Syd Mead's Terra Forming

FRO · Post by **FRO** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 6:37 pm

I read a review of this game in Video Games & Computer Entertainment (RIP) that said it was a quality shooter but not worth the price of admission and certainly (other than the CD music) nothing that couldn't have been done on HuCard. Does anyone have this game and what do they think of it?

Dylan1CC · Post by **Dylan1CC** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 6:57 pm

I have it and I honestly really like it. It gets ragged on way too much, sure it's not a AAA shmup by any stretch, but it is a nicely done game with one of the best and most beautiful and dramatic soundtracks you will ever hear in a Turbo Duo game. Better than Gate of Thunder's music and as good as Radiant Silvergun's soundtrack, I am serious when I say that.

My only gripe is that the levels are a pretty simple, the game and enemies are way too easy at times and the controls oversimplified. Ex:your ship has a continuous charge shot that will simply recharge whenever you're not hitting the fire button, then it fire when you hit to shoot again which is kind of...meh, hard to describe. Otherwise a very neat game in its own right, just don't pay much more than $30 for it. It has a bit of neat art work from Syd Mead in the manual which shows some of his concept from movies he designed vehicles for such as Aliens and Blade Runner.

Been a long time since I have played it, think I will dig it out tonight.

scrilla4rella · Post by **scrilla4rella** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 6:58 pm

I picked it up last time I was in Japan, along with about 30 other PC-engine/cd games

I think it's called Terra Firma in Japanese or something like that.
I have to say at first I was quite dissapointed. After getting more familliar with the PC-engine style games and what they are all about, I now have a slightly better opinion of it.

The music was decent but the game over uses that graphic technique where everything turns white. Just like in Spriggan except that it become very distracting and annoying. Spriggan did it with style.

The power up system is pretty average IMO.

The graphics are nice, but seriously I do NOT think that it is a showcase of what the CD system can do. If thats what you want then check out:
Spriggan, Lords(Winds) of thunder, Gate of thunder, Rayxanbar III, etc. if you have not already

You could definatly get a worse Hori for your PC-engine (Power Gate comes to mind) I would say don't pay more than $29 for it.

Dylan1CC · Post by **Dylan1CC** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 7:05 pm

scrilla4rella wrote:The graphics are nice, but seriously I do NOT think that it is a showcase of what the CD system can do. If thats what you want then check out:
Spriggan, Lords(Winds) of thunder, Gate of thunder, Rayxanbar III, etc. if you have not already

You could definatly get a worse Hori for your PC-engine (Power Gate comes to mind) I would say don't pay more than $29 for it.

Yep, I agree. The graphics don't look sloppy though, just that if the CD format had been truly exploited by the dev team, Mead's designs would have stood out better.

And for another shmup that really shows off some nice color, shading and cool warping/stretch effects, check out Star Parodia. It also has decent parallax (especially in the toy/tetris block themed stage), an old school effect not often used much in vertical shooters.

FRO · Post by **FRO** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 7:46 pm

Thanks guys, I'll have to watch for it.

Nemo · Post by **Nemo** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 3:48 am

Only the US version is expensive, the JP version goes for about $30. It's a nice shooter if you're looking for something a bit different.

greg · Post by **greg** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 7:50 pm

scrilla4rella wrote:I picked it up last time I was in Japan, along with about 30 other PC-engine/cd games

I think it's called Terra Firma in Japanese or something like that.

THANK YOU! I've been wondering what the Japanese title is for a very long time. I'll certainly try to pick this one up on my next trip to Japan.

I just want it because it's Syd Mead. Tron, Blade Runner, Alien, I just love his designs. This is the main reason why I want to add it to my collection.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 8:55 pm

Syd Mead on a shmup? And the xenocide files didn't mention this, too...

Is there a review, or an info page online?

parodius · Post by **parodius** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 10:19 pm

greg, Syd Mead was "involved" in the making of the Saturn racing game "Cyber Speedway". It's a terrible game, but you might want to check out its designs.