ActRaiser retrospective: All's right with the world | Super NES Works

An in-depth look at one of the most unique games ever to appear on Super NES: The god-sim/RPG/platformer ActRaiser. With its incredible soundtrack, challenging action, and low-calorie simulation mode, ActRaiser manages to be far more than the sum of its decent individual components. It stands as a classic for the ages, and this retrospective attempts to explain why.
Special thanks to Steve Lin of the Video Game History Foundation for providing access to the packaged copy of the game for this video.

[@ztoxtube]

Yuzo's soundtracks on Genesis were great, but people were basically shocked when they heard what he created for Actraiser. It swept me off my feet then and still does.

[@ThisismineIguess]

You ever have one of those games you rent on a whim and you're blown away? Actraiser was one of those games for me. Rented it after a birthday party for my cousins at Chuck-E-Cheese's, was completely taken with it.

[@JohnZyski]

The music for ActRaiser was just SO good.

[@ReivecS]

I played this game as a kid for the first time at a friend's house and I remember the feeling of awe that I had the first time you fly down to the ground to start the action sequence with the spinning world coming closer and it being in sync with the epic sounding audio. It seems silly now but at the time this blew me away both visually and audibly. I still get chills when I hear certain parts of this game being played. I think this style of game could be done in the modern era and done well, but I don't have faith that any major development firm would do it correctly.

[@bosschono5610]

That blew my mind as a kid too. I thought it was amazing. The descent to the ground in Actraiser and the keyhole opening up in Super Mario World definitely stuck with me over the years.

[@Tripplebeem]

My first play was on a rental from the local Blockbuster and it rocked my world. I remember thinking that a video game would never look better than Actraiser!

[@FallicIdol]

The rocket pack in Pilotwings did the same for me. I get it

[@onionheadguy7094]

I got this, a snes, mario, and mickey in a big brown paper grocery bag that said from santa on it for Christmas. It was the greatest most memorable xmas gift ive ever been given.

[@boodro2122]

That's similar to how I received my SNES Classic. Sonic paper bag

[@sleepinglionarchives]

The music was always stellar, there's a wonderful orchestral version on CD, every single piece was played by a symphony, highly recommended

[@LunarKnite]

Yuzo Koshiro is probably my favorite video game composer because of this game (And the Etrian series). Birth of the People is one of my all-time favorite tracks. I lament the fact that we haven't gotten a game like ActRaiser since it came out, but it also means it gives me plenty of reason to keep going back to it.

[@luisguillermojg]

6:01 Ah, so that's where Extra Credits got the music for their history episodes. Great episode.

[@0palheart]

Oh, i was wondering where i heard that tune before!

[@K1z0ku]

It was bugging me too

[@zerobyte802]

IMO Actraiser has some of the best graphics ever produced for the SNES. I remember seeing screen shots of it in Nintendo Power and being blown away by how great the SNES's graphics were going to be. They looked even better in motion than in screenshots, which is often not the case. It's hard to describe how amazing this looked through the eyes of my high school self who'd been playing games since Space Invaders and Pac Man. SMB3 had great graphics, sure, and the Sega Genesis looked good, but THIS was a whole other league of awesome graphics. From the few screenshots (all from action mode), I envisioned the game being something akin to "Battle of Olympus" (which would've been pretty awesome too) but when it finally came out and I first experienced the Master's descent to Earth to personally battle monsters... well, that was amazing in a way nothing could've prepared me for.

[@mortenera4423]

I guess you could've been prepared by Sim City, but not everyone was able to afford a computer

[@mindcrome]

For me it was the music that made me get the game. First saw the game at someone's house. A family friend that I knew was a small time house dj/producer but also a gamer. He was amazed by ActRaiser and the soundtrack that the game was pumping out. The quality of the music from a cart based video game was unreal for the time. I remember this friend going on and on about how it would cost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to get keyboards and MIDI players and sample disks to match the sound quality of the music chip in the SNES. Same friend also saved me from wasting money on a Sega CD (Once the novelty wore off, you realized the games would be crap. Of course there are exceptions)

[@Thing27826]

@@mindcrome I felt the same way. After years of hearing NES (and even Genesis) audio, the SNES was a revelation. Actraiser may have been the second title I ever played on the system, after Super Mario World. SMW sounded nice but Actraiser was in a class of its own. I simply couldn't believe what I was hearing from the moment I turned it on. To a kid obsessed with orchestral movie music, that moment was awe-inspiring. It's hard to transmit to others how revolutionary Actraiser was, and felt, 30 years ago. It was the absolute bleeding edge of gaming audio, the Turbografx-CD excepted, but who had one of those?

