The link in Chris’s original post went to the Windows version of the binary. Here is a link that goes to both Mac and Windows versions:
Vintage Mac Software
The link in Chris’s original post went to the Windows version of the binary. Here is a link that goes to both Mac and Windows versions:
Trackback URL for this entry
i love you guys…AFTER ALL THESE YEARS!
… I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN IN LOVE WITH THIS GAME…. i gave up on it last year… i did not think id ever be able to play it again… so all i had was the sweet melodies that i treasure…. but look 
… i can adventure once again… i played this game as a 4 year old in 1997 … now im 16 (17 in december) and rearing to defend the lands once again! BRING IT ON!
What the guy before me said.
Thanks for bringing this back =)
Can we expect any further games from the cult?
Hey all. Wish we all had more time to write games again… unfortunately most (or all) of us are deep into rewarding careers that take up almost all of our time. Chris was awesome to help us modernize Mantra and bring it back to life, but we’re not likely to see anything new for a while. Maybe when we all retire…
This is amazing!
Any chance of Mantra II coming one day?
Awww….
Enjoy your careers, you deserve’em.
Thanks for making my childhood so enjoyable, and for bringing that enjoyment back through nostalgia 10 years later.
(Ben as admin) – 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. I’d be surprised if enough people would enjoy a Mantra II port to make it worth the time to make it work.
It is a fine thing to come back to the delights of our younger years. I’m looking forward to experiencing all my favorite childrens’ books again with my daughter. As far as I’m concerned, we should all be so lucky to revisit things we enjoyed 10 years ago, or 20, or 30.
What the guy before me said.
Thanks for bringing this back =)
Can we expect any further games from the cult?
i have a sony vio laptop and computers, is there anyway i can download mantra? i have windows 7 and i keep trying but the download never comes please help me i loved this game
Mantra was a lost memory for me. I had always dreamed of beating it (I had a shareware version that unfortunately would not allow me to save my progress). Time passed, and so did my old mac, rendering my old CD’s useless. However, thanks to you all, I have now fulfilled my goals of beating the game and reliving my childhood. Thank you and cheers to Syzgycult!
On a side note, are any of you game developers? If so, what games, for I am sure they match or exceed the awesomeness of Mantra!
Hi Alex. I’m glad to hear you finally beat it! “Poke it ’til it pops,” as we used to say.
Several of us are software developers of various flavors, but no one is in the games industry. I took a stab at it as a composer for a while, but didn’t get much traction.
(Birney as admin)
Thanks for remembering your loyal fans and offering this classic game!
Here’s my story:
I played this game on my old apple computer sooo long ago. I’m 23 now, so if it was released in ’94, that puts me at… 7 years old? It’s very possible. My parents say I was stubborn to learn to read so that I could figure out how to play those old games, maybe even Mantra in particular. I remember there used to be these Apple user conventions, I think, at Riverton Elementary School, if I remember correctly. Anyway, somehow I never realized Syzygy was Portland, ME-based (or maybe I just forgot), but I guess I probably got the game first at one of these conventions. I used to get floppy disks with a bunch of shareware games on them. Haha- floppy disks.
I remember that the swinging sword must have been limited only by processing speed, because it zipped around nauseatingly after the advent of the Power Macintosh. Looks like that’s been fixed for the new release.
Here’s something funny: I just found my old Mantra folder… on the computer I’m using right now. If there’s one thing I’ve always been good at, it’s backing up, and as drives get cheaper and larger, I’ve never had to get dump any of my old files.
…Oh this is crazy, I have a saved game here and the time stamp is September 9 1998! It’s been exactly 12 years and 1 month since I got stuck in the air door! Oh yeah, by the way, I got stuck in an invisible door and had to RESTART FROM THE BEGINNING! I hated you guys for that bug, I wonder if you ever found it.
So I can at least say that by the time I was 11 I was playing Mantra and loving it.
