Europe’s Chrono Trigger?: Terranigma (SNES) Resource

Introduction

One of my favorite genres is top-down action RPG’s. This love stems from a life-long obsession with 2D entries of The Legend of Zelda series. Though it is arguable whether or not Zelda belongs solely to this genre, it regardless is a genre that provides the best of both worlds: the sense of growth and exploration, prevalent in RPGs, and the fast-paced, skill-based mechanics that define the action genre. As such, I am always on the look out for quality games that fit this archetype.

In high school, I became deeply involved in the emulation scene; spending most of my gaming time both reliving my childhood favorites, and further exploring the libraries of the consoles that laid the foundation for my life-long interest in gaming. Armed with my SNES controller and a USB-adapter, my under-powered family PC in my basement became a make-shift Super Nintendo.

I absolutely attacked the Super Nintendo and SEGA Genesis library, efficiently working my way through the system-defining gems regardless of region. My exploration of region-locked games ultimately led to the discovery that Europeans flipped shit about a game called Terranigma.

Heralding it as their equivalent to Chrono Trigger, not in gameplay style, but rather in level of influence and exclusivity, my European counterparts indirectly urged me to try Terranigma. With every positive review, every emotional forum post, and every sample of the game’s music, my interest grew exponentially.

I read on to discover Terranigma was the final entry in the Quintet Trilogy for the SNES, which also included the US releases Soul Blazer, and the fairly popular Illusion of Gaia. Being in the company of such quality games solidified my confidence in the Terranigma’s rave reviews

Despite my excitement to play the game, and the apparent legitimacy of its greatness, it eventually slipped through the cracks, lost in my ever-expanding backlog. For years, Terranigma always lingered in the back of my mind, begging me to partake in the divine adventure. That is until one day, I could no longer justify the procrastination; I finally dropped everything and dove into the adventure head first.

Review

Visuals 8/10

Terranigma gives a visual presentation that consists of a few mediocre points, overshadowed by an abundance of artistic effort in a few key areas.

Terranigma offers consistently beautiful cutscenes, that are honestly the best animations on the Super Nintendo. Landscapes that blend pseudo-3D effects with vivid imagery and the power of Mode-7, create a distinct and beautiful visual experience that abbreviate major moments in the game. These scenes were a true visual delight that blew my mind the first moment I saw them. It is almost absurd that they were able to create such high-quality images on the Super Nintendo.

Another high point in the game’s visual presentation is the battle animations. The main character Ark, smoothly transitions from standard spear thrusts, to comet attacks, to forward-flying missile-like attacks in a seamless fashion. No frames are wasted and every detail is carefully constructed to ensure the on-screen action is flawless. These animations help bolster the already stellar attack mechanics by making them appear as smooth as they feel. Still images of the spear attacks do no justice to the quality of the developer’s work in this regard. Not only are these physical attacks well executed, but the magical attacks, with the exceptions of the most basic spells, result in a freeze frame of impressively detailed artwork. Taking into consideration both the physical and magical attack animations, it is safe to say that Terranigma has the smoothest and prettiest battle animations in the genre on Super Nintendo.

Despite all the positives, Terranigma’s graphical presentation does have some mediocre aspects. The sprite work in the game is honestly a mixed bag, ranging from absolutely stunning, to largely underwhelming.

To start Ark’s sprite, and those of important NPCs, are particularly detailed and look great. They tend to be marginally larger and more unique than the other sprites in the game.

Other NPCs however, tend to be somewhat generic and are often palette swaps of each other. It is not all bad however, the palette swaps tend to be regional; meaning characters look alike within particular regions, giving Terranigma a level of diversity not present in many games of the era.

Speaking of diversity, this is one of the few Japanese-produced games of the 16-bit era that contains black people. I hilariously enough was pretty shocked by this; it is cool to see an honest attempt to truly represent the many cultures in the world.

South America has South Americans, Asia has Asians or Middle Easterners depending on the area, while North America and Australia has white and black people. Though Africa was somewhat abandoned, I must say I was rather impressed with the attention to detail the developers put into crafting their game world.

Though in-game representation of cultures can be racist at times, particularly with regards to some of the Asian characters, the game somewhat makes up for it by having characters of different descents playing vital roles in the progression of either the story or the development of the world.

