Impressive story, lovable cast, fun and addictive gameplay. The whole family will enjoy this.
Your character (default name is Ark) is a troublemaker. Perhaps this is what sets him apart from heroes from other games in the genre - even games from more recent systems. Set apart in a good way. The most noticeable of these is the camera. While dungeons and the like are typically floor plan or overhead views, moments of brilliance shine through in such feats as the underworld map. For anyone that doesn't get it, just take a look at the box art. Gravity is inverted at the planet's core, with the ground surrounding a central point in the sky where clouds can be seen. While the clouds can't be seen in-game, the game does a remarkable effort to show this world of a sphere of earth facing inwards. Other moments of brilliance include scaling the outer walls of castles from a side-scroller perspective and battles that take place on moving platforms (along a river, down the inside of a tree).
Much like Secret of Evermore, released at about the same time, battle is in real time, and defeating enemies to level-up is the basis for strengthening your hero. Battle is usually pretty easy once you get to know an enemy's limitations, but there are a few that may give the beginner a bit of trouble. Magirock (which enables the use of spells) is found in limited quantities, so spells shouldn't be relied on. Instead, rely on the spear, and familiarise yourself with its various attacks: normal swing, the running attack, jump attack, and running jump, and the super fast mash-that-button swing. Some weapons have special properties - breaking rocks, additional health, extra damage to undead, elemental properties, altered basic character stats. So sometimes, a new spear is not necessarily a better spear. Armor comes in the form of single piece tunics or mail, and also have their own special properties. As the game progresses you will find it focuses more on story and less on fighting - but there will always be something to fight!
Ark gets into some sticky relationship trouble with his long time love, Elle, and an identical twin of hers living on the overworld. A childish girl, Meilin, wants Ark to love her, and when she discovers he loves someone else... Villains become allies. Even your home is not what it seems. The end result is a solid game with a lovable cast of characters, a unique plot, and great musical score to boot. It has enough surprises up its sleeve to keep you guessing, but not so much to confuse. I've since learned this game is a part of the Soulblazer series, but you don't have to play the other games to enjoy Terranigma.
Graphics are typical of the SNES era. Cut scenes are nothing special (and sometimes laughably corny), but the music sets a mysterious, beautiful mood, with most themes well-suited to their respective environments, or different enough that you'll be taken in its stride without effort. There are only one or two that are annoying, but thankfully you don't need to hear those for very long, if at all. (There's that silly party town, but I'll pretend I didn't go there.)
Characters are so special, so wonderfully unique, that I fell in love with them from the outset. In addition to Ark and Elle, there's a little pink blob you'll find in Pandora's Box, which helps you (for the most part) on your journey, and even navigates your menu and items as some sort of squelchy cursor. The banter between the pink blob and Ark is a comedy act at times, but always a good read. You'll meet Ra Tree, the King of Birds, famed inventors such as Bell, Edison. All in all, a masterpiece single-player game, suited to young and old.
God didn't create the world in seven days. Ark did!