SNES JRPG Terranigma To Be Released In The US For The First Time

Those who were around for the 16-bit video game generation may remember the 1994 action RPG Illusion Of Gaia for the SNES. Though it had its fans, it apparently wasn’t profitable enough for a sequel to be released in America. Elsewhere, though….the game was actually the second in a trilogy, and the third and final game, Terranigma, was published in Japan and translated for European audiences. It wasn’t until the widespread adoption of the Internet a few years later that gamers were able to, unofficially at least, discover what they missed.

We admit it’s been a WHILE since then, but Clear River Games has obtained the rights to Terranigma and plans to release the game officially in the US for the first time, on modern platforms. Its main claim to fame was the attractive art from manga artist Kamui Fujiwara, who is still around and will be providing new key art, in-game designs, and feedback on the re-release.

Terranigma has a pretty unique story: centuries after life on Earth is destroyed, a young boy named Ark pops out of an underground community with the task of reseeding and regrowing the planet. That might make it sound like a sim game, but it’s actually a top-down action adventure where Ark travels through dungeons to gather the materials necessary to restore life on Earth.

“30 years ago, Terranigma was released on the SNES. Now, at long last it will be available once again.on console and PC, digital and physical,” says Fujiwara. “It may not be exactly the same as it was back then, but I’m sincerely delighted about it making its return to the current gaming environment. During the original’s development, I was involved with designing not only the characters, but the world too, and even some of the game settings as well.I hope the themes of god and humanity, creation and destruction, and the atmosphere of the world itself resonate with today’s players too. Not as a relic of the past, but as a living, breathing work. This moment has been long awaited and now it is finally here. I hope you will enjoy it with all your heart.”

There will no doubt be some enhancements added to the game, as with most re-releases of 90s titles, but Clear River hasn’t revealed them yet. We should have more soon. Terranigma is expected to be available from early 2027 on Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox and PC.