Terranigma

aka: Tenchi Sōzō
Moby ID: 9107
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Description official description

The planet known to its inhabitants as Earth is composed out of two realms - the surface, or Lightside, and the underground world, or Darkside. Two cosmic forces, called God and Devil by the humans, were fighting each other fiercely until their final battle in Antarctica led to a catastrophe: the continents of the surface world submerged into the ocean, presumably eradicating all life on the Lightside.

Meanwhile, the isolated underworld, consisting of frozen crystal mountains and lava rivers, continues to exist. A young boy named Ark grew up in Crysta, the only remaining village on the Darkside. One day, he and some other boys hear mysterious voices coming from beyond a door the village elder forbade them to open. Unable to resist their curiosity, the boys open the door, and Ark finds a box with a strange creature inside. By opening the box, Ark inadvertently causes all the villagers to be turned into stones. In order to bring them back to life, Ark has to find five towers within the dangerous Darkside and eventually restore life on the surface of the planet.

Terranigma is an action role-playing game. Ark levels up after having completed an important quest or cleared out an area. He can attack enemies with various weapons, using different techniques: pierce, leap, dash, etc., resulting from the combination of three basic actions - attacking, running, and jumping. Special objects called Magirocks can be collected and converted into rings, which act as one-use items capable of casting magic spells.

The game is closely connected to and often regarded as the final part of a trilogy, the first two games being Soul Blazer and Illusion of Gaia.

Spellings

  • 天地創造 - Japanese spelling

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Credits (SNES version)

96 People (93 developers, 3 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 86% (based on 18 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 48 ratings with 4 reviews)

An Archetypal Journey (but YOU won't know it)

The Good
Terranigma is a wonderful exploration of the major creation myths, giving it enormous value to an already interesting game mechanic (action-RPG, but not the boring back-fourth movement, no sir!). The graphics are very catchy - the color schemes are attractive and not eye-soaring (i.e. not like Secret of Mana); the details are pretty well rendered and the perspective is pleasant and quite fun (making the characters look slightly "chibi"-ish). The story (in 4 chapters) is interesting because not many games revolve around something like this, something almost religious I could say (not spoiling anything!). It is partially non-linear, as you will see in the third and fourth chapters when you will learn some macro-economics in a fun way.

The Bad
The English translation is pretty close to the original Japanese, BUT there are some flaws, even in the names of the places. A very important item is named "magirock" but in the box that you keep this item is it is written "PRIME B" - from the Japanese version in which it was called "Prime Blue". There are not TOO many, but after the game you could use Google Translate and find some other nice trivia from Japanese fan-sites.

The Bottom Line
An incredible game with a surprising end, intricate characters and story (I can say only this about Chapter 4: you will be mesmerized!), awesome game mechanics and a very strange feeling after you finish it! A must!

SNES · by Remus Celloco (3) · 2010

"Haunting, But Fulfilling"

The Good
GAMEPLAY: The controls were fairly easy to master and similar to the "Legend Of Zelda" games (with the addition of jumping). Especially helpful are the periods of invincibility that Ark gains when executing his dash-thrust and jumping-dash-thrust moves.

MUSIC: Awesome music, just like the other games in Enix's library. I'd love to know who wrote it.

STORY: It's amazing to see how Ark revives the world from chaos to medieval times to modernity and beyond (and a bit sad, too). The characters are memorable and believable, even if they're only around for a short while.

The Bad
TEXT: The English translation has some major problems. Ark's supposed to have an attitude, but it doesn't show. There are also plenty of shakey grammar problems.

TRANSPORT: There are only three "airports" in the entire game world, making continental travel difficult and arduous. Some parts of the map are completely inaccessible.

The Bottom Line
It's a good mix of Zelda and "Illusion Of Gaia," and has a great story, if not one that makes the player reflect on reality. But then, in my opinion, this is what RPGs/story games should do.

SNES · by Lou Smith (4) · 2006

Strangely Depressing

The Good
GAMEPLAY: Nice simple interface and controls. Addictive combat systems. Fun inventory items. Good exploration. Linear, but not too linear (ie., you generally know what needs to be done to progress, but you can choose the order). [4.5/5]

GRAPHICS: Quite colourful and detailed, mid-sized sprites. Pleasant and interesting to look at. Pretty detailed, but not hyper complex. [4/5]

AUDIO: Mellow, moody soundtrack. Very ambient, but also melodic and catchy. Pretty darned good actually, not too cheesy. Sound FX are functional, nothing to write home about. [4.5/5]

PLOTLINE: If you have played Chrono Trigger, kinda similar. Basically about the passage of time and the creation of Earth, but with a fantasy orientation, what with talking trees, lions and the like. The mood is very atmospheric, nostalgic and wistful. [5/5]

The Bad
The game is quite linear -- both good and bad. You don't often get lost and you can choose the order of what to do next, which is usually obvious. However, like traditional adventure games and films it isn't as good the second time around as there aren't as many surprises.

The Bottom Line
This game is somewhere between Zelda and Chrono Trigger, and is just as good as either. If you don't know those two, the game is an action-adventure hybrid with an easy learning curve and not overly complex. The atmosphere is strong, quite nostalgic, a bit dark and isolationist, surreal at times. Memorable. [4.5/5]

SNES · by Tom White (12) · 2004

[ View all 4 player reviews ]

Trivia

Hidden room

There's a hidden room accessible by entering a trashcan located in the empty lot of Neo Tokyo, after defeating an enemy you'll be transported to an office where you can chat with a group of chickens hard at work programming. These fellows are actually Quintet, and they even explain that they are working on Illusion of Gaia 2 !

Title

The literal translation of the title Tenchisôzô into English is something along the lines of "Creation of Heaven and Earth". Which is exactly the content that the game deals with.

Releases

Although both of the other Gaia games were released in North America, for unknown reasons, Terranigma was not, even though an English translation was done for its UK release.

Information also contributed by Zovni

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Unicorn Lynx.

Additional contributors: Shoddyan, chirinea, Alaka, LepricahnsGold, Thomas Thompson, Rik Hideto.

Game added May 8, 2003. Last modified August 17, 2023.