ActRaiser

Moby ID: 6704
SNES Specs
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Description official descriptions

ActRaiser was one of the early SNES games, drawing upon the success of side-scrolling platform action titles and the building model of Sim City. You play "The Master" (essentially God), and must save the world from evil.

First you purge the land by sending your spirit into a warrior with a big sword and magic powers. This side scrolling portion puts you in many different locales, from swamps and forests, to pyramids and snowy mountaintops.

As you eliminate evil from different parts of the land, you allow villagers to return and build their towns. You then control an angel who helps guide the villagers in their town building, and can send down miracles to aid them in their needs.

Spellings

  • Act Raiser - Alternate spelling
  • アクトレイザー - Japanese spelling

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Screenshots

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Credits (SNES version)

53 People (37 developers, 16 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 84% (based on 31 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 76 ratings with 5 reviews)

Swords and Sorcery and Awesomeness

The Good
Everything except the steep difficulty on Hard Mode. It should have been called Impossible Mode.

The Bad
(See above)

The Bottom Line
The first true great action-RPG, ActRaiser put you in the role of the Master, a godlike warrior who had to save the world froma devil named Tanzra. You set your blade to all sorts of mythical beasties in the side scrolling levels and built a world in the top-down strategy stages. A great game.

SNES · by Andrew Douglas (7) · 2006

Time can be cruel...

The Good
A game of two havles? Actraiser was one of those games which made you delighted to own a Super Famicom (if you were lucky enough to own one on import). It's a God Sim, it's a side scrolling platformer/slash 'em up. To be fair, looking at it now, it has it's attractions but the two parts don't now, in the cold light of day, gel that well. The best part of the game? The platform sections are by far the more interesting part of the game and even now they are still very good (if somewhat unresponsive when compared to, say, Castlevania: SOTN but it does still make you smile stupidly with it's action.

But, for me, the boss battles on their own (when the game was completed) was one of the highest points. The highest though has to go to the soundtrack. Yuzo Koshiro absolutely excelled himself with this. It is fantastic. Completely bombastic and over the top but it works wonderfully. One of the best game soundtracks of all time and well worth a hunt down on MP3.

The Bad
Th God Sim part. Ignore rose tinted spectacles it's pants.

The Bottom Line
A mish mash that worked well 13 years ago but not now. The game still has a lot of good things going for it but the God Sim section is very poor now. The slashing bits are well worth sticking with as these can still be great fun.

May sound daft, but pick it up for the music.

SNES · by Mark Whelan (2) · 2003

One of the best SNES titles - Two games in one

The Good
Actraiser appeals to both platform fighting fans and SimCity/Populous with its mix of neat side-scrolling battles, tough enemies, and city-building elements. The game also has neat sound effects and one of the best musical scores of all SNES titles.

The Bad
Some of the side-scrolling levels are a bit too easy, and sometimes the city-building can drag a bit.

The Bottom Line
A perfect title to compliment your vintage SNES library.

SNES · by uclafalcon (279) · 2002

[ View all 5 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Proof of how outrageously good this music was: J. P. Gray (115) May 20, 2008

Trivia

1001 Video Games

The SNES version of ActRaiser appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Soundtrack

Yuzo Koshiro, the soundtrack designer, also composed a live orchestral version of the ActRaiser music. For example it was performed during the opening of the Games Convention 2004 in Leipzig.

Awards

  • Electronic Gaming Monthly
    • November 1997 (Issue 100) - ranked #75 (Best 100 Games of All Time) (SNES version)

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by uclafalcon.

Arcade added by Michael Cassidy. Wii added by gamewarrior.

Additional contributors: PCGamer77, Xantheous, Alaka, Mobygamesisreanimated, monkeyislandgirl, Patrick Bregger, Rik Hideto, FatherJack, Harmony♡.

Game added June 14, 2002. Last modified June 16, 2023.