The Wonder Years 12.13.07: Week 34 - ActRaiser
Posted by Owain J. Brimfield on 12.13.2007
How does it feel to play as a god?
Welcome to the column where all gamers of a certain age come to wallow in 16-bit nostalgia. I'm your host, Owain J. Brimfield, and I'll be discussing some of the hidden gems and instant classics of gaming's golden era. Some of these games may crop up on the Wii's Virtual Console at some point, some may be consigned to the annals of history. Either way, they're worth tracking down if you missed them first time round, or replaying if you were lucky enough to catch them. Let's take a trip to:
ACTRAISER
(Enix, Super NES, 1991)
It's well known that the Bible contains some of the ripest fantasy elements in all of fiction, so it's a wonder that more games haven't plundered its pages for source material or inspiration. Jesus in particular has some fantastic tyrannical dialogue: "I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!". What a wonderful FPS protagonist he'd make; maybe something in a similar vein to the wonderfully original Loaded Bible: Jesus vs Vampires comic, the author of which I can never recall1. An RPG based around the exploits of Moses is surely one of gaming's greatest missed opportunities; the parting of the Red Sea would surely make an awesome set piece. Or maybe we could see The Sims: Adam & Eve Edition, where players are charged to encourage the Garden of Eden to prosper and resist the temptations of wily serpents? Something like that could breathe life into a franchise that is in danger of tiring. I should get these ideas marketed, really.
ActRaiser, though, is a game that revels in biblical allegory. It tells the story of the eternal struggle between the Master and the Evil One, who despite the names are not a kinky S&M underground club act. The Master is the supreme deity in charge of the world, a rather large helmeted chap with a big sword and helmet. His nemesis, who also goes by the slightly less cool name of Tanzra, has long harbored a desire to conquer the world, and sets about this by sending six of his henchmen after ol' Master, who is eventually defeated after an epic battle and retreats to his floating castle. When he awakes from hibernation (because every God runs away at the first sign of suffering - or maybe it's "epistemic distance") he finds that the Evil One has taken over the world (well duh!), now conveniently divided into six sub-kingdoms - so that each can be guarded by one of Tanzra's henchmen; genius! - and sets off on a quest to dispatch all that is evil in the world, via a combination of side-scrolling platforming and birdseye-strategy resource management.
1 Ah, that's right, it's Tim Seeley.
Yes, ActRaiser is a game of two genres, and they're not ones you'd immediately surmise would gel together with any immediacy. However, a bit of experimentation on the part of the developers seems to have paid off, as it turns out to be a pleasingly diverse experience. Essentially, the Master gains power and progresses through the game by clearing the kingdoms of Evil and its associated monstery baddies... hang on, is it too soon to make an Evil Knievel joke? Hmm, I guess so... So anyway, this is done via two separate means. Firstly, the Master takes on the role of a God, overseeing his fledgling civilizations and using various gold-like elemental powers to allow his people to flourish and return some semblance of order to the world. In order to clear the monsters from each kingdom, though, you'll need to take them on directly, via a stint of hack-'em-up platforming, with each area culminating in a boss battle against one of Tanzra's goons. Lather, rinse, repeat, until the entire world is clear of badness. It's certainly a unique prospect, and a few hours' gaming serves to quell any doubts you might have. On the flipside, the progression can get repetitive by the time the game nears its end (which doesn't take too long to arrive, so thank heavens [zing!] for the unlockable Professional difficulty], but it's more than a gimmick and remains refreshing throughout.
Graphically, the side-on sections are streets ahead of their top-down counterparts, with some startlingly bold images for what was pretty much a first generation title for the console. The characters are large and detailed, the six kingdoms easily differentiated visually, and there's some wonderful coloration at times. Unfortunately, the sim sections are the other side of that coin, with tiny little cherubs and monsters swathed in browny-greens and villages that seem to have sprung from the original Sim City - still, it's a relatively small price to pay. It's aurally that the game really shines though, with a wonderfully orchestrated score that makes the game feel almost as epic as its storyline promises. Kudos to developers Quintet for excelling themselves in producing a sensory treat of an early SNES cartridge (for more evidence, check out the video lower down the page).
The game didn't find much success in Europe (perhaps due to the belated release date that saw it appearing over two years after its original Japanese release), but achieved a fair bit of prominence in the US. At the time it was both one of the more original and one of the more enjoyable god sims (like Populous but good), and the dichotomy of gameplay styles is still striking to this day. Although the implementation is relatively linear, it really does feel as though your progress as leader of a civilization depends on your progress as a hack-n'-slash barbarian, and vice versa. It's one of those ideas that seems peculiar in theory, but Enix's execution is spot on, and the game is worth playing just to experience the diversity. The cartridge is relatively rare these days (although I believe it's still a bit easier to track down than the second game), but thankfully ActRaiser saw a Virtual Console release earlier this year, and it remains one of the better value-for-money titles on the VC. Also: released in Europe simultaneously this time round. What a difference a decade and a half makes, eh? The game is a good representation of why the Super NES was such an exciting console in the early 90s, and although it may not last you ages it's one of the more unique 16-bit games you're likely to play, even if you are as condescending towards religion as I am.
ActRaiser trivia
The game's prequel, ActRaiser 2, reveals that the original game's main characters are actually God and Satan, making the religious subtext even more overt.
ActRaiser can also be played on mobile phones courtesy of Square Enix's mobile division, complete with only three levels, shoddy mechanics and a complete absence of anything that made the original game any good.
GameSpot declared ActRaiser to be one of the best games of all time a few years back, which is perhaps a tad hyperbolic, given that it would be a bit of a stretch to call it one of the best games on the console.
ActRaiser is an honorable mention in my official all-time Top 100 games.
The Videosphere
Let's take a look at this week's video highlight. Yuzo Koshiro was responsible for the orchestral adaptation of some of ActRaiser's main themes, and the work is frankly inspiring. The score has been called one of the best of all time by many gamers, and while I would severely hesitate to go that far myself, hearing this in action certainly makes you think twice about that claim.
General indulgences
Every week in this section I'll endeavor to provide you, the faithful readers, with a fascinating insight into the various forms of entertainment currently dominating my spare time.
This week, I have been mostly enjoying:
Guitar Hero 3, which rocks even harder now I've convinced my friend Mantonia that yes, his HD television does have an audiovisual lag when playing this game. No wonder Medium was so hard. And to think he actually managed to get quite far while combating the time difference.
Wolfmother by, well, you can probably guess. A great classic rock album, except it's only a few years old. It's like stepping into an aural time warp, and coupled with the recent Led Zeppelin reunion has made me wish we all lived in the 1970s.
Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares in which celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay goes to some failing restaurants, swears at them, ridicules their cooking and turns the business around. Inspiring stuff, even if his constant effing and blinding does wear thin.
and *not* Super Mario Galaxy, because I don't have it yet. Gaahh!
And finally…
As always, reader feedback and suggestions are welcome, I respond to everything so just drop me a line. You can also check out my science fiction column "The Flux Capacitor" over at 411 Movies. Next week in "The Wonder Years" - we cash in on the Christmassy theme. Until then - keep it real, keep it retro.
