Action and strategy came together brilliantly in ActRaiser for the Super NES.

Sound and Fury

It can't be emphasized enough how exceptional ActRaiser's soundtrack was from both technical and compositional standpoints. The SNES' sound hardware was unmatched at the time, but since the system had just come out, nobody really knew what it could do. Well, musical badass Yuzo Koshiro (of Streets of Rage fame) showed everybody exactly what the SNES could crank out with ActRaiser's amazing score. Orchestral video game soundtracks are the norm these days, but back then, the realistic instrument samples really brought out the beauty of Koshiro's aural backdrop. Even though it was a first-generation SNES game, ActRaiser's score remains one of the finest on the system.

This fat little angel helped you raise a civilization throughout the game.

Too bad Enix let the series die after such an incredible start. The 1993 sequel completely tossed out the world-building elements of ActRaiser and focused on the side-scrolling levels, thus reducing it to the status of an average action game. Nevertheless, there may be hope for ActRaiser fans who get all nostalgic about the original game--word on the street is that Square Enix just recently registered a trademark for "ActRaiser" in the US. Could this mean a GBA port of the original game is in the works? Or maybe even a new game? Only time will tell.

Screenshots courtesy of retrogames.com.

The world-building stuff was arguably more fun than the action stages.

When the Super NES launched in the United States in the fall of 1991, it boasted graphics and sound capabilities that were greater than any other home game system on the planet. To complement the hardware strengths of the system, Nintendo needed more than just a new Mario game. It needed some strong original titles to really show off the SNES' power. Enter Enix's ActRaiser, a hybrid action and strategy game that, for the time, was both uncannily unique and uncommonly entertaining. The game excelled in every way. It was lengthy, challenging, and deep and involved. It was also a joy to look at and to listen to, and, most importantly, it was just downright fun.

ActRaiser had it all, though on first glance you might not have known it. The game started off in average side-scrolling action game fashion, as you took control of a sword-swinging knight and hacked and jumped your way through a woodland level rife with monsters. Actually, you weren't really playing a knight. You were playing a statue of a knight whose magical animation belied your true, godly identity. In ActRaiser, you weren't just a guy with a sword fighting for good; you were literally a god tasked with first cleansing a land despoiled by evil and then guiding your people in rebuilding it.

After the first level, you got to the other and more unique part of ActRaiser--the world-building. In this mode, you controlled a chubby little cherub as he flew around the land you'd just freed of evil in the action mode. You got to control many aspects of your peoples' progress, from the kinds of crops they grew to where they built their houses, and your command of many natural disasters and magic spells helped you shape the land and battle further monsters. While you played, your people would approach you with stories about artifacts they'd found or strange things that were happening in the village. These small events were only represented by text, but they had a surprisingly realistic feel, so you got awfully involved with the day-to-day struggles of these little people whose civilization you were nurturing. Once your town got big enough, you'd head back to the hack-and-slash mode to combat the evil that was poisoning the land in one final battle (before moving on to the next area).

ActRaiser was unique in its day for marrying action and strategy so seamlessly. Back then, most action games were action-only, and what few strategy games there were didn't dream of including sword combat. This game had both, and each component would have been a great game on its own. But mash them both together--add a healthy topping of amazing graphics and an utterly brilliant soundtrack--and you've got one of the most delicious meals ever to grace the Super NES.

This is one of those rare games that just engaged me both heart and soul. I couldn't tell you why I love it so much because there's no one thing to point out, as everything is superb. For a first-gen SNES game, ActRaiser looked outstanding, and the soundtrack was absolutely second to none at the time. The action stages could have made a fun enough game on their own, but the surprisingly deep and satisfying world-building segments (with the goofy little angel avatar) were the real highlight for me. You could actually get a sense you were helping these people live better lives, and it all seemed really heartfelt and genuine. Yeah, I know, mush.