Play ActRaiser 2 Online

Summary

ActRaiser 2 drops the god‑building interludes of its predecessor and becomes a pure side‑scrolling platformer for the SNES. You still start as the floating Master, hovering over a palace to listen to the world’s cries before diving down to battle monsters, but now each zone is split into two “acts”: a lesser demon’s swarm followed by a tougher wave named after one of the seven deadly sins.

The Master’s arsenal is simple—sword, shield and a chargeable magic scroll. Holding the magic button builds power, then releases a spell whose effect depends on your position, a twist that forces you to time attacks rather than pre‑select a spell. Higher difficulty slows the charge and makes enemies far tougher, and the secret Death Heim area is locked out of easy mode.

Quintet built the game at Enix of America’s request, launching it in Japan on October 29 1993. Critics praised the tighter platform action, giving it scores like 86/100 from CVG and 9/10 from EGM, while worldwide sales topped 180 000 copies, with North America accounting for the bulk.

Despite plans for a Saturn “Act Remix” and an unfinished N64 sequel, ActRaiser 2 remains a cult favorite, even landing at #81 on Complex’s best‑SNES list and earning a spot in Total!’s Top 100 SNES games.

Storyline

ActRaiser 2 opens with the Master confronting Tanzra—called Satan in the Japanese version—who was once the Master’s servant before leading a rebellion and being cast down from the Sky Castle. Tanzra’s shattered body fell into the underworld, where his demonic followers kept his corpse and, over millennia, resurrected him along with thirteen demonic leaders, including the seven deadly sins.

Guided by his angelic allies, the Crystallis, the Master battles through ironic stages such as the city of Leon, where citizens are thrown into the underground prison of Gratis by the tax‑evading king Kolunikus, who is plagued by Doom. After vanquishing six of the sins, the Tower of Babel—renamed Tower of Souls in the Western release—rises, leading to the final sin, Destruction, a mechanized god of Pride. The Master then breaches the Death Heim, an underworld realm protected by a powerful barrier, by crashing the Sky Castle into it, sacrificing many angels in the process.

In the climactic showdown, the resurrected sins and a frozen Tanzra in an icy lake are defeated. The ending declares that “The Master will live forever,” and the credits show his statue slowly eroding, symbolizing humanity’s growing independence—a thematic echo of the original ActRaiser.