61 Frames Per Second

Actraiser III! Maybe!

Posted by Peter Smith
Nothing Square-Enix could announce would make me happier than a sequel to ActRaiser, their seminal 1991 genre-bender. Back in the early days of the SNES, ActRaiser was one of the first games that felt genuinely next-generation. Mario World was great, but, well, it was Mario. ActRaiser, with its dense forests, poisoned lakes and vast deserts, was a window onto a gorgeous natural world that older game systems only had the power to imply. And the soundtrack kicked fucking ass.

ActRaiser was a unique blend of sidescrolling action and overhead, SimCity-style world-building. Its sequel, ActRaiser 2, ditched the simulation aspect, making for a more generic experience. It was also hard as hell, and the controls were a little stiff; still, the game world was arguably even more beautifully realized than the original's, and the soundtrack, while less dynamic, had some great moments. But for most people, ActRaiser remained unrivaled. Now, in an interview with Jeremy Parish at GamaSutra, the directors of the ActRaiser-esque Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King reveal... well, okay, they don't reveal much. "I'd like to make an ActRaiser sequel," says Fumiaki Shiraishi. Pretty thin gruel for a fan to live on, but at least it suggests that this classic game hasn't been completely forgotten.

Comments

Mark said:

I loved this game and ditto on the soundtrack.  A third iteration that has gameplay on par with the first game would be great!

May 14, 2008 3:54 PM

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