ActRaiser Wiki

ActRaiser (アクトレイザー) is a platform/simulation game developed by Quintet and published by Enix for the Super Nintendo in November 1991. It was later ported to mobile phones by Macrospace in September 2004 and to the Wii Virtual Console by Square Enix in 2007. A remake was released in September 2021 for the Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4 and PC by Square Enix.

Story[]

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 had fallen into Chaos, somehow the Earth continued on its revolving course.

Invasion and destruction... These were the only aims of The Evil One. To conquer the world was his only desire. However, The Evil One was unable to destroy the Master. He ordered his six guardians, who when they took physical manifestations resembled a minotaurus, a zeppelin wolf, a pharaoh, a fire wheel, an ancient serpent being, and an arctic wyvern, to defeat the Master and take over the world. Even though the world was still in a state of peace, the balance of power began to gradually sway towards darkness.

One day, The Evil One and his Guardians suddenly appeared at the outer gates of the Master's Sky Palace. The Master, who understood the real purpose of their presence, fought with great courage and little regard for his own life. The battle waged on for many days and nights. The Master fought against them with every essence of his being, but he was not strong enough to defeat them all. The Master was so badly injured that he fled to the safety of his Sky Palace. With the little energy he had left, he erected a barricade. To heal his serious wounds, he fell into a long and deep sleep.

While in a deep sleep, the presence of the Master's power vanished. With no one to inspire resistance, the forces of evil invaded the world and did as they pleased. With little hope for any support from their Master, the people had little choice but to be turned into monsters. The Evil One divided the world into six lands and turned control of each region to his Guardians. The world was completely ruined. Stone statues the people had made in honor of their Master became the only remaining evidence of a once strong and thriving society.

Several hundred years after the world had fallen into The Evil One's power, the Master, who had long since retreated to the safety of the Sky Palace, began to stir. Even though time had completely healed the Master's wounds, his power disappeared when the last of his loyal subjects succumbed to the forces of evil. He found his once ideal world and loyal subjects now overrun by evil. This caused the Master great grief and sorrow, but what could he do? He had no power. Inspired by the faintest of hope, the Master resolved to battle The Evil One so that peace and order might once again prevail. With the final preparations made, the Master took down the barrier protecting the Sky Palace and silently began his mission to destroy The Evil One's hold on his Earth.

Gameplay[]

In ActRaiser players take on the role of The Master. Although the Master is never directly controlled, the player interacts with the world by controlling an Angel and an animated statue. The player plays as the Angel during the simulation sequences of the game, and as the statue during the action sequences.

The overhead-view simulation mode involves protecting and guiding the Master's new civilization towards prosperity, beginning with two humans. This portion of the game requires the player to take actions that encourage the growth of the population, including road planning and using natural phenomena as miracles. The Angel can interact with the monsters in the area by shooting them with arrows as well as aid the Master by indicating where to build and use miracles.

One obstacle in the simulation mode is the presence of flying monsters that attempt to impede the progression of a civilization. The monsters originate from four lairs around the region at the beginning of each level. They continuously spawn the creatures as the servant kills them. As the population expands, it can seal the lairs of monsters, which prevents them from spawning, and eventually eliminate all the flying monsters in the land. Doing so increases the civilization level of the region, allowing more advanced structures to be built and increasing the potential population. Once all four lairs have been sealed the population will begin to build the most advanced homes available to the people in that region. The Master levels up by increasing the total population of the world, granting an increase in hit points and SP, used in performing miracles.

Each area has two side-scrolling action sequences, one before the building simulation and near the end. In the action sequences, the player controls a humanlike statue brought to life by the Master. The player must jump from platform to platform while defeating monsters to accrue a score. At the end of each action sequence, the player must defeat a boss. The final level is an action-sequence boss marathon, culminating in the final fight against Tanzra.

Locations[]

The Master can use a variety of Miracles. The following areas don't need to be tackled in this order, but it is the standard route of progression.

Items[]

Act Mode[]

Items are contained within Light Orbs that must be broken to retrieve their contents.

Sim Mode[]

Items are Offerings by the people.

Angel[]

Tools[]

Sources[]

Magic[]

  • Magical Fire
  • Magical Stardust
  • Magical Aura
  • Magical Light

Monsters[]

Sim[]

In Sim Mode, monsters are generated by Monster Lairs. Though there's a finite supply of monsters in each lair, and the lair can be destroyed by eliminating every monster individually, it's much more effective to guide the people to the lairs and have them seal it.

Action[]

Bosses[]

Gallery[]

Videos[]

External Links[]