Gaming Cult Classics: Terranigma

[Turkey]

[I]The Planet possesed two souls.
An external face and an internal face.
Lightside and Darkside.

46 billion years since the Planet's birth,
Growth and decline circle to two wills.

At the will of Lightside, new life is born.
At the will of Darkside, ice ages descend.

Lightside wills intelligent beings.
Rapid progress takes root.

Darkside's will breeds fear and disharmony.
They came to be called "God" and "Devil".

The clock has reached 13.[/I]

With this begins Terranigma, the sequel to Soul Blazer and Illusion of Gaia for the SNES, and one of the greatest games I've ever played.

Story:
You are Ark, a teenager that lives underground, in the village of Crysta (no typo). He's lived a carefree live as far back as he can remember. However, his curiosity changed all this.

Because of something he did (and I won't spoil), he has departed on a mission to re-awaken the planet.

The adventure is divided into 4 chapters, with the third taking up most of the game. Instead of a fantasy world, Terranigma (as well as it's predecesors) takes place on a variation of the Earth.

The story is very, very deep. By the end of the third chapter, you will have many questions, which will be answered on the third chapter.

I'll say it, and I'll say it proud: I cried on the ending. It was [B]that[/B] beautiful.

Graphics:
At first, I didn't like the sprite designs, but I grew to accept it. The animations are plenty and look perfect, giving the characters lots of life. The monsters are very well done.

Sound:
I didn't like most of the sounds, like explosions. They sounded a little cheap, almost ruining a moment in the game. However, the music is simply amazing. Crysta's theme is one to be remembered, as well as Elle's.

Gameplay:
The game's strongest point. Ark fights with rods, and he has plenty of moves. The magic, while not necessary, can make the game much easier if used correctly. Sadly, you will probably have to stay leveling up a few times, since the dificulty rises quickly at one point.

In conclusion, any SNES owner should import it (it was released in Europe and Japan only). In fact, get this game at all costs!

[Desbreko]

[color=indigo]Ooo! Sounds good! I remember playing Soul Blazer when I was little, when my brother rented it. I didn't get very far (I was only about 7 years old, and not very good at most games), but it was fun. I might have to look into this.

It pisses me off that the US didn't get it, though... It seems there are actually a lot of good games that are never brought over to the US... It's annoying as heck to hear about good games like this, and then learn that you'll have to import them. Blegh...

But, at least you don't have to worry about not being able to play imported Japanese SNES games! All that's stopping the Japanese games being played on a US SNES are two little plastic tabs down in the cartridge slot on the SNES. If you use a pair of pliers, you can take them right out, and you can then play Japanese games (we did this to our SNES, and it worked fine).[/color]

[ZeroBlade]

I remember that game. It RULED. Do what Smoky Joe says, get this game its worth it. I'm with you Joe, I cried too when I saw the ending.:bawl: This was one of those games like Xenogears that it was a quiet release but, one of the greatest titles to be made. I don't have the Japanese cart (nor do I know Japanese) but I still played it though other means......

[Parabola-]

I have Terranigma for my UK PAL Super Nintendo, great game. It sold for £80 on ebay.

[SS Vegeta]

Yes, I too have played it. Under the description on a website it said: Another Zelda clone, but possibly better than Zelda!
So I went to ebay.com worked my magic and got it for a buck fifty.
I haven't beaten yet, but it is quite good.

[Semjaza]

Would be even BETTER if I could actually buy it in the US. I'm not a big fan of console emulation...just MAME :). Starting work on a MAME cabinet soon yay!