Terra Cresta (YM2203) - MAME machine

Arcade Video game published 39 years ago:

Terra Cresta © 1985 Nichibutsu.

Terra Cresta is a vertically-scrolling shoot-em-up set over a scrolling landscape of islands and enemy installations. The player pilots the 'Wing Galibur' and is under constant attack from enemy spaceship waves, ground-based guns and turrets, dinosaurs and three up to different mothercraft ships.

Ground-based silos bearing numbers appear at regular intervals, these can be shot to release a ship upgrade component, which then attaches to the player's current ship, increasing both its size and firepower. Every numbered component the following abilities:

1 (Alpha): This is the Wing Galibur, the default craft and the fleet’s lead ship. It fires twin projectiles from the front.

2 (Beta): This doubles both the Galibur’s firepower and its size.

3 (Gamma): Ship number three gives the Galibur tail guns, enabling it to shoot behind as well as in front.

4 (Delta): The fourth ship provides a concussive beam that tears through smaller enemies and inflicts greater damage on larger enemies.

5 (Epsilon): The fifth ship generates a force field behind the Galibur, protecting it from attacks from the rear.

Using the 'Formation' button splits the ship components into a wide formation for limited time, giving increased fire power. The number of parts acquired determines the formation. For example, if the player has picked up two ship parts then a triangle is formed, with the player's main ship at the rear of the formation. During this, the components are invulnerable to all enemy fire, while Wing Galibur itself is not and if the Galibur itself is hit, the player will lose a life

When all four numbered parts have been collected, the player's ship transforms into a firey Phoenix and is indestructible for a limited time.

TECHNICAL
Main CPU: Motorola 68000 (@ 8 Mhz)
Sound CPU: Zilog Z80 (@ 4 Mhz)
Sound Chips: (2x) Yamaha YM2203 (@ 4 Mhz), (2x) DAC

Screen orientation: Vertical
Video resolution: 224 x 256 pixels
Screen refresh: 60.00 Hz
Palette colors: 256

Players: 1
Control: 8-way joystick
Buttons: 2
→ [A] Shoot, [B] Formation

TRIVIA
Terra Cresta was released in November 1985.

You can become a phoenix like in the title screen if you collect all the ship parts:).

Pony Canyon / Scitron released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (G.S.M. Nichibutsu 1 - D28B0004) on September 21, 1988.

UPDATES
New version uses a YM3526 (@ 4 Mhz) sound chip instead of a YM2203

SERIES

• Moon Cresta (1980)
• Terra Cresta (1985)
• Dangar - Ufo Robo (1986)
• Terra Force (1987)
• Terra Cresta II - Mandoraa no Gyakushuu (1992, NEC PC Engine)

STAFF
Staff: Shigeki Fujiwara, Isao Shiki, Hisaya Tsutsui, R. Yamada
Music composed by: Kenji Yoshida

PORTS

• CONSOLES:

[JP] Nintendo Famicom (September 27, 1986) "Terra Cresta [Model NBF-TC]"
[US] Nintendo NES (March 1990) "Terra Cresta [Model NES-TQ-USA]"
[JP] Sony PS2 (October 27, 2005) "Terra Cresta [Oretachi Geasen Zoku] [Model SLPM-62661]"
[JP] Sony PlayStation 4 [PSN] (November 20, 2014) "Arcade Archives - Terra Cresta [Model CUSA-01254]"
[AS] Sony PlayStation 4 [PSN] (May 14, 2015) "Arcade Archives - Terra Cresta"
[US] Sony PlayStation 4 [PSN] (May 19, 2015) "Arcade Archives - Terra Cresta [Model CUSA-00983]"
[EU] [AU] Sony PlayStation 4 [PSN] (September 15, 2015) "Arcade Archives - Terra Cresta [Model CUSA-02658]"

• COMPUTERS:

[EU] Amstrad CPC (1986)
[EU] Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1986)
[US] [EU] Commodore C64 (1987)
[JP] Sharp X68000 (November 20, 1992) "Moon Cresta + Terra Cresta [Model DP-3205023]"

CONTRIBUTE
Edit this entry: https://www.arcade-history.com/?&page=detail&id=2871&o=2