ActRaiser (Super Nintendo, 1991)

I usually don't like throwing around the term 'best game ever' but when it comes to Actraiser it seems extremely appropriate. I haven't seen many games with such a great mish-mash of gameplay style, and challenge. Most of all, you play as God, and that is infinitely fantastic! One minute your playing a viking style super warrior with a sword, and radical powers, fighting very strong and cool looking enemies and bosses. And the next, you're back above the clouds and helping the poor, unfortunate people of Earth by keeping them safe from demons, instructing them to master the land and build great civilizations, and give you the opportunity to destroy more demonic monsters.

Six stages of this, and the challenge of fighting the monsters and helping your devoted followers never stops growing in conjunction with the fun factor. Story progression is quite light, stepping into such a shallow pool of "Go here, kill this, help them, kill this other thing." But who honestly cares? You're playing God in an action-strategy-role playing hybrids with vibrant colors,and wonderful varying music ranging from intense war-like tracks, to soft, relaxing town and overworld tunes.

I'm enthralled that there's a sequel that's just as good as the original, but also displeased that there hasn't been a third game nor any possibilities of one. Square-Enix is missing out on a surefire hit for nostalgic gamers, fans of god games, and strategy games.

Actraiser, developed by Quintet, is arguably the best game on the Super NES, and it's tough to narrow down just one way that this game shines.

First and foremost, the soundtrack is among the greatest ever conceived. The music has a wide range, depending on the setting, but it seems that the composer has taken a few lessons from John Williams. Constantly during the fight scenes, I felt like I was in a Star Wars movie.

The graphics aren't the best on the Super NES, but they are far from the worst. Mode 7 is used to decent effect, and you can always tell what you are doing.

Gameplay is something that this game does extremely well. About half the time, the game is a side scroller very similar to Castlevania. That is all well and good, but the other half of the time is spent in a SimCity environment. Certain items are only available from certain towns, and monsters will attack the town, meaning you must defent it. This gives the game a fair bit of variety and keeps it from getting repetitive.

The only real gripe I have with this game is the length. Even with my dying a lot in the side-scroller stages, I was able to beat this game in about 4 hours. In 1991 and a 40 dollar price tag, this would have been horrible, however, in 2009 for a 10 dollar price tag, I am pretty happy with it.

A little advice to anyone interested in a purchase: Unless you know how to read Japanese, do NOT buy the Japanese version. For games like Mario or Sonic or Castlevania, knowledge of Japanese isn't really necessary, since the games aren't story driven, and generally the Japanese versions are cheaper (and can be played on an American Super NES with a Game Genie). Such is not the case with ActRaiser. You are constantly forced to read dialog from the citizens and react accordingly. The Japanese version will cost about 3 dollars less, but is entirely pointless if you can't play it.

I really like this game, and found it to be a great purchase. After all, how often do you get to play as God?

Actraiser is one of my fondest memories of the snes. This game opened up a whole new world with the between mission sim style of play. I probably would have never played sim city if not for this game. everyone should own a copy of Actraiser. I almost forgot the beautiful 2d graphics that are so rare with a system launch title. My final words to anyone who does not own this game are BUY IT LIVE IT LOVE IT.

This was one of the most underrated games ever to come out on any system, not just the SNES. I bought this game in 1991 and it remains one of my favorites. It combined a simulation (building a world and watching the people go through various stages of development) and action (a great side-scroller with big dragons and other creatures) along with an amazing soundtrack. In the early days of the SNES, this was a big bright spot.

This game is for those who enjoy both the action, and strategy concepts of each game. Going from monster slayer, to town overseer, back to monster slayer isn't bad at all. Along with the easy to master gameplay, the game packs a great musical score. You are able to save your progress at any time on the town maps (From your sky castle) so you can take as long as you like to play each level to it's fullest.

Great game.