ActRaiser 2 - Gameplay

Gameplay

Gameplay for ActRaiser 2 consists primarily with side-scrolling platform action. The player, assuming the role of "the Master" ("God" in the Japanese version), controls a floating palace to inspect the people of the world below. After hearing their plight the Master descends to the world below to fight the monsters and rid the land of evil. Each area contains two "acts". The first act of an area consists of monsters spawned from a lesser demon named after an unfavorable condition. The second act consists of monsters spawned from the primary evil, named after one of the seven deadly sins, with heightened challenge and peril.

The side-scrolling action for ActRaiser 2 is far more advanced than its predecessor. Controlling the Master, who now has a full set of functional wings, the player must navigate through dungeons and avoid certain peril by jumping, flying, falling, and floating to platforms. Armed only with a sword, and a shield which can deflect some attacks, the Master becomes heavily dependent upon magic. Magic is executed by holding down the designated button to "charge up" and is then released, consuming a magic scroll which are limited when the Master enters an area. When released, the magic may take various form depending on which position the Master is in. This is different from the first ActRaiser in which the player had to select a particular magic before descending down to the world to fight monsters and was limited to only that magic for the duration of battle. In ActRaiser 2, each magic is designed for particular situations and some magic is more powerful than others. By increasing the difficulty level at the options screen, the time it takes to "charge up" magic is increased, adding more difficulty to the game. The game's difficulty is also increased in that monsters require much more damage to be destroyed. Even on the easiest difficulty the game can prove to be quite challenging, and on the hardest difficulty it has increased replay value.