Heroes of Mana breathes new life into the vaunted Mana franchise, taking the beloved series into an entirely new dimension. Generals plan, plot, and strategize their way to victory on the battlefield. Command an army of heroes, creatures, and rabites with the Nintendo DS touch screen and experience an all-new perspective on the ever-evolving battle for the Mana Tree.

Real Time Strategy?€”Plus

Heroes of Mana goes much farther than a traditional RTS with incredibly rich and detailed characters on the battlefied, each with histories and a relationship to the overall story of the Mana franchise that is deep and complex. In fact, there's a story recap feature to help you get to know everyone and their place in the story.

Many RTSs are limited by fixed bases. In Heroes of Mana, you have a airship that has factories on board capable of producing structures and units. The airship is also good protection against disaster?€”if your position is about to be overrun, you can bug out to a more secure anchor point on the map.

The different types of troops each has strengths and weaknesses versus other troop types and in particular terrains. Picking which troops to build and deploy is a strategy unto itself. You select which troops to use before each battle. You tap an icon to pause the game, then draw a circle around the troops you want to select. Very handy.

Skilled players can see how they rank among other players around the world through the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection ranking system. You can also play over local wireless.