Terranigma Beta Version

Terranigma, AKA Tenchi Sōzō in Japan, is an action RPG developed by Quintet and published by Enix / Nintendo for the Super Nintendo in 1995 / 1996. Unfortunately, the game was never released in the US, but managed to attain cult status in Japan and Europe, regarded by some RPG fans as one of the best role playing games on the system. Before the game was released, gaming magazines published some beta screenshots, in which we can see some interesting differences:

• It was possible to climb towers using claws / bare hands, instead than chains (it’s possible to climb some walls with claws in the final game, but only much later in the game)
• There was some sort of green plant around the HUD
• Different rooms layouts
• In the first tower, the second floor looked like the third floor from the final game

A video from the same beta version was also published in “brute press” (?) VHS Vol.24 July 1995 (【非売品】ブルートプレス Vol.24 1995年7月号). If you notice more differences, let us know in the comments below!

Thanks to Youloute, Pantalytron, Crediar and Celine for the contributions!

Source: Unseen64

Sheet Music and Piano ver. for Terranigma songs by kimduy91

Another really wonderful playlist from YouTube for the Terranigma aficionado.

Terranigma Play Through

I really like this playthrough by CrombieTheZombie for being to the point, having descriptive titles and without the asinine commentary that accompanies most LPs.

Terranigma Debug Room Code

D2B0-3F2A
3FC2-37C7
EDC2-3717
4C23-3F47

Talk to the person in the entrance of the Elder's house for Debug Menu. Disable the code after you've used it, and save your game if you want. When using the 'Debug' option, you'll spend quite a while leveling up. Leave the room and enter again before talking to the person for other debug options. Each time you use the 'Debug' option, it sets your EXP to 90,000 (Level 34), adds 1 of all types of magic, adds 35 Magirocks, adds 1 of several types of armor, and adds 1 of several different weapons. It will only add up to 8 of each item, for reasons that almost assuredly relate to using the option too often during debugging and the game glitching for the programmers.

Credit to: Ugetab

What's the bird carrying Ark around?

As you can see, in English it was translated as a gull, which could mean any number of shore birds (source). If you think that's a bit vague, look at the Japanese version:

Here it is simply called wataridori, or migratory bird. Even the English translation hints to this in dialogues, showing how gull was just a short word to stand in for migratory bird which was impossible to use, given the cartridge limitations for the recurring names.

But there's more! On the one and only Japanese board 2ch someone pointed out that you'd need a really big migratory bird for this sort of task. Well, good thing there's already such a bird that is portrayed in both Western and Eastern mythology as carrying humans or transferring souls. Its name? Shirasagi, a term denoting all big migratory birds with long beaks and white plumage, such as the stork or the white heron.

And now you know what's that bird which carries Ark around in a bag, just like a baby (subject for infinite jokes among Japanese fans).

Even more, you can see how Ark's metamorphosis in the end all ties in neatly with this. After all, storks are symbols of the soul and its next voyage. The ancient shirasagi ceremony wonderfully portrays this role, with the dancers momentarily transformed themselves in the majestic white bird.

Let's just hope Ark turned back into a human after he reached Elle's house in Storkolm (lit., stork islet). It would be a tad hard to enter the door with such a long neck.

Clearlevel Graphic

Most people playing Tenchi Souzou cleared the game around the 32 level mark, in fact mean value being 33.8 (33.3 excluding the level 50 outliers).

Source

Weapons in Terranigma

These are the weapons in Terranigma:

Weapons in Tenchi Souzou

These are the weapons Ark uses in Tenchi Souzou (the Japanese version of Terranigma).

Armor in Terranigma

The English names and stats for armor:

Armors in Tenchi Souzou

Here are the armors from Tenchi Souzou: