anyway, pduke001, did you ever play Illusion of Gaia (which is on my list)? is it as similar to Terranigma as I've heard?
It's not only similar. It's part of the same series. 😁
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia_series
http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/quintet/quintet.htm
I got Illusion of Gaia when I was 10 or 11 years old. It came with a free t-shirt packed in. I LOVED IT. The artwork, plot, and dark mature atmosphere were unlike most any other game available on a Nintendo system in those days. It was simply awesome.
If you dig IoG you really can't go wrong with Terranigma, despite the fact that there's no actual plot/character continuity between the games (like Final Fantasy). I remember seeing it previewed in Nintendo Power back in the day and thinking "wow, that looks awesome." It's a shame it never saw the light of day in North America; even though the English translation is subpar (as most translated games of the day were), it hardly detracts from the exemplary game design. The moment you first leave the starting town and step out into the "over"world, and the phenomenal music sets in, you know you've got something special. Speaking of phenomenal music, Terranigma has what is quite possibly my favorite end credit sequence of all time. Nuff said.
I could go on gushing for a few more paragraphs but I won't. The game isn't quite as focused on plot and character devlopment as IoG was, but the plot really starts to pick up towards the end. I'll say it once more: if you like IoG, you really owe it to yourself to give Terranigma a whirl on your emulator of choice. 😉