪♪ Dancing Beasts ♪♪

Really? I could've sworn I saw one of those at the Kushman Brothers' Circus...



Lame! You didn't even stitch 'em together! The Feejee Mermaid was more convincing!



Yeah, right. It'll probably just be a Dwarf child in a pink wig.



See? What'd I tell ya?

Dwarf: Yes, folks, it's pure tragedy! Weep as you hear his story! This poor child has a 50,000 Lucre debt to pay off! It's here, working off the debt bit by bit. {So is this a he or an it? Make up your mind!} Oh please, gentle people. Please help it! Even 100 Lucre will help.
> Okay! / No...

Damn it, can't we ever get away from those "for just pennies a day you can save a starving African child" ads in the 90s!? Fine, here, just stop pestering me.



Wow, 100 Lucre a day really CAN make a kid grow! He just quadrupled in size instantly!



♪♪ It Happened One Moonlit Night ♪♪

True, but to be fair, Boss cries about most things these days. He's a little sensitive, what with the whole doomed his entire hometown to a slow death by monster invasion thing. Also, he's a bit of a crybaby even without that hanging over his head.

Elder: Well, I wasn't too bad myself! We're going to make a fortune!

Why you lying little dirty...! That's it! Grab the spear and the sacred sword, Tomato and Boss, it's time to make some Dwarf chunks and Sprite chunks outta these two!



Yeah, funny how that works. Maybe you shouldn't blurt out your dastardly plans just because you can't see anyone nearby who might hear you.

Elder: P...please forgive us! This child really IS a sprite child. It used to live in the Sprite Forest, but a flood brought it here. I thought I'd help it earn the money to return home...
Sprite: Good idea, huh?
Elder: Hey! You have to apologize, too!
*The sprite turns to face the wall*
Sprite: Harumph! Okay. I was wrong!
Elder: I'm ashamed of myself. I'll return your money...
*Full refund!*

Well, okay, I guess I won't reduce you to your component parts in alphabetical order after all, then. You got lucky, though.



I'm sure you didn't. What's a little fraud amongst friends?



Your punctuation is baffling sometimes, Boss... Anyway, it's Earthquake Time! It's a lot like Talking Time(tm), but with less talking and more giant technicolor plants. Wait, what?



♪♪ Crisis ♪♪

No, seriously, what was that bit about technicolor plants?



AHH TECHNICOLOR PLANT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT!

So yeah, this is the second boss of the game, Tropicallo. His gimmick is that he pops up, spits out pumpkin bombs that bounce around, and then burrows again. You can hit him when he finishes bouncing as he pops up.



Like so! He doesn't like being stabbed. Most players do this fight with only one character, so they don't know that you can actually land multiple blows on this boss between getting hit and the boss retreating back underground.



As you probably guessed from that offhand comment about most people fighting Tropicallo with only one character, this guy is a total pushover with two fighters.



I didn't mention it before when defeating Mantis Ant, but (almost) every boss in this game explodes into an ovular set of particles that slowly disperses. It's pretty damned satisfying.



Why thank you!



Woot more power!



♪♪ Calm Before the Storm ♪♪

Oh, you think you could've taken Tropicallo with your candy ass alone? I already don't like you, and I don't even know your name.

Elder: Hey! Sorry about that. This child received such a shock from drifting here, he lost all his memories. He really is a nice child, though he plays tricks on people sometimes...

Tricks you say. I never would have imagined.



This sprite child's laughing animation is disturbing. Unlike a normal person, his head sorta bobs up and down as his neck grows and contracts. He looks more like a jack-in-the-box than a laughing child!

Elder: Tropicallo broke out of a sealed palace. There must be way into it! *He turns to face the sprite* Your memory might return if you receive some power from the Mana Seed.
*The sprite starts jogging in place*
Sprite: What? Really? I'll go now, right now!!!
Elder: Not alone! The palace was buried for eons. There must be tons of monsters by now. *He turns to face Boss and Tomato* Would you be so kind as to accompany this young sprite to the palace? Please, he won't be any trouble.
> Okay / Forget it!

Like I'd turn down help! I mean it's not like he's gonna drop items at random and generally be useless, right?



I'd be worried if he didn't, really. We're standing right in front of him.



Dude, get your eyes checked. Tomato's got two X chromosomes.

Tomato: I happen to be a girl, and my NAME is Tomato!
Sprite: Sheesh, okay! Say, why don't you name me, too. That'll make it easier on you.

What, you don't have a name? And you're asking Princess Tomato to name you?



Are you high?



At this point it'd take a miracle for him to not be named this, but if you wanna try to get an upset vote away from that choice, go right ahead... Come back next time as we try to infiltrate the Underground Palace! (Emphasis on "try".) We'll probably also have to deal with that witch, too. This is getting complicated...