‘Terraria’ Beats ‘Minecraft’ To Nintendo Consoles

Terraria has pulled ahead of Minecraft on consoles, being the first to announce a release on the Nintendo Wii U and 3DS, as per a report from Forbes.

Terraria, for those not in the know, is a 2D side-scrolling game from indie developer Re-Logic that features gameplay elements similar to Minecraft. First released May 2011, about half a year before Minecraft‘s official release, Terraria played on Minecraft’s massive popularity to become the second major “block-builder” game, with some fundamental differences. Intended to be a cross between Minecraft and classic side-scrolling RPGs like The Legend of Zelda, Terraria delivers on its promise, having sold over 12 million copies as of June 2015.

This being the case, it’s a little odd that Terraria hasn’t shown up on the consoles that first brought the side-scrolling RPG into being. Now, publisher 505 Games has announced that Terraria will release on Nintendo Wii U and 3DS in Q1 2015. There is no firm release date yet for Terraria on Wii U and 3DS, and given Re-Logic’s history, there probably won’t be.

First launching on PC, Terraria, much like Minecraft, has made it to Xbox 360/Xbox One, PlayStation 3/4/Vita, iOS and Android — and unlike Minecraft, the pocket edition of Terraria is basically the fully-featured game, minus the 1.3 content patch that recently released on PC, as previously reported on by the Inquisitr.

Meanwhile, as IGN is reporting, Terraria for the Wii U will support online multiplayer for four to eight players, while the 3DS version will support up to four-player multiplayer through a local conection. Attendees of Gamescom — Europe’s largest trade fair for games, held in Cologne, Germany — will have the opportunity to test-drive the 3DS version of Terraria.

This release will represent a major victory for Terraria developer Re-Logic — after all, Minecraft developer Mojang was recently purchased by Microsoft to the tune of $2.5 billion USD. As such, it is unlikely that Minecraft will be coming to additional consoles in the future. Microsoft has named Minecraft as one of the flagship titles for Windows 10, offering a special Windows 10 edition of Minecraft for the new OS — and it will be free for current Minecraft owners or $10 for others, $17 less than one would usually pay for Minecraft.

Meanwhile, 505 Games has confirmed that Terraria for Wii U and 3DS will support touch controls for both crafting and combat, and will also add additional controls for the new Nintendo 3DS XL and its analog stick. In spite of these changes, the 3DS and 3DS XL versions will still allow cross-console multiplayer.

Hopefully, we will have a Terraria release date/price for Nintendo consoles soon.

[Image courtesy Re-Logic]