Secret of Mana Redux

Kakkara

Locations

Kakkara

February 28, 2021

World Map Legend

Kakkara is a nice contrast to the Ice Country as the desert section of the world. The Kingdom of Kakkara, consisting of one town, is the only established residential area on the continent. There’s also the Fire Palace and the mysterious Moon Palace, surrounded by a huge void in the landmass. The art division went for a hybrid of arid and tropical settings. In-game maps from Fantasy Anime:

Development

In I, Kakkara was a blob, with only the town and the Moon Palace placed.

A prerelease shot of Kakkara
Square Power Book (Dengeki: April 9, 1993)

IIa has more terrain, and now The Fire Palace is where it is in the final game:

Scoop Guide (Family Computer Magazine: April 30, 1993)

However, there’s no footpath to the Moon Palace.  This was fixed in IIb, which reduced extra space north of the Moon Palace and added an entrance:

A prerelease shot of Kakkara

Despite this addition, there’s really no reason to access the Moon Palace by foot. In III, the space on the western part of the continent was excised. Marukatsu’s Map Guide (Japan only) has a labelled IIb map, revealing that this area was intended to be the sandship and its surrounding vicinity. There’s no reason to revisit this area after the scenario is complete which may have led to its removal on the map, but that’s true of many areas in the game.

Kakkara, as it appears in Secret of Mana

In 2018, some dummy locations were added in on the bottom portion to give it more detail (IV):

Kakkara, as it appears in Secret of Mana's 2018 remake
Dengeki Super Famicom
(June 25, 1993)

Translated by Sevon

T...there's something weird there!

Randi
L-let's go!

Purim
Hey hey, time out!
I've got sand in my shoes!

Popoi
Geez, read the room, lady!

The following article appeared in a Japanese magazine shortly before release:

Dengeki Super Famicom (June 11, 1993)

Translated by Sevon

An entrance to the depths of the earth suddenly opened in the desert?

A huge hole appeared in the middle of the desert, huge in comparison to other things on the map. Maybe it leads to an underground world like in [FFIV]? That being the case, this might not be the only one on the map. The area is surrounded by rocky terrain, so the only way to get there is from above? Better call Flammie, then.

Translated by Sevon

Scary antlion pits
↑ Are these sharp fangs in antlion pits? If you get too close, you'll be swept away toward the center. This thing must be a really strong enemy.

Metal Signpost
↑ There's a signpost all the way out here. But it looks like it's made from metal. It's a little rusty, so does that mean there was an advanced civilization here long ago? [ManaRedux's note: These signs don't appear in the final game.]

I’ve been wondering for years what’s on the other side of a wall in Tasnica’s sandship.  A look in the ROM reveals a huge area—either undeveloped, or removed.  Or just part of the scenery, but I don’t deal in easy solutions. 

Unused space in the sandship

A deleted or test area that resembles the Sandship:

Marukatsu Super Famicom (February 26, 1993)

A rough version of the Moon Palace, with Chobin Hoods:

Famitsu (July 2, 1993)

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