[@StiffAftermath]

2021 - the year of our lord has returned. Enter Actraiser Renaissance.

[@shabmaster7128]

We have entered a time warp where it’s still January.

[@jasongarrett768]

Thank you for this. It really cuts to the heart of why so many love this game. Never played anything quite like Actraiser before it or since. I've long wished for a revival or remake but this retrospective does remind me how much of a strange alchemy was involved with the creators that might not be easily replicated today. And wow, I had no idea that it was partially responsible for Final Fantasy IV's (all-time favorite) soundtrack as well. That's another episode I'm eagerly awaiting. :D Now to listen to every Fillmore Act 1 cover on KZbin.

[@THE_GIN_MASTER_]

Here's an 8-Bit cover of "Fillmore" that I use to open my podcast with. It sounds amazing in 8bit IMO. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eHaXc4eBiKmYmas

[@Goldfire345]

You're in luck a remake just dropped this very week on just about every platform including mobile

[@jasongarrett768]

@@Goldfire345 I stood up as soon as that reveal started. Absolute highlight of that entire Direct for me. :D

[@roberto1519]

So, did you like the remake?

[@tommyzorera]

One of the best games ever. Holds up today and never replicated or duplicated. Prayed for a sequel on the Saturn back in the day!

[@StiffAftermath]

Actraiser changed my life. To this day, it still influences my art, my music and game design.

[@jodyanthony]

Think you're gonna miss that January 24th date for the next episode :P I love everything that Quintet was involved in. I can't wait to see you cover the rest of their games.

[@geovaughan8261]

Actraiser Renaissance is yet another option for those looking to experience this game with a modern translation and more contemporary style. I really enjoyed it myself.

[@MaidenHell1977]

I still remember the first time I played this game, the soundtrack left me stunned...I had a pair of small computer styled speakers for stereo sound for my audio needs. It was pure magic in those days. I hunted down a cartridge back in the mid 2000s and I'm proud to have in my collection. amazing retrospect as always, sir!

[@massivepileup]

Also it's super satisfying to have your people swarm out and turn the barren land into a big city. The misguided final Sim City had a similar appeal despite its shallow core. Also it helps that you don't have to check stat screens to tell if your settlement is doing fine since the problems are big and visible and usually shootable with a bow.

[@Polyh3dron]

One of my greatest Christmas gifts as a kid was a SNES console bundled with Super Mario World... and Actraiser. Game blew my 10 year old mind. The game itself, but the music even more so.

[@MrKeech666]

My younger brother got this game on day 1 release, and once I saw the visuals and heard the cinematic score I sold my Genesis.

[@jonaszprzybycien6545]

Sonic wants to know your location xD

[@TanookiSuit]

This right with Gradius III were my first two buys for the system after knocking off Super Mario World entirely in two weeks. I love them both, but this one far more. While not terribly long, the video really says it all. The game is just unique and magic, amazing in so many ways, and due to the fair brevity of it it's a great one to often revisit and finish without being a crunch, slog or a strain to do so. Also outside of the love people throw to all things Square then, it has a few of the best sounding and orchestrated scores in a game on the system. The discovery of 'music' in the game back in 1991 was mind blowing getting that from a cartridge and still is captivating.

[@CascadianExotics]

One of my favorite games of all time!!! That music score, tho....

[@TL3742]

At first, it seems like a crying shame that a sequel or remake hasn't made its way onto 3DS or Switch, but maybe you are right: the fact that the game is so unique and "lost" is a part of its charm, and a reason for the very study of Retrogaming itself.

[@NeoKad99]

I am from the distant future of 2021, and I have got news for you!

[@chadkirk150]

I can't wait until you get to Soul Blazer.

[@TechWithSean]

This game blew my mind the first time I rented it as a kid.

[@SoftwareAgentsTV]

Always been one of my favorite games. Thanks for the video.

[@jonriede6846]

you do a great job with these videos. I discovered them about a week ago and have been on a solid binge. keep up the good work!

[@HyperRoboTenguris1984]

Another great game I played when I was young, and still play on occasion! :)

[@matthuck378]

Actraiser is one reason the SNES is my favorite console, overall.

[@Gravadel]

A lovely restrospective on a game near and dear to my heart. Thank you!

[@otakubullfrog1665]

This was one of those games I knew I had to try as soon as I got my Super NES Player's Guide from Nintendo Power. That guide really did a great job of hyping up the early SNES library in general and this game certainly lived up to the hype.

[@kaseybrown7664]

All hail our beloved Lord and Master.... ActRaiser.

[@theSato]

Now -here's- an interesting game.

