After an early leak due to Square Enix filing for a trademark for the Collection of Mana, the real deal was revealed by Nintendo during its E3 2019 presentation. The Collection of Mana, which contains the original first three Mana games, will release for the Nintendo Switch starting today.

The Collection of Mana contains three games: the original Seiken Densetsu, aka Final Fantasy Adventure (aka Final Fantasy Mystic Quest in Europe) for the Gameboy, Secret of Mana for the SNES, and last, Seiken Densetsu 3 - now named Trials of Mana - which had never previously seen a release in English-speaking territories.

Final Fantasy Adventure previously received a remake as Adventures of Mana, and Secret of Mana also received a HD remake, so it might surprise some to see the original versions come to the Switch. While the remakes were generally praised, nostalgic fans of the classics may still want to get their hands on the ports, and the story sometimes deviates from the original versions, which may be part of the reason why the originals are now being made available.

That wasn't all the Mana news that Nintendo had to offer, as Trials of Mana will see a full-fledged HD remake as well. That version won't release until later in 2020, providing players with an opportunity to check out the original before its release.

The Mana series tells the story of the great Mana Tree and noble heroes' efforts to protect and restore it. Secret of Mana was notable for allowing players to bring up to two of their friends to play with them, which has been confirmed to be an option available in the Collection of Mana. Trials of Mana also allowed a second player to join in, and released a massive branching class system, allowing players to not only choose from multiple characters to play as, but to play those characters in different ways each time.

It's a good time to be a fan of Squaresoft classics, especially for those who own a Nintendo Switch. Square Enix announced other old-school favorites are coming to the system yesterday, like Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles and of course, Final Fantasy 8, which will finally be remastered two decades after its original release.

Collection of Mana releases today for the Nintendo Switch.