ActRaiser

ActRaiser is a video game developed by Quintet and published by Enix for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, first released in Japan in December 1990 and in North America in November 1991. It combines two entirely different styles of gameplay — a side-scrolling action platformer and an overhead city-building simulation — in a way that shouldn't work and yet does, with remarkable confidence.

The premise is a loose allegory for Judeo-Christian monotheism, though Nintendo of America required Quintet to tone down the religious references for Western releases. The player controls The Master, a godlike being who awakens from a long sleep to find the world overrun by evil forces led by a demon named Tanzra. Accompanied by an angel, the Master must reclaim the six regions of the world and guide their human populations back to prosperity.

Gameplay alternates between two distinct modes. In the Action Stages, the Master sends his spirit into an animated statue — a warrior with a sword and limited magic — and fights through side-scrolling levels filled with monsters, traps, and bosses. The platforming is deliberate and the level design demanding, with a pace closer to Castlevania than to Super Mario. At the end of each action stage, a region of the world is liberated.

In the Simulation Mode, the perspective shifts to an overhead view of the region. Here, the Master controls the angel, guiding the growth of a human settlement from two survivors into a thriving town. Players clear monster spawn points by shooting them with arrows, use miracles such as lightning and rain to help the settlement develop, and direct the construction of roads and buildings. The population size is tied to the character's maximum hit points in the action stages, creating a meaningful connection between the two halves of the game. The simulation mode draws obvious comparisons to Populous and SimCity, though they are very different games.

The score, composed by Yuzo Koshiro, is one of the most celebrated soundtracks in the SNES library. Koshiro composed it early in the platform's life and used it to demonstrate the full capabilities of the Super NES's SPC700 sound chip, producing orchestral arrangements of remarkable depth and atmosphere. The main theme, the boss themes, and the regional compositions have all been performed at live concerts and remain regularly cited as highlights of video game music composition.

ActRaiser was inducted into GameSpot's Greatest Games of All Time list and ranked among the top 20 SNES games by multiple publications. A remake titled ActRaiser Renaissance was released in 2021, though it altered the gameplay significantly and divided fans of the original. Quintet's original version remains the definitive experience. The studio's later work, Terranigma (1995), is considered by many fans to be their finest achievement.