[@jonaszprzybycien6545]

A truly flawless review! I agree with everything you have said about this game especialy when you mentioned the little things that make this game feel less distanced than other god-sims.

[@thcollegestudent]

Somewhat mysterious circumstances? That sounds like an episode waiting to happen.

[@jonaszprzybycien6545]

Imma so happy this seemingly forgotten gem from SNES era got the remake it deserved

[@baddmatt9588]

Actraiser has one of the best soundtracks of ANY video game ever release before and since. Final Fantasy IV and VI I would argue is slightly better!

[@MynameisHukos]

Actraiser is one of the weirdest games in Koshiro's history, given his history of working with synthesized instruments on both the Genesis and the old NEC PCs (and iirc, the Genesis sound hardware is pretty similar to older japanese PCs). Despite how good Actrasier's OST is, it seems like Koshiro was more comfortable working with synth than samples - which would explain to me why he never returned to the SNES.

[@MynameisHukos]

He did? I forgot about those. Kind of easy to forget about Act Raiser 2 though.

[@dezm101]

love this channel! super stoked for this episode :D

[@kricku]

In the European version you can choose to play the action stages only. It took me years before I realized there's a full adventure/sim mode with a save feature. I didn't know English! Also I used to think the game was hard until I realized in the adventure mode you get your MP back. It's only glossed over but that's a shit ton of magic that kills every late boss effortlessly until the boss rush!

[@willmistretta]

This feature is in the other versions. You do need to beat the main game first to unlock it, however.

[@kricku]

Still makes it hard to miss the sim mode :P

[@esotericmissionary]

Great video! Well worth the wait. And that soundtrack is, indeed, the best! I listen to it regularly. Although, it has been quite a few years since I fired up my copy to defeat Satan yet again. Maybe sometime soon....

[@alexkbaker]

You're doing The Master's work here, Parish.

[@absolutezeronow7928]

ActRaiser is still a banger of a game 30 years later. Would love to see this on modern consoles. Quintet definitely made a game here that still holds up as one of the SNES's best.

[@jonaszprzybycien6545]

Boi do I have some good news to you :) Actraiser Remake on switch,ps4,mobile and PC just released

[@zlindauer5315]

Most memorable moment, buying at release, beating first night, wishing i had rented it. 50 bucks was alot when i was 16. Hell 50 is alot now lol! nice vid!

[@MrSammersELsoho]

This is great quality content!

[@THE_GIN_MASTER_]

Yes! I've been looking forward to this episode. One of my all time favorites!

[@Padoca]

Truly a masterpiece.

[@hemangchauhan2864]

I am so looking forward to your retrospective on Quintet RPG trilogy.

[@fireflocs]

I never figured out how to build things in ActRaiser. That was something of a stumbling block to progressing.

[@willmistretta]

You don't build things. You just clear land and your people build automatically.

[@fireflocs]

Well that would explain it then.

[@Jbayz]

Lol

[@RPGBros]

thanks for the vid!!!

[@dialaskisel5929]

A great review of my second favorite game of all time (behind Final Fantasy Tactics). And you hit the nail squarely on the head with every bit of it. The individual parts are all just fine (aside from the music, which is just the best), but they intermesh to create a sense of scope and atmosphere that makes the game hit harder than almost anything else I've ever played.

[@guillermos8447]

Wonderful game with great music.

[@meh6722]

Good morning view about one of my favorite games for the system.

[@randmiller88]

This was the first SNES game I ever bought, aside from Mario World the pack-in of course. :)

[@jonothanthrace1530]

Actraiser, the first true Super NES masterpiece. And to think it came out within the first month of the SFC's life in Japan!

[@Mitchell_Parent]

I didn't believe in God as a kid, but this was great game.

[@DarkHeroAkutare]

Wait, Enix of America demanded they not include sim elements in the sequel? *That's* why that happened? Somehow I feel insulted.

[@o_o_o_o_o-o_o_o_o_o]

It's still an excellent game though. It has the polish and challenge that the action sequences in the first game lack. It's less special, but more solid.

[@MGPCycling]

And now we have the Actraiser sequel on the switch. Would love to see you do a followup to this video with the new one that has come out, given how singular this game was. Glad I just found your channel a couple days ago. So much to bon) binge watch 😊

[@SaxcatGamingCorner]

One of the best games of all time.

[@jamesmoss3424]

I play ActRaiser it's a classic snes game A+.😀👍🎮

[@PersianImm0rtal]

Was the RF footage at tthe end, lmao? Classy.

[@igotkings]

I never knew each demon lair had a finite limit of monsters to spawn.

[@willmistretta]

It almost never comes up because it would take forever to deplete and it makes no sense to.