Humans are not the only inhabitants of Terranigma’s expansive world; animals and plants also play an essential role in the narrative. The sprites of these creatures are usually pretty small, and not incredibly detailed, but these flora and fauna help breathe life into Terranigma’s world. When larger animals are present, however, the increase in level of detail is nearly exponential. These larger creatures look absolutely stunning and are a highlight of the game

Much like the animals of the game, the quality of enemy sprites are largely size-dependent. The smaller enemies look like your run-of-the-mill SNES baddies, while the larger enemies are some of the best looking on the console. Any downsides to the enemy sprite work are remedied by the sheer variety of evil creatures to slay. Though the game does use palette swaps, they are tastefully done and never excessive. The enemies in the levels absolutely contribute to the motif of that particular dungeon and never feel out-of-place.

Unfortunately bosses are also a mixed bag, ranging from visually generic to absolutely mind-blowingly gorgeous. Bosses are almost never boring due to a lack of detail, rather the more generic ones just feel somewhat lifeless and less vivid than the game’s more epic beasts. When Terranigma gets it right however, it has some of the most visually awe-inspiring bosses on the console. Just look at the boss in the bottom right in the figure above, it’s almost ridiculous how great that looks; it almost looks like a 32-bit 2D sprite.

Finally, the background environments are probably the weakest aspect of Terranigma. Not just in relation to graphics, but in relation to the game as a whole. I feel as if the environs are truly generic SNES RPG fare. While they don’t look bad by any stretch, they don’t advance the genre’s art style in anyway, especially considering Terranigma was released in 1995, somewhat late in the consoles life cycle. This is somewhat excusable however, considering how much content is packed into the game; it is understandable that some sacrifices had to be made to fit such an epic game on one cartridge.

Overall Terranigma offers some of the most beautiful animations on the SNES. Unfortunately, this comes with inevitable sacrifices in other areas of the graphical presentation that place the visuals squarely in the “above average” category.

Sound 10/10

Terranigma’s music is absolutely spectacular. I rarely hand out 10’s in any category, but Terranigma is one of the best soundtracks on the entire SNES. Due to the standout composition, I feel it is more than justifiable to drop a double-digit score on Miyoko Takaoka’s (pseudonym: Miyoko Kobayashi) and Masanori Hikichi’s masterfully crafted OST.

Instrument usage ranges from the chip-tune equivalents of harps, to clarinets, to bells, to oboe, to God knows what else. It is an absolute treat to hear the complexity and variety present in the tracks, each taking full advantage of the SNES’s incredible sound chip.

Aside from diversity of instrument choice, Terranigma, also delivers an unparalleled heterogeneity of tone, each track seeking to elicit a specific emotional response from the listener. Ranging from the calming “Hometown,” which truly transports the listener to a quaint, picturesque village to the aptly named “Fight Against Powerful Enemies,” which ratchets up the tension during most of the game’s boss fights; Terranigma’s composition truly runs the gamut.

It would take all day to analyze this exceptional collection of BGM on a track-by-track basis, but I feel it necessary to mention a few songs by name.”Elle” is an emotionally charged piece that both tears at the heart stings, and provides a strangely somber optimism. The track is revisited often in-game and helps set the stage for a number of Terranigma’s key scenario’s.

“Light Side Field” is the “light” over-world theme, delivering a relaxing, yet compelling tune that makes the player feel as if they are truly blazing a trail through the virginal land of Light Gaea.

Another collection worth mentioning is the variety of dungeon themes in the game, all providing unique, dark, and menacing melodies that act to further immerse the player in Ark’s trials and tribulations. My personal favorites are “Underground,” which plays in appropriate underground themed stages, and “Laboratory” which plays in the more technologically advanced dungeons.

Beyond the exciting dungeon themes, Terranigma’s soundtrack also has spectacular town themes that create a cultural identity for each location. These tracks act as a bridge between the cultures of the game world and our own, making each location instantly identifiable. My favorite of these themes is “Southern Rhythm” which attempts to encapsulate, in a loop, the magic of Carnival in Rio…with much success. These simple town themes are truly responsible for creating the world in Terranigma; and the game would be unable to accomplish its goal of paralleling the history of Earth without these lovingly crafted pieces.

