When Act Raiser was released in 1990, it gained some minor fame for its blending of simplified Sim style gameplay with some passable and challenging platforming hack and slash. The game was good, but not great; it earned enough to spawn a sequel. That sequel, Act Raiser 2, has been derided as one of the most disappointing sequels in gaming. But was it? Is Act Raiser 2 a disappointment?
In this game, you control God as He fights the demon army of Satan. Satan has sent his 7 generals, all based on the Seven Deadly Sins (Sloth, Gluttony, Wrath, Envy, Greed, Lust, and Pride). After the generals are defeated, God descends unto Hell itself and gives Satan an ass whooping. That's it, that's the story.
Now I'm not here to give you the obvious ho-hum of "this is what it means," as anyone can figure out the allusions by themselves. All it takes is a rudimentary knowledge of The Divine Comedy to get nine tenths of the symbolism used in the game. Even the censorship of the names couldn't hide the obvious allegory to Abrahamic (specifically Christian) mythology. It's not that deep.
The reason for the lack of depth is due to the fact that this is a game focused on gameplay, and in THAT department you'll be hard pressed to find due praised. As I said before, this is one hell of a hard game. In the very first level, most enemies die in two hits MINIMUM, while the game just keeps throwing enemies at you. The original Act Raiser was much more forgiving in this aspect, throwing less enemies that died quicker.
And that's not even getting into the removal of what made the original Act Raiser stand out: the Sim City-esque Simulation acts. Removing those may well have been this game's biggest sin.
So, what does this game have to its favor? Is there anything in this game worth playing, or is it just a disappointment?
In one word: plenty. The gameplay is DIFFICULT, but not IMPOSSIBLE. Enemies fight in patterns, patterns that you'll be rewarded for memorizing. Plus, this is one BEAUTIFUL game. The backgrounds, the sprites, the animations, all of these EASILY belong in the Top 10 of any SNES countdown. They sure belong in mine!
The main reason people are disappointed in this game is due to the fact that it's a pretty, but otherwise satndard, platformer that's a sequel to one of the most unique games in the SNES. Basically, the game's biggest downfall isn't the insane difficulty, it's the fact that it calls itself Act Raise 2. Had it been named anything else, it would have been able to stand on its own as one of the most challenging games of the SNES, a game for the hardcore gamer.
A damn shame, really; it's not one of my favorite games, but it IS damn rewarding to beat each stage. You get that feeling of "yeah, I'm such a boss" every time you beat a stage in the game.
If you played this game expecting the same combination of God-like Simulation and platforming as Act Raiser 1, you'd be sorely disappointed. I sure was when I first played this game! If you played this game expecting a fun platformer, that's where you'd likely be disappointed too. This game is DIFFICULT. Considering you play God Himself, that's rather disappointing.
Ah yes, this is a game where you control God. And of course I mean the Abrahamic God of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Baha'i, and Rastafari. This detail was, not surprisingly, censored when the game was translated for release outside Japan.
In this game, you control God as He fights the demon army of Satan. Satan has sent his 7 generals, all based on the Seven Deadly Sins (Sloth, Gluttony, Wrath, Envy, Greed, Lust, and Pride). After the generals are defeated, God descends unto Hell itself and gives Satan an ass whooping. That's it, that's the story.
Now I'm not here to give you the obvious ho-hum of "this is what it means," as anyone can figure out the allusions by themselves. All it takes is a rudimentary knowledge of The Divine Comedy to get nine tenths of the symbolism used in the game. Even the censorship of the names couldn't hide the obvious allegory to Abrahamic (specifically Christian) mythology. It's not that deep.
The reason for the lack of depth is due to the fact that this is a game focused on gameplay, and in THAT department you'll be hard pressed to find due praised. As I said before, this is one hell of a hard game. In the very first level, most enemies die in two hits MINIMUM, while the game just keeps throwing enemies at you. The original Act Raiser was much more forgiving in this aspect, throwing less enemies that died quicker.
And that's not even getting into the removal of what made the original Act Raiser stand out: the Sim City-esque Simulation acts. Removing those may well have been this game's biggest sin.
So, what does this game have to its favor? Is there anything in this game worth playing, or is it just a disappointment?
In one word: plenty. The gameplay is DIFFICULT, but not IMPOSSIBLE. Enemies fight in patterns, patterns that you'll be rewarded for memorizing. Plus, this is one BEAUTIFUL game. The backgrounds, the sprites, the animations, all of these EASILY belong in the Top 10 of any SNES countdown. They sure belong in mine!
The main reason people are disappointed in this game is due to the fact that it's a pretty, but otherwise satndard, platformer that's a sequel to one of the most unique games in the SNES. Basically, the game's biggest downfall isn't the insane difficulty, it's the fact that it calls itself Act Raise 2. Had it been named anything else, it would have been able to stand on its own as one of the most challenging games of the SNES, a game for the hardcore gamer.
A damn shame, really; it's not one of my favorite games, but it IS damn rewarding to beat each stage. You get that feeling of "yeah, I'm such a boss" every time you beat a stage in the game.
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