Terranigma

"A minor classic."

Let's begin by noting that Terranigma is a truly fantastic game. For me it's one of the highlights for the SNES, or at least one of the most enjoyable. Only a few minor flaws prevent this from being a absolute classic, as will be explained below.

GRAPHICS
In one word, fantastic. There are many small details, from working chukooclocks, to fish swimming in their bowl. Animation is nice too, both on the leading character as on some of his enemies.

Perhaps the only complaints would be the repetition of certain locations and objects throughout the game, and villagers also look the same in every town, but with a different colour scheme. But then again, which adventure game from this era didn't have this effect to some extent. The good points far outweigh the bad.

SOUND
The musical score is remarkable. Every type of location has a appropriate tune, from sweet to epic. Memorable tunes are those of the Leim level, the song in certain villages like for example Crysta, and the epic score heard in locations like the portal that brings Ark in the upper world. The music provides a perfect sense of atmosphere.
The sound effects are also great. From the swishing sound the staff makes, to the explosions when an enemy dies. There is nothing wrong in the sound department. .

GAME PLAY
The gameplay is simply great. The combat is fun, with controls that are relatively straightforward to use. They take perhaps some getting used to, but this will not take long.

Terranigma is all about exploring and the inevitable combat. The dungeons (and with dungeons I mean the combat levels) themselves are remarkably fun to play through. The occasional puzzles are never to hard, enemies never impossible to defeat, even the bosses, although with one possible exception. It is quite easy to level up, items are abundant and the defeated enemies leave enough gold to purchase the necessary health restoring equipment in the stores. Magic is also easy to use.

Perhaps the game is a bit to easy. Clues are numerous and items and gold are perhaps too abundant. The exception I mentioned regarding the enemies, is Bloody Mary, the boss of Sylvain Castle. She is the only enemy where you really have to use magic. In fact, I finished the remainder of the game without using even one spell. I just didn't occurred to me to use one. Perhaps some will find Terranigma to simple to finish, but to be honest, I personally don't think the difficulty is really a problem.

This is because the main driving force behind the game is the story. It is epic, but on the other hand also quite intimate at times. But more importantly, it is well implemented. It won't win any literary prizes, but for a game of this era, it is very good. You really start to care for the characters.

Terranigma is divided into four chapters. The first two are full of action, exploring large relatively complex dungeons and fighting numerous enemies. The fourth is heavily story driven, but also has a great sense of momentum. The third chapter contains however, the greatest flaw that Terranigma has, and perhaps it is also the only one that really grates.
In the third chapter you must develop different villages across the world. You do this mainly by running errands for different villagers, so they can in some way develop, either themselves or their village. This will open up new parts of the world to explore, or create new needs that you have to fulfil. This in itself is amusing, but after a while it can become rather cumbersome.

There are some dungeons to provide some action. In the beginning there are two good ones, which provide a lot of opportunities to level up and a big pile of gold. But after these are completed, and you gain access to America, there is a shortage of dungeons. Those that are there are either short, simple or both. There is also an attempt at stealth in the Dragoon castle dungeon, but this doesn't turn out to be very enjoyable.

Beside the few dungeons and developing the villages, you can also explore the world via ship or plain. This can provide several weapons, items and a lot of gold. But travelling between these locations, and travelling between the towns in general can become something of a chore.

All in all the third chapter is not really such a great problem. It is rather amusing seeing the villages develop, and doing so provides you with items. But unfortunately this somewhat takes the speed out of the game. You don't level up as much as in the other chapters, and the sense of urgency build in the previous chapters is lost. It just becomes cumbersome and sometimes feels like a chore. One or two extra dungeons could have remedied this, or simply expanding the existing ones.

FINAL REMARKS
A fun and great game, driven by a fantastically told story, with a superb presentation. It's most annoying flaw is that the third chapter takes too much of the speed and some of the enjoyment out of the game. Still, this does not constitute a major problem, it's just that the rest of Terranigma is so good, and it makes the difference between being a minor or being a major classic.

OVERALL: 9,5

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/29/05