Wii #0078 - ActRaiser (Europe)

[jumpman17]

^^wiirelease-0887^^

 

[Sir VG]

All 3 regions of ActRaiser, while maintaining the core game, all have considerable difference from each other.

Too bad that the PAL version runs the video at 5/6th speed...it has some nice extras. The speed drives me up the wall.

 

[berlinka]

Thanks Sir VG. Reason for me to skip this one. Which is a shame. Because it was one of my favorite SNES games.

 

[wabo]

All 3 regions of ActRaiser, while maintaining the core game, all have considerable difference from each other.

Wow! Wasn't aware of that. I beaten the US game at least 5 times. I had bought the game at release back in the day. Last time i've beaten it is last year on my PSP. One of the best game soundtrack ever IMO.

Care to elaborate on the differences?

 

[Pikachu025]

Couldn't you just force the PAL version to run at 60 fps using an emulator?

 

[superrob]

81??? Allready??
God these things goes fast.

 

[Sir VG]

All 3 regions of ActRaiser, while maintaining the core game, all have considerable difference from each other.
Wow! Wasn't aware of that. I beaten the US game at least 5 times. I had bought the game at release back in the day. Last time i've beaten it is last year on my PSP. One of the best game soundtrack ever IMO.

Care to elaborate on the differences?


Well, I can't list everything that's different, but I'll list some that I can. I won't list much of the comparisons in regards to the PAL version, since that's the one I know the least about. I know the most about the other two as I own them both and have played them both in full.


Japanese version is called Actraiser and US uses ActRaiser or Act Raiser.

The Japanese version is the purest form, as Nintendo of America removed all religious references in the US version, in accordance to their old censorship policies. References to God (The Master), Satan (Tanzara), Heaven (Sky Palace) were changed. Though the game still reeks of it, with people praying in temples, the false god, and the angel.

The flow of the Creation (Simulation) section is different between the US and Japanese versions. The best way to consider them is that the US version feels more like a turn-based strategy and the Japanese version feels more like Real-Time Strategy. This is most noticeable when building roads. The US version builds out 1 square per turn, while the Japanese version gradually builds.

Several normal (non-boss) enemies take more damage in the Japanese version than the US version. Some of these include the vines in Casandra (Kasandora).

Spikes are INSTANT KILL (if vulnerable) in the Japanese version. The US version just takes damage. Speaking of which, there are a hell of a lot more of them too.

Some bosses have different strategies, making them harder in the Japanese version. The primary two fitting under this are Casandra Act I and Marana (Marahna) Act I.

Most of the full apples that exist in the US version were either partial apples in the Japanese version. Others are in different locations (like the one before the boss in Casandra Act I).

While battling Satan (Tanzara), the timer stops after the mask (first form) is defeated. The 2nd form in the Japanese version, unfortunately, suffers from considerable lag.

Professional! mode in the US is called Special in the Japanese version. Both work the same way. To my recollection, the European version has a mode like this available at the start, with 3 modes of difficulty. I also remember the European version having random magic scrolls throughout the levels that were a 1-time use of a spell. My mind is fuzzy on this one though, so I may be wrong.

Some of the action stages got some tweaks. Filmoa (Fillmore) Act I is probably the biggest change of them all.

A few levels have different music. Filmoa Act II is the most prominent change of them all, with it using the same music as Filmoa Act I in the Japanese version, instead of the music from Casandra Act II.

The controls from Magic are different. Japanese uses UP+Y, US uses A.

You start with fewer lives in the Japanese version (Special mode for sure - 2 vs 5 Jap to US, and I believe 1 less on the main game), and some sections less time (usually if the timer is less, it's by 100 units).

Deathheim does NOT make it's grand appearance on the Japanese version. You're simply notified by the angel in text. At least the US people got something cool.

The level up incriments are different between the two versions. I think that they're lower in the Japanese version.


In comparison, the Japanese version is considerably harder than the US counterpart. It's still quite playable, even if you don't know Japanese...as long as you have an understanding of the US version. This is mainly in regards to the Creation section. The action stages are straight forward. I do believe there is a full English patch for the Japanese ROM.

As for which I prefer? The US is has improvements to one key issue - lag. If I'm looking for a more relaxing time, or I want to do a 100% run, the US version is better for this. But I personally don't have a favorite between the two versions - I love them both equally for their perfections and imperfections.


QUOTE

Couldn't you just force the PAL version to run at 60 fps using an emulator?

Well, you might, but wouldn't that screw up the audio? Because in the PAL version, it's only the video that's slow. The audio runs at normal speed. Never tried that, but generally I don't deal with PAL versions of games.




I'm gonna have to make a full comparison list for all 3 versions some time. This is all stuff I'm remembering off of the top of my head.

 

[wabo]

Thanks for the info.