10/13/20 ActRaiser (1991)

ActRaiser (1991) by Quintet and published by Enix for SNES. This is one of the first games ever developed for the Super Nintendo, and it’s quite the way to kick off a console’s library. ActRaiser feels like a game that someone really wanted to make because they had a great idea. In it, you are a god figure who acts through an angel to push back the monsters that have taken over the land and guide humans back into prosperity. It’s split into two distinct styles, a side-scrolling platformer where you manifest as a warrior to clear away the monsters, and a Populous-style simulation where you direct the building of a city as well as manage enemies who would try to destroy it. You can perform miracles to blow away trees that prevent your expansion, rain on crops, dry up marshes, or cast earthquakes that can reshape the land. Periodically, you’ll be beseeched by your people to provide hints as to where to look for hidden items or where monster dens are. After sealing up the caves the monsters spawn from, you go back to the sidescroller to face off against the boss of the region. The way that ActRaiser is able to execute all of its ideas is impressive, and before long I realized that I had been sucked into the progression of expanding the town, fighting monsters, and finding secrets. The music is very filmic, with a sweeping score that takes advantage of the broad range of instruments the Super Nintendo was capable of, my favorite being the Sky Palace theme with its lovely, sweeping organ. The sound effects, specifically the text scrolling, can get a little repetitive, but the graphics are quite nice, making use of the fancy new Mode 7 effect to zoom into the map screen. In its day, ActRaiser was quite well regarded, but despite receiving a sequel, is not talked about much today. I’d absolutely call it a hidden gem, and would encourage you to play it if you want to see a really great take on the still burgeoning God game genre.