Terranigma

天地創造 (Tenchi Sōzō)SNES1995

  1. JP1995
  2. NA—
  3. EU1996
  4. RU—

Terranigma is the Western name of Tenchi Sōzō (天地創造), 'the creation of Heaven and Earth'; it was released in Europe and Australia but never in North America. There is no current official way to buy it: a PC re-release by Clear River Games was announced in August 2026, and Steam lists it for January 14, 2027.

Terranigma is an action RPG developed by Quintet and released by Enix for the Super Famicom in Japan on October 20, 1995, as Tenchi Sōzō. Character designs are by manga artist Kamui Fujiwara, and Yuzo Koshiro wrote the uncredited laboratory music. Fans regard it as the final part of an unofficial trilogy with Soul Blazer (1992) and Illusion of Gaia (1993).

The game never reached North America in its original run: by the time the localization was finished, Enix had already closed its US branch. Nintendo published it in Europe in December 1996, followed by Spanish and French releases in 1997.

Rights complications kept Terranigma from being re-released for over thirty years. In August 2026 Clear River Games announced a new release; the Steam page lists it for January 14, 2027, with a mini-map, rewind and saving anywhere.12

Names and releases

RegionTitle on the boxPlatformDatePublisherSrc
JP 天地創造Tenchi Sōzō SNES Oct 20, 1995 Enix 1
EU TerranigmaEnglish PAL release; Australia from December 1996 SNES Dec 19, 1996 Nintendo 1
EU TerranigmaSpain, with Spanish translation SNES April 1997 Nintendo 1
EU TerranigmaFrance, summer 1997 SNES 1997 Nintendo 1

Also known as: 天地創造 JP3Tenchi Sōzō JP1

Box art by region

  • Terranigma box art, Europe release
    EU Terranigma

Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.

Version differences

  • TextSNES (EU)

    The PAL English script was translated by Colin Palmer, Dan Owsen, Hiro Nakamura and Nob Ogasawara. Spain received its own Spanish translation in 1997, which the magazine Superjuegos praised.1

  • Contentprerelease

    Early previews showed the hero climbing the five outer towers with claws, different room layouts and plant decorations around the HUD; none of this made it into the final game.1

Translations

  • English Official

    Nintendo (Colin Palmer, Dan Owsen, Hiro Nakamura, Nob Ogasawara)1996SNES · Japanese versionReleased · complete

    English translation for the PAL release in Europe and Australia.1

  • Spanish Official

    Nintendo1997SNESReleased · complete

    Spanish version released in Spain in April 1997.1

  • French Official

    Nintendo1997SNESReleased

    French version released in summer 1997 and reviewed by French magazines.1

Reception

Quintet reported 200,000 copies sold in Japan. Famitsu scored it 30/40, earning a Silver Hall of Fame award, and it holds a 74.14% GameRankings average. Critics praised its presentation, story and music but criticized the difficulty.1

Sources

  1. 1en.wikipedia.org
  2. 2store.steampowered.com
  3. 3ja.wikipedia.org
  4. 4ja.wikipedia.org

Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13

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