History VideoGame / Terranigma

Known as ''Tenchisouzou'', the original Japanese name of the game, it also got a short {{Manga}} adaptation by the same name.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The plot practically revolves around this trope. Hell, the game starts off with you opening Pandora's Box. [[spoiler: But near the end it turns out to be [[SubvertedTrope a subversion]]. In fact, not only have you not broken it, you actually... well, look at the next entry.]]

** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_HjqiotvpE&feature=relmfu#t=04m40s In one particular event]], four evil dolls circle Ark singing a Japanese children's nursery rhyme, the last line of which is a clue to which doll is the "real" one that Ark should attack. The dolls' circling is timed so that they stop as soon as the nursery rhyme is finished. Now, to be fair, this is a very tricky thing to translate. There are a few ways one could go about this:

An ActionRPG for the SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem published by [[Creator/SquareEnix Enix]] and developed by Quintet. It is considered to be part of a loose trilogy alongside ''VideoGame/SoulBlazer'' and ''VideoGame/IllusionOfGaia'', although the three games are not officially tied to each other outside of a few unused localized titles.[[note]]''Illusion of Gaia'' was once planned to be released as ''Soul Blazer: Illusion of Gaia'', while the unreleased US version of ''Terranigma'' was going to be titled ''Illusion of Gaia 2'', a title that is still referenced in-game in ''Terranigma'' (despite ''Illusion of Gaia'' being titled ''Illusion of Time'' in PAL territories).[[/note]]

An ActionRPG for the SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem published by [[Creator/SquareEnix Enix]] and developed by Quintet as a SpiritualSuccessor to ''VideoGame/IllusionOfGaia'', which in turn was a SpiritualSuccessor to ''VideoGame/SoulBlazer'' which was a SpiritualSuccessor to ''VideoGame/ActRaiser''. It was in turn Spiritually Succeeded by ''VideoGame/TheGranstreamSaga''. Still with us?

So similar in play style to its predecessor, ''Terranigma'' has often been confused as, and even referred ''to'' (in-game, no less) as ''Illusion of Gaia 2''. A fantastically enjoyable game, but was generally crippled in sales due to being released very close to the end of the Super Nintendo's life, as well as being released practically everywhere in the world ''[[NoExportForYou except America]]'' due to the bankruptcy of Enix America and not being able find an American publisher due to the Nintendo 64 being ''right'' around the corner (it was already released in North America when ''Terranigma'' was released in Europe). The multiple themes of religion (as you might guess, this game doesn't make any Creationist happy...) and death present in the title probably had a role too.

* BlindIdiotTranslation: Oh, so many examples in this game.
** The aforementioned IllusionOfGaia 2 reference should've said [[MarketBasedTitle Illusion of Time]] 2 (but it does say so in the Spanish version), because the English version of Terranigma only came out in Europe, and not America. The Japanese version uses the actual name for this game ("Tenchi Suzo") in this scene.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_HjqiotvpE&feature=relmfu#t=04m40s Another example]]: four evil dolls circle Ark singing a Japanese children's nursery rhyme, the last line of which is a clue to which doll is the "real" one that Ark should attack. The dolls' circling is timed so that they stop as soon as the nursery rhyme is finished. Now, to be fair, this is a very tricky thing to translate. There are a few ways one could go about this:

* PlayingTennisWithTheBoss: The second form of the Dark Morph, which is probably an intentional ShoutOut to TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast. Also, the first form of the FinalBoss, though it's reflected at an angle rather than straight back.

* ComicBookTime: The time in Terranigma is much more confusing than Comic Book Time. People and animals are not born but come into existence (when Ark resurrects them or when a town expands). Assuming the game spans hundreds of years, all of the characters are immortal (and not aging [[spoiler: Except Leim]]). Assuming the game spans only a few years, every event (towns developing, [[spoiler: King Henri's invasion of Storkholm]]) takes place incredibly fast and the overworld characters do not have a history prior to their "resurrection".

* ForcedLevelGrinding: Mostly because gaining levels increases your power exponentially, and when you're even slightly under-leveled, you won't be able to deal more than a scratch with each hit. Even against common {{Mooks}}.

An ActionRPG for the SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem published by [[Creator/SquareEnix Enix]] and developed by Quintet as a SpiritualSuccessor to ''VideoGame/IllusionOfGaia'', which in turn was a SpiritualSuccessor to ''VideoGame/SoulBlazer'' which was a SpiritualSuccessor to ''VideoGame/ActRaiser''. Still with us?

So similar in play style to its predecessor, ''Terranigma'' has often been confused as, and even referred ''to'' (in-game, no less) as ''Illusion of Gaia 2''. A fantastically enjoyable game, but was generally crippled in sales due to being released very close to the end of the Super Nintendo's life, as well as being released practically everywhere in the world ''[[NoExportForYou except America]]'' due to the bankruptcy of Enix America and not being able find an American publisher due to the Nintendo 64 literally being ''right'' around the corner (it was already released in North America when ''Terranigma'' was released in Europe). The multiple themes of religion (as you might guess, this game doesn't make any Creationist happy...) and death present in the title probably had a role too.

** Neotokio had a certain NPC that said "Sorry! I can't speak English very well!" in both versions, except the Japanese version had him say it in GratuitousEnglish witten with Hiragana Japanese characters. The joke was lost in the all-caps English variant.

