Reasons to be excited for Actraiser Renaissance

Remaster of the 90s Super Nintendo Classic has been re-built from the ground-up - available today for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PC and mobile devices.
By Teague Emery

Actraiser was an absolute gem of the early 90s. The genre-bending platformer/city-sim was released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990 and put players in the role of the Lord of Light. Through various forms and gameplay styles, it was up to you to cleanse a world beset by evil and defeat The Evil One.

Now, it’s back! Actraiser Renaissance, a full, stunning remaster of the game has been released today on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PC and mobile devices. As in the original, this release will see you simultaneously taking down the creatures of darkness while building, developing and protecting your own safe haven of civilisation.

This is a remaster fit for the gods, so let’s jump in to some of the reasons we’re excited to get our hands on it.

Actraiser Renaissance trailer

A Remaster Fit for the Gods

30 years after its original release, this remaster breathes new life into a cult classic. It’s clear from the get-go that this is no ordinary remaster - the complete graphical overhaul adds stunning detail and atmosphere to the game’s varied and far-reaching environments. From volcanoes to snowy landscapes, dark castles, dense jungles, and perilous deserts, each location has been lovingly recreated for this new version.

Side-scrolling stage from Actraiser Renaissance

Paired with a re-arranged soundtrack by composer Yuzo Koshiro (“SORCERIAN”, “Bare Knuckle”, “Shenmue”, “Etrian Odyssey series”), which includes 15 new tracks, the game takes the audio delights and visual splendour of the original and takes them to new heights.

Alongside the visual and audio upgrades, Actraiser Renaissance is packed with additional content… but we’ll get to those in time.

Actraiser Renaissance city building

Building a City Worthy of Worship

There’s no denying that Actraiser Renaissance is unique, seamlessly tying two vastly different genres together with ease.

First up, the Realm Management segments, which tasks players with creating their own havens, safe from the grasp of The Evil One. Become the Lord of Light’s trusted angel and guide your new and budding civilisation to salvation, clearing barriers, destroying monsters and sealing their lairs to make way for construction.

Actraiser Renaissance‘s enhanced development mode gives you even more ways to build a perfect town for your followers, with new levels of housing and buildings based on how advanced your civilisation has become, and new defensive structures for the “Settlement Siege” mode. On top of this, there’s also a new area and map for you to expand your influence.

Actraiser Renaissance screenshot

However, as your oasis grows, so does the threat of The Evil One. As an angel you must use your mighty bow and arrow to protect your people from incoming monsters, or call on the Lord of Light to perform miracles such as summoning a bolt of lightning or an earthquake.

It doesn’t stop there: Actraiser Renaissance adds a new “Settlement Siege” feature which takes the form of a real time strategy game where you must make careful decisions to protect your people from the oncoming horde. In Realm Management mode, you must strategise where to place your city’s defences, from magehouses, forts, and blockhouses in preparation for the siege that lies ahead.

Actraiser Renaissance siege

When under siege, you’ll also need to place blockades and palisades, then make use of heroes to fight against the attacking foes, recruiting one from each region that you spread your influence to, and also conjure powerful miracles to help protect your followers and deal out divine justice to the advancing monsters.

Actraiser Renaissance Pharaoh boss fight

Side Scroll to Save Humanity

With each new area you develop there are new monsters that need slaying, and there’s only one way to do it: bring to life a sword wielding statue and slice your way through tense, side-scrolling environments known as Realm Acts.

These areas have been beautifully reimagined, and you’ll want to soak up all of the beautiful detail while hacking and slashing your way through all manner of gruesome monsters. Work your way through these enemy strongholds until you reach the boss watching over it, and vanquish your foe to bring your people one step closer to safety.

Actraiser Renaissance Minotaurus

Budding Gods can also enjoy new action phases in which they can infiltrate and destroy monster lairs. These short battles task you with evading monsters and trying to defeat the monster spawner within a limited amount of time, meaning new tactics and strategies may be needed to make short work of your foes.

Not only do the original environments look stellar, there’s also a whole new area added in Actraiser Renaissance, giving even the most hardcore of heroes somewhere new to explore.

In addition to the new area, there’s also a new boss battle to look forward to, giving players an even greater challenge once they’ve managed to usurp Tanzra from his evil throne.

Actraiser Renaissance screenshot

And One More Thing…

Alongside all of the incredible improvements and new features above, there are also special bonuses* for anyone who purchases Actraiser Renaissance before November 1st**.

Those quick to act will also get two sets of rewards in the form of a themed wallpaper, two new songs, and three remastered songs composed by Yuzo Koshiro.

When purchasing on Steam and the PlayStation store these will be instant download rewards***, but please note that those purchasing the game on Nintendo Switch will get access to a unique code and URL, allowing them to download these incentives separately.


*Please note that these incentives vary for each platform. PlayStation owners will receive a mini-soundtrack of 2 new songs and 3 rearranged songs, as well as an original theme with background music. Steam and Nintendo Switch owners will receive the same mini-soundtrack as well as a wallpaper. Mobile platforms will receive no incentives.

** Incentives will no longer become available after Nov 1st 8:59am PDT/3:59pm UTC/ Nov 2nd 0:59am JST. The early purchase incentive distribution period is subject to change without notice.

*** PlayStation owners will need to download an app and insert a USB device into the console to receive the soundtrack files.


For more information on Actraiser Renaissance, make sure you follow Square Enix on social media to stay up to date with the news:

Share