The “Final Battle,” which obviously accompanies the final boss battle, is an absolutely epic, two-minute long loop. This track starts a bit subdued before launching into a triumphant section that immediately forces goose-flesh upon those participating in the battle. The song alternates these heroic sections with quieter, slowly paced sections that almost act as a temporary reprieve from the otherwise stress-filled composition. It is a fitting end to the in-game action in an RPG with an absolutely epic sense of scope.

Finally, the ending theme “Return to Mother Earth,” though rather simple, perfectly accompanies one of the most bittersweet and beautiful endings in gaming. I won’t go into too much detail, but the song utilizes sections of other important tracks from the game and winds down slowly to allow the player to take in all the emotion in one of the best endings on the SNES.

Overall, the Terranigma soundtrack is perfect for something limited by a 16-bit, albeit spectacular, sound chip. I would ask for nothing more from the composers and would dare say its in my top 5 favorite OST on the console.

Gameplay: 9/10

I finally fully comprehend why Terranigma is so well-loved by the European and Japanese audiences, as well as those in the North American emulation scene.

I had previously played through the game while making a Top 10 list of SNES games never released in North America, and was thoroughly impressed. However, after a second run through the game, I came to be astonished by how well it held up, even after the novelty of the experience had worn off.

To start, Terranigma is defined by its advanced, yet simple to comprehend, control scheme. The attack patterns are not limited to the simple-slashes and jumping-slashes ubiquitous in Action RPGs of the era, rather Ark is capable of performing six different attacks that can even be combo’d to deal greater damage and hit multiple foes.

Using Ark’s spear, a rather unique weapon in the sword-biased world of video games, the player is capable of performing an impressive array of strikes including: a block, a singular thrust, a flurry of thrusts, a jumping spin-attack, a missile-like attack that sends Ark hurdling forward, and a comet attack that can be initiated by running, jumping and then attacking.

Each of these are easily executed thanks to the responsiveness of the controls and the polish of the game’s mechanic as a whole. The responsiveness is also what makes the linking of attacks so fluid and intuitive. These combos are a natural progression of the previous attack and never require awkward button inputs to execute properly. This is most apparent in the most complicated, and most useful, combo in the game: the comet + missile attack. This is executed by first dashing, then jumping, then attacking while in mid-air. This results in the comet-attack, which sends Ark crashing into the ground and sliding forward, damaging all enemies in his path. While in the slide animation, the attack button can be pressed again to launch into the missile attack, extending the range and damage output of the maneuver. Though this sounds somewhat complicated, it is easily executed and involves only 3-4 button presses depending on the player’s preference for initiating a dash, double tapping forward on the D-pad or pressing the assigned Run button.

Speaking of player preference, Terranigma allows the player to completely customize the control scheme. Nearly every button assignment in the game can be reassigned from the in-game menu on-the-fly; allowing a level of customization uncommon in the 16-bit era. I personally used a modified control scheme that used Y as attack, B as Jump, A as run, X as block, and R as Use Item. This just felt better to me when compared to the default control scheme. I really appreciated the developer’s inclusion of the input re-mapping option because it allowed me to play the game in a way that felt natural to me.

The amazing battle system does have one flaw however, magic use. Using magic attacks in Terranigma is both unnecessary, and completely counter-intuitive. To cast magic, the player must collect something called Magirocks that are a sort of currency used to purchase magical rings and pins. These pieces of jewelry can be used to cast a spell either by selecting it from the in-game menu, or by assigning the spell to the Use Item button.

Sounds simple enough right? Well no, the game provides absolutely NO INDICATION of how this system works. And yes, there is a difference between holding the player’s hand with tutorials and leaving one completely in the dark by making the system somewhat illogical. Retro games that did not give tutorials generally used clever and intuitive design to make the discovery of certain aspects of the gameplay inevitable. Terranigma, on the other hand does a poor job in this respect, by obscuring magic use completely. It would have been as simple as having the Magi-Shop provide a coherent two-sentence-long instruction on how to use the magic.

