ActRaiser

"For being the experiment that it is, ActRaiser turns out surprisingly well."

Actraiser is one of those rare games that, if done incorrectly, could have been a complete failure, but manages to avoid that catastrophe and become a serviceable and entertaining experiment. For Actraiser, the big risk is its unlikely blend of genres, consisting of part town simulator, and part side-scrolling action-adventure. The unthinkable combination works very well together and gives you some great entertainment, though the individual pieces feel unfinished. The simple story revolves around The Master and his angel servant, who, after a long slumber, awaken to find a world overrun with monsters under the control of their enemy, Tanzra, and a lack of worshippers, and thus set out to establish their presence as god of the land.

Graphics/Design: 6.5/10
ActRaiser's graphics, like many other aspects of it, are not perfect, but are good enough that they do not appear ugly. The side-scrolling levels look great, with varied environments, detailed enemies, excellent battle effects and multiple levels of scrolling backgrounds. The simulation section does not appear as appealing. Everything is simplified when you're building your town, from the people made of about 10 pixels to the monochromatic monsters flying around. I suppose, however, that it could be passed off as a more chibi-like art style, but that really doesn't suit the fairly serious nature of the game.

The game's design is not its strongest element. It's not horrendous, however. In fact, it features some of the game's highlights, such as levels with branching paths and multiple challenges. The enemies and bosses are numerous and well-designed, many drawing on mythology such as manticores or Medusa. The main problem with the design is the lack of originality. You'll traverse through an ice area and a lava area, a desert area and a forest area. Virtually every environmental video game cliché is present in ActRaiser, which is not a good thing.

Music/Sound: 7.5/10
Music is a definitely a strong point of ActRaiser. For the first hour or two of the game, you'll sample the solemn town music, a mysterious indoor tune, an energetic march, and the awesome opening level song, all of which set the mood for their respective areas perfectly and are composed with some of the SNES's finest quality. Unfortunately, far too many of the levels use the same song, so the music loses its appeal after a little while.

Sound was done with decent quality, too. Most enemy sound effects are done well, as are other things like sword swings and magic spells. The main problem comes with the constant repetition of The Master's “hah!” with every sword attack, as well as a few annoying noises when performing miracles on your town (the lightning for example is one of the worst simulations of the noise I've ever heard).

Gameplay: 8/10
You may be wondering how two completely different genres can work so well together. Basically, in ActRaiser, you begin by selecting the land you want to cleanse of monsters. After The Master appears in the level, you're tasked with seeing him to the exit. To do this, you'll have to fight through hordes of enemies with sword attacks and area-affecting magic spells, while jumping from place to place, dodging traps and collecting power-ups. Each level culminates in a boss battle, which after completion will reveal the town for building.

At this point, you take control of the angel, flying above the town. Your job is to fly around, taking out the constantly spawning flying baddies around the stage with your bow, while directing your population to an undiscovered area, and performing miracles. These miracles include lightning which can destroy obstacles, sun to melt ice, and rain to fertilize land, among others. By directing your people to the monster's lairs, they can be sealed off, preventing further attacks and increasing the civilization level of your town. The more you explore and the more your population grows, The Master will gain levels that increase health and allow for more magic spells to be used in the side-scrolling levels. Your people will sometimes even give you offerings such as music and wheat that you can use to better other towns (once you've founded them, that is). Eventually, the path to the area's second level will be uncovered, and you'll continue to battle monsters as The Master.

As simple as this game may sound, when put together, its two halves form something entirely different that makes up for its shortcomings with sheer entertainment value. In the side-scrolling levels, the boss fights are intense and the battles fun and challenging, while the town sim creates a charming world filled with a lot more excitement than your average game of this nature, due to constant monster attacks. The largest complaint I have against the gameplay is the largely simplified nature of these sections, making them individually more akin to an NES game, while together they function exceptionally. Other than that, the only problem lies in the population of the sim, which will often stop working for a period of time, apparently for no reason, and occasionally has too much to say about certain events. However, ActRaiser is a prime example of the term “better than the sum of its parts”, and as such, will keep you coming back no matter how much you complain.

Play Control/Innovation: 7.5/10
Play control is one of ActRaiser's few major faults. Whereas the sim sections are done well in this regard, with the angel responding well to directional presses and only a few simple menus to navigate, the side-scrolling pieces are not so fortunate. While it's by no means horrible, the segments suffer from slightly late movements (especially sword swings) and a complete lack of mid-air control that leads to many unnecessary deaths by bottomless pit. This is slightly remedied since other aspects are done well, such as magic spells, which are frequently responsive, and the hit detection, a big risk in a game like this, is nearly spot-on.

At first glance, ActRaiser seems very unoriginal, especially looking at its side-scrolling levels, which are hardly innovative at all. The sim section is a bit better, containing the miracle concept, and attacks that had to be dealt with by you, not by your population, but put them together, and you have an incredibly innovative game made from one of the most insane genre mixes ever. Having the two genres intertwined so well (your level is determined by your cities' population, for example) was such a great concept that you can expect to see duplicated at least to some extent in the future. This expert use of two genres in one is the reason ActRaiser is such a good game.

Replay Value/Challenge: 7.5/10
On the other hand, one of ActRaiser's major weaknesses is its length. With 13 side-scrolling levels and 6 cities to build, the campaign is a respectable length. The problem comes with a complete lack of things to do after your quest is completed, or even during it. There are no side-quests, no extra modes, no difficulty levels and no multiplayer (of course, this game isn't really suited for multiplayer, so that's a bit of a moot point). The game is, however, exceptional on other fronts, so it may still be worth a replay.

Finishing on a high note, ActRaiser's challenge level is nothing less than perfect. Although the action sections of the game are clearly meant for more hardcore players, the sim sections should keep more casual players satisfied as well. The true beauty of ActRaiser's challenge, like the rest of the game, comes in the excellent balance the game achieves between these two poles. And, as any player knows, any game with a decent challenge level has to have a good learning curve, which is something ActRaiser greatly exemplifies. The first level is a great introduction, (after a bit of pattern memorization the first boss can be beaten without taking a hit) and each level throws new enemies and obstacles at you to keep the challenges fresh.

Overall: 7.5/10 (not an average, rounded to 8)
ActRaiser is a classic in almost every sense of the word. It has its flaws, sure, but a game that takes such strides in creativity and gameplay is worth a look. If you're looking for good SNES games, this shouldn't be quite at the top of your list, but it should definitely be on there.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/25/07, Updated 06/13/08

Game Release: ActRaiser (US, November 1991)