Topic: Actraiser Renaissance

The best surprise announcement from today's Direct, imo. I admit...I got a little misty-eyed. Yuzo Koshiro is well known for composing the Streets of Rage series, but I'd argue Actraiser is his best work. I'm insta-buying a digital copy, but I hope to God this gets a physical release.

Bought, downloading.

I'll spend the rest of my evening playing and give my impressions tomorrow morning.

This is one of those games where I've never played the original (I did watch a Let's Play like more than a decade ago :V) but I know its a really cool SNES game and its really cool to see it back.

Also no one remembers this, but there was a terrible game a while that tried and failed to be an Actraiser spiritual successor, so its funny to see the real Actraiser back now.

@kkslider552000

Yeah, SolSeraph.

Jim Sterling said it didn't compare to Actraiser, so I skipped it.

Alright I've played a couple hours, completing the Fillmore zone and a bit into Blood Pool. Lets go over my impressions bit by bit. Firstly, the attract mode / title sequence gives me shades of Suikoden. Still images that subtly shift that make it not quite a CG video but feels like one; I like it. Secondly, a music player as a menu option; I love this, the developer Sonic Powered knows what fans of this game are here for, the music. And they put the music player front and center; all you have to do is play through the game to unlock all of the tracks.

http://www.sonicpowered.co.jp/

Presentation: Some good, some bad. Straight away this game was clearly built on a tight budget. The art itself is good. But animation within the 2D action/platforming sections is stilted and a little floaty. There's a lot of mobile-game sensibilities. Which is fine if you enjoy action/platformers like Guns, Gore & Cannoli or Hardcore Mecha.

Gameplay: The original release served up two game modes, 2D action/platforming and the sim-lite portion. Much to my surprise Sonic Powered have added a third section to the gameplay, tower defense. During the sim-lite portion simply shooting down demons with your angel isn't all you'll be doing. You'll also be tasked with building defense measures such as fortified positions, auto-turrets, and directing a hero who patrols the city. The new gameplay bloats the time it takes to complete the game, but overall I like the addition.

Music: It's the machine-symphonic version of the music you already know. Needless to say, it slaps.

Content: Sonic Powered have added additional text to in order to flesh out each region's character story. If you didn't already know, the shtick with Actraiser's worldbuilding is that each region you go to has a tragic character story that's blended into the sim-lite portion of the game via questing. The questing involves no more than reaching certain milestones (farm x of this, build x of that, etc). It isn't complex or deep, but it helps to nudge you along from region to region.

General thoughts: I like this game in many ways and not so much it others. The 2D action/platformer sections have improved controls over the original, but the enemy placement here often puts you in spots where you can't avoid an incoming attack. The overworld angel can now be controlled in all eight directions rather than only the four in the original, but now closing demon spawn pits requires you to go into 2D combat rather than your villagers simply closing the pit once they've built the town close enough to do so in the original.

All in all, it's tough to shake the mobile-quality feel of the game.

Having said that, the music is bliss, the characters are interesting, the frequent bouncing between three different game genres helps keep the gameplay fresh, and I'm happy the game has now been made more widely available.

I will confess that I wasn't fond of the in-game visuals.
The trailer and cinematic visual style is absolutely fine, but the pre-rendered look gives off the same feel as something like The TakeOver which I find offputting.
The rearranged soundtrack though, I think is going to be something to be celebrated.

I'll wait for physical option.

The game caught me, but when I was googleing I found out that it end up released not only on Nintendo Switch, but PlayStation 4, PC and smartphones/tablets. So as mostly PC gamer I now focus to buy game on PC not NS anymore.

@Link-Hero I was only PC gamer for extremely long time (bought first PC at 2004 summer), because I couldn't own any consoles, my first console was New 3DS XL at 2015 September and second console was Nintendo Switch V1 from person with: case, screen protector, extra screen protector (used that one 3 months ago for my little brother's V2 Switch), BotW and Kart 8 Deluxe at 2018 after Pokémon Conference where they released Quest, revealed Let's GO Pikachu & Eevee and revealed that there will be 2019 main Pokémon game which next year end up known as Sword & Shield.

@Magician

Thank you for your Review.
I think i'll grab it when it is a bit discounted.

I am a bit surprised that there is no News Article about it.

Edit:
Would be cool if they redo the second one and add those bulding Sequences.
I like the second one
I am proud that i've played through hehe

@Wavey84 The graphics aren't the best, but remember the SNES original wasn't pushing the SNES to its limits either. It's all about the game play and it excels here IMO.
@Magician "All in all, it's tough to shake the mobile-quality feel of the game." Well considering this released for mobile...
My biggest problem is I feel its a tad pricey at $29.99. I'd have put it at $19.99, especially with the mobile game feel.

That’s twenty odd quid I won’t see again. Actraiser was one of the first titles I bought for the SFC in 91, an incredible title, the two styles meshed wonderfully and with one of the greatest soundtracks to grace any video game. This remake is a pale imatation, bloated with cutscenes and nauseating dialogue. Frame rate for the side scrolling sections is shaky, you never feel totally in control. And bizarrely long loading times. The only saving grace would be if the original is buried away, somewhere as an unlockable.

@konami1987 By cutscenes and nauseating dialog, you mean an actual story line? The original TBH, had no story line. The dialog is a bit cringe though, could use a lot less 3rd person praying.

Adore the original but going to wait for more impressions or reviews before I take the dive. Don't mind some jank and can put up with the obvious budgeted nature of the game if it successful captures and builds on the original.

I'm grabbing this come pay day but thank you everyone for tempering my expectations. Sounds like there is still lots to love tarnished by some disappointment

That's cool they added some new gameplay elements to it. I'm a bit more interested now that I know it isn't just a straight remake. Hope it does well enough to warrant a sequel with a proper budget.

I'm thinking this will get a physical release at some point, yea?

I'm glad this is here! I'm tempted to download. 30 bucks is a steal imo, but I'll wait a while for a physical announcement. Hopefully it won't be too long. I need this as soon as possible.

Personally I think the new graphics look great. No cheap mobile feels from my side, quite the opposite. Everything looks and sounds better than ever.

I have discovered a great way to make the game more bearable, skip the dialog. Just press + and you won't notice a thing.

I'm genuinely curious to know why you're buying this remake when the original is an A+ game.