[@TheJadeFist]

Neither did I, but if it's like he said, having to kill hundreds would take forever.

[@Michirin9801]

I used to play the hell out of Act Raiser but I've never beaten it... I really should go back and get that done...

[@stewartbladensb]

This game brings back so much nostalgia I can’t even begin to describe it. It was the first game I ever played on my imported super famicom. I was just absolutely blown away by how good the graphics and sound were. I will always love this game and soundtrack.

[@JetstreamGW]

There's a new version of Actraiser available on Steam now. New graphics and everything. Reviews have been swingy, but a lot of the negative reviews seem to be nostalgia based.

[@angelriverasantana7755]

The game had its technical issues, yes, but it did a decent job at bringing the OG back and added a neat wrinkle of tower defense to the God stuff

[@RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS77]

One thing that I think is interesting is that this game is substantially changed from the Japanese version, in my view to the better. The overhead sequences are much, much faster in the US version (which can make them feel a little hectic when there are a lot of demons, but is preferable to the slow-as-molasses original) and the action has been tweaked to be less punishing.

[@jonaszprzybycien6545]

yeah the manticore fight is dark souls kind of unfair in the japanese version

[@bw2273]

Jeremy, great work as always. What did you use to capture the sound from the game? It sounds fantastic

[@boodro2122]

He doesn't care enough to respond to his subscribers.

[@THE_GIN_MASTER_]

Koshiro-san is positively unchecked on this score, and "Fillmore" is still my favorite 16 bit tune ever. The only pock is that I feel like although the compositions are truly amazing, the actual amount of music is lacking. There are many stages where the BGM is simply reused. A bit more time in the oven could have made this one of the best video game scores of all time, instead of having to settle for one of the best on the SNES. But yeah, I remember buying this day one, and it was the best 59.99 that teenage me ever spent to that point (The other was Castlevania IV, but that's another video). Superb rundown, my dude!

[@gullpayne]

I think super nes works is my favourite works

[@Nuclearlandlord]

Will there ever be ActRaiser vs Hellraiser?

[@jonmkl]

This idea is solid gold

[@steevlan]

Why do I always forget that Yuzo Koshiro did the music in this game? I mean, it makes perfect sense that he does, but for some reason I mainly associate him with Super Adventure Island as far as SNES games go. But I actually owned this one, and I even knew at the time that he did the music.

[@NukeOTron]

Actually, the Quintet people didn't exactly disappear about twenty years ago. ...more like sixeen. Their last works were Robopon 2 (if not under their names, but it's too obvious the moment you play it) and Magical Houshin, the GBA equivalent of Mystic Heroes.

[@gdripresents]

Quintet was around until at least 2006, but they were mostly doing sound or minor work.

[@ericspratling9252]

Respectfully I must disagree about the spell quality. Stardust is handy for the early parts of the game as well as with big/multiple targets, but after you finally get it, in most circumstances the Magical Aura spell has highest damage the potential. Anyway great video. Actraiser rules.

[@dreamcastfan]

I’ve just got to the bit where Jeremy mentions you could potentially clear out an enemy lair by killing every enemy in it. I wonder if manually clearing out the lair in Aitos where the follower dies would allow him to survive? I did once try using a turbo fire pad to clear out a lair but I think the game gets wise to someone camping on the lair and sometimes lets the demon evade the arrows. I suspect it wouldn’t work as I (stubbornly) always use rain on the part of the Kasandora desert where the men get lost. Despite doing this they still always die from dehydration even though they’re on lush grassland. Also, kudos for mentioning that you basically have to be a dick to your worshippers by murdering them by earthquake or thunderbolt to help maximise the population of a region. It’s a brilliant dilemma, do you do what makes the game easier by killing people or do you let your non-optimal settlements stand and try to beat the game in a weakened state?

[@JeremyParish]

These are good questions, and I hope someone with a lot of patience finds the answer.

[@RhymeMastaMasse]

What is that ending song? I really like it

[@SeanBarkerNegaScott128]

Wait, the next episode is gonna come out last month?

[@xcar0982]

I bought recently the game, and is very good, a little frustrating, but good

[@Djungelurban]

These videos are all great, but I sure wish this was as comprehensive as the "Game Boy Works" series. So many Japan only SNES/SFC games out there that I would love to see get the "GameWorks" treatment...

[@JeremyParish]

If you wanna give me an extra six hours for my work day, I'm game.

[@Djungelurban]

Let's say I just meet you half way and I'll give you a Patreon sub instead? Sounds fair right?

[@JeremyParish]

Sounds perfect for the $3000/mo. tier

[@Djungelurban]

And if I had an infinite supply of human kidneys to sell then that would be cake... But in the mean time you have to make to with $6.

