ActRaiser

Shame on you if you've never played Actraiser before! This version, other than having an amazingly badass logo, is actually a lot harder than the US release of the game. Even in Fillmore 1, there are more brambles, more monsters, more everything. It's crazy great. Ian Kelley wanted to retranslate the game, so here it is! Far be it from me to deprive one of my star translators from an awesome request or two!
Unofficial English translation available at Aeon Genesis (romhack.net)


(cjlee001) - # 2007-01-04 07:51:40 - source

Generations ago, the world fell into deep Chaos. The Master had maintained the world in a state of peace and harmony. However, an evil one called Tanzra began to threaten its very existence. People spent their lives manifesting their love to their Master while fearing The Evil One. The Master and The Evil One were eternal enemies. In strength and power they were almost equals. Even though the world has fallen into Chaos, somehow the earth continued on its revolving course.

# 2013-06-12 17:18:07 - official description

A masterpiece of game design originally released in the early days of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System , ActRaiser's enduring popularity stems from its revolutionary combination of action- and simulation-based game play. The user plays the role of the Master, a dethroned deity whose once-idyllic world has fallen under the control of the Evil One. Stripped of godly power, the Master must somehow put an end to the Evil One's reign and rebuild his desolate realm. Game play alternates between two modes: Action and Simulation. In Action mode, the Master must battle against impossible odds to pacify six lands. Pacifying a land unlocks Simulation mode. In this mode, the Master must oversee the development and re population of the territory he has reclaimed. In doing so, he will gain followers who gradually restore his godly might, empowering him to take back the next land and, ultimately, defeat the Evil One.

# 2007-05-30 23:11:15 - official description

ActRaiser is a single player mix of alternating overhead city-building simulation and side-scrolling platform action. The protagonist in the English version is 'The Master'. A deity who's been away for a while and returns to find his people have been lead astray and their civilization destroyed by the demon Tanzra, "The Evil One". The player is controls things as the Master descends from heaven on a cloud to observer the people and causes a stone statue to be possessed with his spirit. Using this this living statue armed with a sword, demons are slain and souls are freed. The sim mode begins with the creation of a male and female to tend a population center as the Master eliminates more demons and miraculously prepares the way for the people to build and multiply in their little corner of the world. In this view, and angel armed with a bow and arrow is directed against demons emerging from their layers to attack the people. Meanwhile, the people are directed to seal the layers and build where the master directs. At a certain point, the local demons and their leader will regroup to stop the progress. At this point the Master inhabits a statue to finish the job in action mode. This continues for 6 regions until one final standalone action stage completed.

The game's story is in fact a Judeo-Christian allegory; confirmed by the Japanese story of ActRaiser 2 where the protagonist and antagonist characters are revealed to be named God and Satan. No religion/faith tag yet applies to this game entry, however, because the religion of the game's creators is currently unknown to the uvl community (stay tuned). Even without the revelation of the true names of these characters, the allegory is pretty blatant. The Master descends and ascends to heaven, is accompanied by angel(s), creates life (beginning with a male and female), frees souls, performs miracles, destroys demons, creates order and peace out of chaos and strife, he cannot lose (though the player can), defeats the evil one, listens to and answers prayers, accepts offerings (which in turn benefit the people), casts false gods out of his temple, and is totally ignored by the people as soon as they perceive their problems have been eliminated and he loves them anyway.

Hint: Preforming better in the action mode will actually cause more demos to inhabit the lairs in the sim mode. This in turns leads to a higher population potential for the region.
The world map resembles North America
The English version was much easier than the original. But, upon beating the game, the Japanese difficulty level for the action mode is unlocked.
ActRaiser was provided for Wii's Virtual Console in 2007.

(Zerothis) - # 2008-04-10 10:21:22

display: raster

prequel of
ActRaiser 2 (SNES)

version of
Actraiser (Mobile)

was remade as
Actraiser Renaissance (Switch)
Actraiser Renaissance (PS4)
Actraiser Renaissance (Windows)