History VideoGame / Mantra

A {{freeware}} ActionRPG, by a group of high school-aged developers from Maine, USA called Syzygy Cult, originally released in 1995 for UsefulNotes/MacOS. There is also a sequel, ''Mantra II''.

An open source version of the first game was released in 2010, written for the cross-platform game library Allegro. Builds for [[UsefulNotes/MicrosoftWindows Windows]] and [[UsefulNotes/MacOS Mac OS X]], and also the source code, can be downloaded from [[http://sourceforge.net/projects/syzygymantra/ Sourceforge]]; also, the developers have a [[http://www.syzygycult.com/ website]]. The original UsefulNotes/MacOS version is available for download [[http://macintoshgarden.org/games/mantra here]] (and the sequel [[http://www.macintoshgarden.org/games/mantra-ii here]]).

A {{freeware}} ActionRPG, by a group of high school-aged developers from Maine, USA called Syzygy Cult, originally released in 1995 for UsefulNotes/MacOS. It plays similar to ''VideoGAme/{{Crystalis}}'', or to a 2D ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda'' game with the addition of RPGElements. There is also a sequel, ''Mantra II''.

* ShoutOut: "[[WaitingForGodot Godot is coming. Please wait.]]"

An open source version of the first game was released in 2010, written for the cross-platform game library Allegro. Builds for [[MicrosoftWindows Windows]] and [[UsefulNotes/MacOS Mac OS X]], and also the source code, can be downloaded from [[http://sourceforge.net/projects/syzygymantra/ Sourceforge]]; also, the developers have a [[http://www.syzygycult.com/ website]]. The original UsefulNotes/MacOS version is available for download [[http://macintoshgarden.org/games/mantra here]] (and the sequel [[http://www.macintoshgarden.org/games/mantra-ii here]]).

* AlmostDeadGuy -- The guy that gives you the first weapon.
* [[spoiler:AnticlimaxBoss -- The FinalBoss, Balther, is pretty easy to defeat. Basically, if you buy enough HP recovery and stamina recovery items and use them, you'll win.]]
* ChestMonster -- [[spoiler:One town has {{NPC}}s that look like any others, but if you get too close to them, they attack you. They're '''extremely''' fast and take lots of hits, also.]] It's not entirely unexpected, though, because [[spoiler:some {{NPC}}s tell you that the town is on Balther's side.]]
* ContestedSequel -- Mantra II does not even come close to the level of quality of the original, with weak music and marginal-at-best cartoon graphics.
** [[http://www.syzygycult.com/mac-and-windows-versions-of-mantra-available/12 According to]] the developers: "To be frank, we all pretty well agree that Mantra II was nowhere near as good as Mantra. We just didn’t have the resources to throw at it at the time, and it wasn’t as polished."
* CrowningMusicOfAwesome -- Note that the game is only 694k as a compressed [=StuffIt=] archive; the music is [[UsefulNotes/{{MOD}} sample-based]].
* ElementalRockPaperScissors -- Enemies are vulnerable / invulnerable to different weapons, including the 5 Mantras as well as swords. There are also rings that give you protection from various things.

* GoodBadBugs -- The closed doors are supposed to be opened using InterchangeableAntimatterKeys; however, in the original version, it's possible to attack and "kill" them instead. (The open source version doesn't allow this.) Doing this makes some SequenceBreaking possible.
* MookMaker -- Some of the {{blob monster}}s can spawn more blobs of their own type, and the giant blobs spawn regular-sized ones at a faster rate. One dungeon has a room where spiders get spawned continously, apparently out of nowhere. [[spoiler:Also, the final boss spawns beetles.]]

* ShoutOut -- "[[WaitingForGodot Godot is coming. Please wait.]]"

* SmartBomb -- The Mantra of Force
* SwordOfPlotAdvancement -- The 5 Mantras.
* [[spoiler:TreacherousAdvisor -- The ambassador is actually [[BigBad Balther]], and he wants you to gather the Mantras so he can kill you and take them for himself.]]
* {{Vaporware}} -- ''Mantra 3'' was supposed to come out in 2000.
* VideogameCrueltyPotential -- You can kill the {{NPC}}s in towns. (They just respawn like enemies do.)
* YouAllLookFamiliar -- The {{NPC}}s in towns.

A {{freeware}} ActionRPG, by a group of high school-aged developers from Maine, USA called Syzygy Cult, originally released in 1995 for UsefulNotes/MacOS. It plays similar to ''{{Crystalis}}'', or to a 2D ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda'' game with the addition of RPGElements. There is also a sequel, ''Mantra II''.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome -- Note that the game is only 694k as a compressed [=StuffIt=] archive; the music is [[UsefulNote/{{MOD}} sample-based]].

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome -- Note that the game is only 694k as a compressed [=StuffIt=] archive; the music is [[{{MOD}} sample-based]].

An open source version of the first game was released in 2010, written for the cross-platform game library Allegro. Builds for [[MicrosoftWindows Windows]] and [[UsefulNotes/MacOS Mac OS X]], and also the source code, can be downloaded from [[http://sourceforge.net/projects/syzygymantra/Sourceforge]]; also, the developers have a [[http://www.syzygycult.com/website]]. The original UsefulNotes/MacOS version is available for download [[http://macintoshgarden.org/games/mantra here]] (and the sequel [[http://www.macintoshgarden.org/games/mantra-ii here]]).

A {{freeware}} ActionRPG, by a group of high school-aged developers from Maine, USA called Syzygy Cult, originally released in 1995 for MacOS. It plays similar to ''{{Crystalis}}'', or to a 2D ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda'' game with the addition of RPGElements. There is also a sequel, ''Mantra II''.

An open source version of the first game was released in 2010, written for the cross-platform game library Allegro. Builds for [[MicrosoftWindows Windows]] and [[MacOS Mac OS X]], and also the source code, can be downloaded from [[http://sourceforge.net/projects/syzygymantra/ Sourceforge]]; also, the developers have a [[http://www.syzygycult.com/ website]]. The original MacOS version is available for download [[http://macintoshgarden.org/games/mantra here]] (and the sequel [[http://www.macintoshgarden.org/games/mantra-ii here]]).

Not to be confused with [[TheUltraverse the comic book of the same name]].

* [[spoiler:AnticlimaxBoss -- The {{final boss}}, Balther, is pretty easy to defeat. Basically, if you buy enough HP recovery and stamina recovery items and use them, you'll win.]]

** "[[BlazingSaddles We don't need no stinking badgers!]]"

A {{freeware}} ActionRPG, by a group of high school-aged developers from Maine, USA called Syzygy Cult, originally released in 1995 for MacOS. It plays similar to ''{{Crystalis}}'', or to a 2D ''[[TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]]'' game with the addition of RPGElements. There is also a sequel, ''Mantra II''.