[@TheJadeFist]

Bloodpool's boss is harder in the japanese version, the NA release they adjusted the camera down a bit, and slightly different platforms. In the japanese verion, you can't see the bottom platforms from standing on the higher ones, which made it kinda frustrating as you can't keep an eye on the boss let alone jump to the bottom platforms without falling off. And i'm not sure 100% but I don't think you can even stand there where you showed the easy way to fight that boss. A bit unrelated, but you also couldn't cast magic the same, because spells cost more to cast (or maybe it was fewer spell points ealier?) You pretty much weren't going to use magic of any kind until fairly late in the game.

[@dislikebutton1799]

Best Metroidvania on the Super Nintendo right here.

[@4ppleseed]

Are you going to trash Super Tennis??? That game is two player fire (and the sound track is burned into my heart). Please be nice ❤

[@MrJWTH]

Vic Vega If he didn’t mean it that’s way I wonder how he’ll react when he plays several far worse tennis games down her line.

[@robintst]

Wish ActRaiser 2 wasn't such a let down with how much nicer it looks over the first one. If you remove the simulation mode with the towns then is it really ActRaiser anymore? They just turned it into a plain old action-platformer that, while it had some of the best visuals on the system, couldn't hold a candle in the gameplay department to others in the genre like Demon Crest or Super Castlevania IV.

[@jonaszprzybycien6545]

Agreed. Not to mention Actraiser 2 is basically Dark Souls 2D

[@delaorden]

The music is great, but you are going to hear so much the music of the god overworld that you are probably going to hate it.

[@otakuworldwide]

And now a remake.

[@nathancollins3095]

Could you recommend any reading/listening/viewing that covers the end of Quintet?

[@JeremyParish]

Not really… it just kind of went dark and faded away.

[@defunctchannel942]

Did you use the Super Nt for this, or OG hardware? Just curious if you were convinced to make the switch

[@JeremyParish]

Original hardware.

[@Coolman13355]

Video game soundtrack aggression

[@aprat]

I would play this at my friend's place all the time, but i could never beat the boss rush. UGH!

[@KefkaJr]

Playing Quintet games paved the road that led to my atheist awakening.

[@CarozQH]

Finally.

[@JeremyParish]

OK, I'm dying to know: What's it like to have zero chill?

[@CarozQH]

I didn't mean "Finally he uploads a new video!", what I meant (and should have probably written) is "Act Raiser, Finally a great game in the early SNES release schedule!"

[@JeremyParish]

Haha, fair enough!

[@hisham_hm]

4:00 wtf is the wolf doing to the- oh, nevermind

[@chicopapass]

6:00 Extra Credits History anyone?

[@binkbonkbones3402]

9:08 biblical *CANON* %^}

[@0tt0z]

Actraiser is one of the first snes games i rented back then. I enjoyed the game. I was disappointed in the 2nd game.

[@flygandekrabban]

17:40 well, John Williams ripped off Gustav Holst's planet suite, so I think it's fair game :)

[@jonaszprzybycien6545]

Sol Seraph is comming out july 10. It's basically ActRaiser spiritual successor.

[@IKKIsama14]

I love this game and Soulblazer even more!

[@91-mph73]

Let us know when u get to Super Mario RPG (or Soul Blazer)

[@Evilatem]

The only other games that have a sim style where the activities you do in the sim part feed into the action part is the last 3 games in the Persona series. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hYuvgICGathkjas

[@KuraIthys]

Actraiser is frequently regarded as the first game in a trilogy, though perhaps that's really only because of Quintet making them all, but oddly the sequels are both straight RPG's... One of which only got a western release because Nintendo themselves decided to publish outside of Japan (Illusion of Time/Gaia depending on where you are in the world), and the other is the masterpiece RPG Terranigma, that spends it's time perpetually in Chrono Trigger's shadow. (perhaps not so surprising because while Japan got both, Chrono Trigger is a US exclusive, and Terranigma is a European exclusive. It seems in general what's popular in the US tends to overshadow what's popular in Europe.) To this day the lack of a Terranigma re-release really bugs me, even though I have a japanese cartridge of it, and could get a European copy if I wanted to (they're expensive though - and come in multiple versions. English and German, possibly others, with in my experience the German version being the one found for sale most often.)

[@jonaszprzybycien6545]

There is also SoulBlazer.

[@danielespeziari5545]

ActRaiser isn't part of a trilogy. You are referring to Soul Blazer - Illusion of Gaia (Time) - Terranigma (Soul Blazer being my favorite). ActRaiser has its own sequel, which is a pure action game with no sim or RPG elements.