I played it again in Classic mode on my old PPC during Thermodynamics class in college, sadly, beating the game for the first time (I guess it was too hard in 1998 – I always got lost in that maze). I think I got it running on a Mac emulator, but this new release makes things much easier.
I remember when Birney released the music online. It has a special place in my iPod next to Donkey Kong Country and Super Mario 64. Yeah I’ll always be a super dork.
Anyway, thanks again!
@Silas: RIGHTEOUS.
Wow! Mantra is back!
For over 10 years, I’ve been looking for the music from this game. I have loved it since I first played it but until just recently, haven’t even found any google hits.
Is the music available anywhere? If not, could it be?
Thanks
The Code Master
codemaster@mac.com
Thanks Code Master. We love it too!
The music has actually been available for longer than the game itself; you can download it from my website, here:
http://old.bbirney.com/Page.36.Downloads
Thank you! These tunes are still great!
Now I’ll have to play through the game again. I can’t remember if I beat it or not. I think I left a screen after a key had dropped and never did complete the game (though I was close).
Alas, unlike Silas, I doubt I have any of my saved games. My IIsi that I played it on has long been disassembled.
I’ll have to check out the other things you guys have done.
The Code Master
I’m having some problems extracting the files once I download them. It says “there is already a file with the same name as the folder name you specified. Specify a different name.” I’ve tried doing so with no luck. If I force it to extract anyway, I get a single file called Manta-Windows with a size of 0 KB
Help?
Hi Ethan. I’m not sure what the issue could be, but I’ve asked the other Syzygy Cult guys if anyone has run into this. In the meantime, have you tried extracting it with 7-Zip? That’s sometimes more reliable than WinZip, and also free. http://www.7zip.org.
Hi Ethan. Try this, from Macneil:
“Make a new folder called “extracted”. Keep the zip file where it is, but when it’s time to extract, navigate to the extracted directory and select it.”
This is amazing. Thank you so much for resurrecting it.
I was seriously, no joke, thinking about buying an old Mac just so I could replay Mantra and Mantra II when I found this.
Is there any way to play it in full-screen or at a higher resolution? The window is awfully tiny on modern screens.
Much love. <3
Holy crap, YES. You have no idea how many times over the years I’ve set up pain-in-the-ass emulators to run systems 7/8 so I could play old Mac games. First they re-made Dark Castle, and now, at long last, you’ve ported Mantra. Growing up was such a waste of time until now.
yaaaaaayyyyy!!!
I still have my old Macs and my old Mantra but now I can play it on my usual Mac. Love that music!
Excellent. Superb. Incredible. A wave of joy came over me to find this treasure. Like some others posting here, I played this game before I was a teenager…I’m 29 now. I was also addicted to Slick Willy (good ‘ol Bill Clinton flying around the screen eating fast food and avoiding the Republicans), I enjoyed beta testing a game where the player controlled a spaceship at the bottom of the screen and blew things up ala Galaga (name is on the tip of my tongue, but just not there). I believe you guys also did an underwater game where you played as a fish. You guys were (are) my heroes, and my first real inspiration in becoming a hobbyist game developer. It’s obvious you made an incredible impact on a lot of people. Thank you for sharing your talents and treasures.
Space Gypsy! I knew it would come to me. Thanks again, guys, and I hope life after the SyzygyCult has been just as incredible an experience for you all.
Mantra II is one of my key gaming memories growing up. Interesting to see where it came from! And in response to your earlier comment, there’re definitely those amongst us who’d love a Mantra II port, but this is certainly satisfactory as-is!
Wow, seriously, Pom? That’s an unusual statement! Mantra II was definitely an acquired taste.
But thank you for saying so. I’m happy to hear it brought you some memories.
Please sirs, I beg of you to reconsider making an updated version of Mantra ll. Although it was in fact an acquired taste, it is one of the games that myself, and many others, associate with their childhood. If nothing else, please do it for sheer nostalgia. I would give almost anything to be able to play it again.