Terra Cresta 3D
A 3D shooter in the Cresta series, released late in Nichibutsu's history.
Terra Cresta 3D is a 1997 vertically scrolling shooter for the Sega Saturn, developed and published by Nichibutsu. It is the fourth game in the Cresta series and the second entry without involvement from creator Shigeki Fujiwara. The game was negatively received for its gameplay and level design, though its graphics and soundtrack drew some praise.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Nichibutsu
- Director
- Tacanoli Tanaca
- Series
- Cresta Series
- Platforms
- Sega Saturn
- Released
- August 8, 1997 (JP)
- Genre
- Scrolling shooter
- Modes
- Single-player
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Terra Cresta 3D is a vertical-scrolling shooter in which the player controls three starships: the Winger, Gamma, and Beta. The Gamma provides a tailgun that fires forwards and backwards, while the Beta doubles firepower; these ships are obtained by destroying small bases. Collecting "F" icons from enemies allows the player to merge ships: combining with one ship gives the Winger a wave beam, and combining with two grants heat-seeking lasers. A bomb in the form of a flaming phoenix can also be launched. Each stage ends with a boss, and a button combination on the main menu grants 99 lives.
Development and release
Nichibutsu released Terra Cresta 3D for the Sega Saturn in Japan on August 8, 1997. It is the second Terra Cresta game without series creator Shigeki Fujiwara, who had left years earlier to work on the Bomberman series for Hudson Soft. His departure left Nichibutsu struggling to produce successful action games, leading them to release several pornographic mahjong arcade titles. Terra Cresta 3D is among the company's last video games before it suspended operations in the early 2000s.
Reception
Famitsu criticized the game's slow pace and inferiority to other Saturn shooters, finding the core gameplay unsuitable for a 3D shooting game. GameFan expressed indifference toward its slow pace and low difficulty but liked its polygonal graphics and soundtrack, comparing it unfavorably to Namco's Xevious 3D/G. Next Generation magazine was especially critical, calling the 3D visuals "pathetic" and the level designs "of the lowest-common-denominator, cookie-cutter, purple-blotchy-copy-of-every-other-shooter-known-to-humankind variety"; they noted polygon-induced slowdown and suggested players wait for Raizing's Terra Diver or Taito's RayStorm. SuperGamesPower liked the ship-combining mechanic, comparing it to Galaxian and Xevious. In a 2016 retrospective, Jess Ragan of Hardcore Gaming 101 called it a "disconcertingly watered down sequel" to the original Terra Cresta, disliking its graphics, transparency effects, camera angle, and overall gameplay. Ragan attributed the quality drop to Fujiwara's departure and the industry's shift to 3D, calling it "a miracle" the game was made given Nichibutsu's focus on pornographic mahjong arcade games. He praised the soundtrack's orchestral remixes of original tracks, noting that with similar effort the game "could have been something special."
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