** Neotokio had a certain NPC that said "Sorry! I can't speak English very well!" in both versions, except the Japanese version had him say it in English witten with Hiragana Japanese characters. The joke was lost in the all-caps English variant.

* ExpositionFairy: Yomi.
** [[spoiler: ...Who [[SubvertedTrope tries to kill Ark]] the moment [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness his duty is complete]].]]

* YouNoTakeCandle: Every person from Yunkou speaks in Chinglish.

An ActionAdventure slash [[RolePlayingGame RPG]] for the SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem published by [[Creator/SquareEnix Enix]] and developed by Quintet as a SpiritualSuccessor to ''VideoGame/IllusionOfGaia'', which in turn was a SpiritualSuccessor to ''VideoGame/SoulBlazer'' which was a SpiritualSuccessor to ''VideoGame/ActRaiser''. Still with us?

** For starters, Elle was called Célina in French, Melina in German, and Naomi in Spanish. The French version changed many more names (For some reason referring to the Elder as Agar, and unlike the Japanese and English versions, referring to Liore with "Anjou", and Freedom with the not-so-subtle "New York"), but still manages to remain an otherwise decent, if not abridged, accurate retelling of the game. Unfortunately not the same thing could be said about the German localization by Carl Moyse, which coupled all of the above (Yomi going by "Fluffy", anyone?) and heavy Woolseyism.

* EngagementChallenge: There is one in Loire, although [[spoiler: it's {{subverted}}; King Henry doesn't care about his "daughter", he just wanted her to regain her memory so that she could tell him where Storkolm's treasure is.]]

* NoExportForYou: The game was only released outside of Japan to Pal territories, likely due to its heavy religious themes, violent deaths and family unfriendly scenes, and various events that are a little too similar to touchy real world issues, which would never had gotten through the US-Nintendo's strict censorship policies at the time. It also didn't help that Enix, who published the previous two games, closed its North American branch at the time so it didn't have a publisher.
** A small theory was that it couldn't have gotten a publisher because it came very ''very'' late in the Super Nintendo's lifespan, (When it was finally released in PAL territories; the Nintendo 64 was only three months away.)
** Ironically, the European English translation was done by Nintendo of America (with Dan Owsen, and Colin Palmer among other being credited for it). The game was announced by Enix America in various magazines for an American release as "Genesis" (which is actually an accurate translation for its Japanese title), but since they closed shop, it was quietly canned.

** [[spoiler: In a letter, lightside Elle admits to having killed King Henri while he was sleeping upon seeing what he did to her parents and their home. He deserved it.]]

** You basically recreate the evolution of the species, which is supposed to take MILLIONS of years, in what in-universe doesn't look more than a couple of months.

** During chapter 2, you revive birds, then all animals, then humans. While the last one can be excused due to HumansAreSpecial, birds are animals too. They're not even in a different phylum than the animals in the Safaritorium! You also never revive fungi or microorganisms, despite them being just as (if not ''more'') important to the ecosystem than plants.
*** The order of revival is patterned after the order of creation in [[Literature/TheBible the Genesis narrative.]] First Land, then plants, then birds (and sea creatures), then the rest of the animals, then man.
*** Fungi show up near the Ra Tree after it's revived. Its possible that fungi and microorganisms are lumped in with plants.

* [[spoiler: AGodIsYou]]: [[spoiler: According to Yomi, Ark is what humans would call a god.]]

** [[spoiler: OnlyFatalToAdults: The only survivor of Neotokio is a little girl ''who saw her own parents disappear before her own eyes''.]]

* [[spoiler: TomatoInTheMirror]]

* DownerEnding / BittersweetEnding: Could be either one of them, depending on how you interpret TheStinger. It's incredibly touching though.

* [[spoiler: BittersweetEnding]] / [[spoiler: DownerEnding]]: Take your pick, it's harsh either way.

* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: In typical Quintet fashion, almost all the bosses are these. The only aversions are the parasite plaguing the Ra Tree, the FinalBoss, and, arguably, Bloody Mary.
* AGodAmI: [[spoiler: Spirit journey Elle, arguably Beruga as well. Ark himself is a heroic example.]]

** Due to ForcedLevelGrinding mentioned above, most people seem to think that you're meant to gain a good 5-10 levels before fighting ThatOneBoss Bloody Mary to be able to do more than single-digit damage to her. However, what you're meant to do is to use your various spell-casting rings to deplete most of her HP. The only problem is that you're only allowed to use them against specific bosses, the game never tells you which ones and it's easy to forget that it's even an option.
*** Not quite right. What you are meant to do is re-equip the weapon you replaced with the upgraded one (one of the only instances in the game that using an older weapon is a good idea) because Bloody Mary is weak against the Light Element... that said weapon has as an attribute. Cue a lot of damage being done in a much shorter amount of time.

* FruedianExcuse: Meilin never wanted to accept the fact that Louran was destroyed and her parents were dead so she made an illusion around her old home and hid there while constantly obstructing her grandfather, Meihou, from finding the town. She becomes vengefully hostile towards Ark for breaking the illusion and forcing her to leave Louran for good.

* [[PigMan Pig Men]]: Ark fights a Pagan God whose worshipers are a race of bipedal Pigs. They're encountered again in Neotokio and Beruga's Airship, a clear indication that they've survived remaining hidden from the world and are now in his service.