In my first time through the game, I did not use magic until I was nearly two-thirds through the game; quickly losing interest in trying to figure it out, since my standard attacks seemed to be doing me just fine. I only became interested in magic when a certain boss brings the progression of the game to a screeching halt, by blind-siding the player with a dramatic increase in difficulty. Though I utilized magic for that one terrifying boss, I never used it again afterwards, reinforcing how irrelevant it is to the overall gameplay.

This brings me to the next negative aspect of the game. Terranigma is not really difficult, but Bloody Mary…Bloody Fucking Mary, comes out of nowhere and ruins a perfectly crafted difficulty curve. This boss is the hardest in the game by miles, unless the player is willing to spam cheap, screen-engulfing magic, how I beat her on my first playthrough, which isn’t even fun. It is very difficult to damage her without losing at least 50 HP, and I found myself scrambling to damage her during the few minute openings in her attack pattern. The only problem is these pauses in her pattern are infrequent and seemingly random. This makes much of the fight consist of staying away from her all together, when choosing the honorable, non-magic spamming route to victory. All this running away kind of makes the fight boring and seems like a wasted opportunity.

It would have been so much better if this spike in difficulty wasn’t a one time occurrence. Following Bloody Mary, the rest of the bosses are a comparative walk in the park, despite fitting into the game’s previously established difficulty curve. Terranigma could have really benefited by adjusting this boss in some way and making later bosses more difficult.

[A GUIDE TO DEFEAT BLOODY MARY EASILY , BY ME]

The negatives with regards to Bloody Mary and the game’s Magic System are almost irrelevant in comparison to the rest of Terranigma’s content. Aside from the spectacular controls and battle system, Terranigma offers a unique story, world building elements, impressive level design, and some pretty challenging puzzles.

The story opens with the young prankster Ark, confined to his village lifestyle, staggering through a somewhat restless existence. One day, defying the elder’s wishes, he opens a “Forbidden Door” that brings disaster to his village of Crysta. The Elder then reveals to Ark that the village is part of a vast underworld and he must visit five towers to revive Crysta. After completing this task, Ark learns of a vast overworld that has also been revived by the towers, and agrees to help revive the life forms on that barren world as well.

Upon reaching the overworld, it becomes apparent that the world in question is a lifeless post-calamity Earth. The cause of the former Earth’s extinction is not known, but as the game progresses, and Ark revives plants, animals and humans, the cause of the previous downfall becomes apparent. These revelations are accompanied by major plot twists that make Ark question his journey’s purpose. Ark, along with a number of friends of varying species, eventually discover the mysteries of the world and save the day.

After a somewhat complex narrative, touching on themes of evolution, scientific progress, religion, and reincarnation, that admittedly may leave some things lost in translation, the player is greeted with a simple, yet beautiful ending. It is definitely not the standard video game ending, and it leaves some aspects open to interpretation, but it is incredible and moving in my opinion.

Complimenting the story, is the world-building process in the game, consisting of both the inherent, narrative-triggered re-building events, and the optional town-enhancing side quests that really advance the game’s society and culture. It is amazing to play a part in the world’s advancement from pre-human society to a technologically advanced civilization. These advances range from the invention of electricity, to the discovery of sea navigation techniques, to the establishment of telecommunication, all the way to creation of air planes. These advances include pivotal choices Ark must make that determine the level of economic growth a town will experience. For example, Ark must choose between Capitalism and Socialism in a particular town, which determines whether it will consist of a few homes or becomes an expansive, multi-screened metropolis later on in the game.

All of these advances include support characters such as “Bell” and “Colombus,” giving the nod to the historical figures who were vital in our own society’s progress. These references contribute to the vast historical nature of Terranigma, resulting in a grand sense of scale nearly unmatched by any game of the era; rather than simply stopping some evil force, the player is entrusted with the omnipotent, God-like power to craft the world as they see fit… while also stopping some evil force.

The great story, world-building features, and excellent battle system would all be for naught if Terranigma did not have interesting dungeons to keep the player engaged. Luckily, the final entry in Quintet’s trilogy delivers; the dungeons in Terranigma are highly varied and generally revolve around a unique skill and challenging puzzles. For example, gaining the ability to swim and climb play essential roles in navigating certain dungeons, and remain useful in later portions of the game.

