ActRaiser

During game play the player fills the role of the 'Master', a powerful being awakened from a long sleep to find the civilizations of his former world in shambles. Through a combination of side-scrolling action stages and overhead-view "god" simulation mode the Master slowly rebuilds his world and regains his followers and powers. He is not referred to as a deity of any kind, and it is stated in the manual that he is mortal, and this is the reason he hid away from the demons he was fighting when he had just enough power to seal himself away and wait them out.
To begin rebuilding each civilization, the Master descends from his sky palace and inhabits the body of an ancient gray statue. The lifeless statue turns into a strong male warrior of human form wielding a sword. He uses his sword to fight through a side-scrolling level with various monsters and hazards. During each level the warrior can pick up power ups contained in strange statues which can have many effects which vary from refilling life to empowering his sword to fire projectiles. At the end of each stage the warrior must battle a more powerful boss monster. To help him the Master has a life bar which can be extended by gaining more followers. He may also gain access to magical spells which can generally kill normal monsters quickly or deal large amounts of damage to boss monsters. The defeat of the end-boss opens up a new section of the overhead-view world.


One of the side-scrolling stages, showing a boss battle against the manticore on the town of Bloodpool
The overhead-view simulation mode involves protecting and guiding the Master's new civilization towards prosperity. The first two humans in each population are sent to the Earth by the Master and enter the temple, an ancient structure which acts as the central hub of the civilization. This portion of the game play requires the player to take actions that encourage the growth of the population, such as instructing the people where to build roads, houses and farmland. The Master controls his servant, Angel, a cupid like creature with a halo, small wings, and a bow and arrow. Additionally the Master has access to miraculous powers such as the ability to summon lightning, rain, sunlight, wind or earthquakes. The Master uses these miracles to clear obstacles such as rocks and snow, kill monsters, or assist the people in various ways (such as summoning wind to power windmills). While the Master watches over the people they expand the civilization by building homes (which range from tents to large houses) and special buildings (such as farms or windmills).