| Introduction:
Ripped and torn, the slain body of your arch-enemy, Tanzra, is returned
to the underworld. Harvesting the intense hatred each feels toward the
Master(who happens to be you), Tanzra's demon lords (End Bosses) use
their sorcery to revive their king. Tanzra, vowing revenge, has sent
his demons to destroy your cities once again. And that's how Actraiser
2, the sequel to the successful Actraiser, starts off. Unlike the
original Actraiser, this game is entirely a side-scrolling action
adventure. Let's look at the game in more detail.
Graphics [7/10]:
The graphics in this game aren't much different than the first game's.
The background is a bit more detailed in this game, though. Now you can
see lava-spewing volcanoes and ancient cities in the background. As for
the characters, like in the first game characters are colorful and move
smoothly. Enemies are a bit more detailed this time around, but the
Master and his angels seem bland and faceless.
Music and Sound [4/10]:
The music is fitting, but kind of boring. The music tends to just drone
along to the point where you don't even realize it's there. The sound
effects are nothing more than a grunt when your hit and a "pow" sound
when you blow up an enemy. The End Boss music is slow and boring. The
music in this game would put you to sleep if there weren't so many
demons trying to kill you.
Game Play [6/10]:
The RPG elements and city-building mode that gave variety to the first
game are gone. Now, you just enter a city, beat the End Boss, and move
onto the next. The constant fighting can wear you out after a while.
Also, since you can no longer raise your level, you start the game with
the same amount of life and magic that you'll finish the game with.
This can be good or bad, depending on how you look at it. In the first
game, if you got licked in a level, you could always say "I'll just
raise my level and come back when I'm stronger." Uh-uh. In this game
when you get killed, you say "I better start practicing because I just
got beat by the first Boss and I still have 13 more to go." Using magic
can be confusing. You have to hold down the Y Button until you flash,
and then do the correct control pad motion and release the button.
You'll waste a lot of MP doing the wrong magic attack by accident.
Challenge and Replay [7/10]:
Due to the fact that you can't raise levels and the difficulty of some
bosses, Actraiser 2 ranks high when it comes to challenge. As for
replay, since the game can be frustrating at times, I don't know if I'd
want to beat it over again. The game has 3 different difficulty levels,
but I found the game challengeing on easy, let alone on hard.
Conclusion/Overall [6/10]:
Fans of the original Actraiser might enjoy this game. I reccomend
renting this before you buy it. If you don't mind a game being a little
challengeing, give it a try. But, if you get frustrated easily, I'd
stay away from this one. Some Bosses will have you wondering "How the
heck am I supposed to hurt him?", and some jumps can seem impossible.
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