The puzzles in these dungeon’s range from simple, to really obscure and challenging. Some really require the player to closely observe the environment, equip certain weapons, or even blow out candles or interact with other pieces of the environment, that in other games, would be purely decorative.

An interesting example of the level of thinking required to solve the puzzles comes in a dungeon that involves controlling water depth to gain access to certain areas. At one point a dead end is reached in a room with a few rocks. On the wall there is a tiny bit of water dripping. The player must crack the wall using one of these rocks to allow a waterfall to burst forth and fill the room below. This may sound basic, but the water is very well incorporated into the environment, not so much so that it is impossible to figure it out, but enough so that it is not the usual overly conspicuous aspect of the environment that are the key to most other game’s puzzles. It is this and other brain teasers in the game that act as the proverbial bow on an already exceptional gaming experience.

Overall the gameplay in Terranigma is an incredible feat of technology for the time; it is amazing the developers were able to create such an expansive game on the SNES. It is a shame they did not have more to work with, because it is apparent in certain parts of the game that the developers really wanted to do so much more. Due to this fact and Terranigma’s innate level of greatness, it is one of the best candidates for a modern remake, considering the developer’s true vision could now be fully realized with modern technology. Unfortunately, that probably will never happen, so gamer’s must settle for a near-masterpiece on the SNES.

Resources:

My Bloody Mary Guide:

How to Defeat Bloody Mary

Save Games:

During my first time through Terranigma, tragedy struck: my emulator crashed and I lost over 10 hours of save data. I tried everything to restore it to no avail, but a beacon of hope lay a google search away: Retromageddon’s Terranigma Saves. This site has multiple SNES9x save files for the game, taken at various points in the adventure. Luckily, they had a save file that was only about an hour worth of gameplay behind me. Unfortunately, one of the towns was not developed properly, but I was more than grateful to not have to restart from scratch. Check out the saves and give this site some views for saving my sanity.

http://retromaggedon.com/index.php/terranigma-snes9x-saves/

A Great Terranigma Walkthrough

An exceptional Terranigma walkthrough for those trying to 100% the game. I wouldn’t suggest using a guide the first time through, except to get out of a bind, but your choice. This is a simple guide with images that is not overly bloated and slow.

http://shrines.rpgclassics.com/snes/terranigma/windex.shtml

Fun Facts

• Final entry in the Quintet/Gaia/ Soul Blazer Series. The series includes Soul Blazer, Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma.

• Never released in North America, but released in Europe and Japan. Strange a game of this genre never made it in the US, despite having an English translation. It may have had something to do with Enix closing NA operations at the time or the religious content in the game supposedly. I am not sure I buy the religious portion, there is a representation of Jesus, but it could have been easily removed. Otherwise there are some cults and such, but nothing other games haven’t done.

You May Also Like

Top 10 Japanese-Only Super Nintendo/Super Famicom Games: the Top 10 List of my favorite SNES games never released in North America. Terranigma is on the list.

Top 10 Japan-Only SEGA Genesis Games: Contains a game called Tougi Ou: King Colossus, another great action RPG never released in North America (or in Europe)

Play Terranigma on Original Hardware with Super Everdrive:

The Best Source for Retro Gaming Accessories. Play on Original Hardware Regardless of Region, with Everdrive and Other Products on Stone Age Gamer

Buy Everdrive and Similar Devices on Stone Age Gamer.

I would suggest the SD2SNES Flash Cartridge, which allows the loading of all your SNES games on to one cartridge. With MSU-1 media enhancement support, many of the enhancement chip sets, auto-region patching, and a real-time clock, it is one of the best values on the market.

Be sure to check the convenient compatibility list on Stone Age Gamer’s SNES flash cart page to be sure the games you want to play are compatible, as a few popular titles are not supported (The only real quality games that aren’t compatible are Super Mario RPG, Yoshi’s Island, Star Fox, Street Fighter Alpha 2 and Star Ocean)

DO YOU LOVE TERRANIGMA? I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM PEOPLE WHO GREW UP WITH THE GAME. PLEASE COMMENT BELOW?