Actraiser 2 Strategy Guide and Walkthrough
Version 0.1
This guide c1999 Seth Paul
Actraiser 2 is copyrighted 1993 by Enix/Quartet and licensed by
Nintendo.  All rights reserved.

If you have information about this game, do not see it in this guide and
would like to contribute, feel free to e-mail me the info at
[email protected].  Also e-mail if you have questions concerning
the game and don't see the answer you're looking for in the guide.
SOME INFO I COULD USE: I got this game used, and it didn't come with an
instruction book.  If there is more story line in it than I've put here,
or if the spells and monsters have specific names, let me know.

BLATANT PLUG ALERT!  BLATANT PLUG ALERT!
Along with this Actraiser 2 FAQ, I also have a Duke Nukem: Time to Kill
FAQ posted around the internet.  The most recent versions of both guides
can be found at: Http://www.gamefaqs.com.

Table of Contents
I.   Credits
II.  Version Releases
III. Game Overview
IV.  Your Character and His Abilities
V.   Level Walkthroughs
VI.  Secrets and codes

I. Credits
I would like to thank:

Enix/Quartet: For making a game like this for what is probably one of
the best gaming systems of all time.

Nintendo: For licensing the game and making one of the best gaming
systems of all time.

II. Version Releases
Version 0.1
-Wrote sections III and IV
-Began work on section V
-Added some level passwords and information to section VI
-That's it.  The next release should have more level walkthrough
information in it.

III. Game Overview
Tanzra, the evil Lord of Darkness, was destroyed by you in the
first Actraiser.  Unfortunately, old evils never truly die.  That's
how sequels get made, anyway.  Tanzra's foul followers have managed
to resurrect him and now the land is overrun again.  This time
however, you still have all your powers intact. This isn't a quest
to regain your faith as it was in the original Actraiser; this is
simply to destroy Tanzra once and for all.  Your quest will take
you from swampy forests to the depths of an anthill to a great
tower ascending into the sky, all in an attempt to set your land
free again.  Time to take your sword again, great Lord.  Your
people need you once again.

Actraiser 2, unlike its action/simulation predecessor, focuses
completely on the action sequences that were 'so fun' in the
original (rather like the hidden 'Professional' mode in Actraiser,
but with breaks in between).  You play the same character as
before, but the world below you has evolved and changed a great
deal.  Tanzra's demons no longer control the lands directly, but
instead manipulate the humans living there now in ways that will
eventually destroy your people.

To start your quest, you can choose 3 difficulty levels.  Their
differences are:
EASY: Start with 5 lives, 5 magic points, and 99 seconds (well,
time units, since they progress a little slower than seconds) to
complete the level.  Enemies deal less damage and are easier to
kill.
MEDIUM: Start with 3 lives, 3 magic points, and 99 seconds.
Enemies are moderately difficult and moderate to kill.
HARD: Start with 2 lives,
IV. Your Character and His Abilities
Your character is simply known as the Master, a deity who watches
over his people from a castle that rides the clouds.  As before,
you exist simply as a ball of light up in your realm.  Descending
to the world below, you inhabit a statue in the shape of a great
warrior.  Unlike the first Actraiser, however, your character has
the ability to fly (well, glide anyway.  You can't really gain
altitude, just distance).  Your character can swing a sword, block
with a shield, and even cast magical spells in addition to gliding.

SWORD: Your basic weapon, this is used simply by pressing the sword
button (normally set to Y in the controls).  You can swing at arm
height, duck and swing low, and swing upwards on an angle.  Each
hit takes 1 health point from your enemies, which is half of a full
health ball (explained below).

SHIELD: Don't underestimate your shield.  Not only can it be aimed
just like your sword, it has the ability to block projectile
attacks enemies can throw at you.  Extremely useful, and shouldn't
be forgotten.  NOTE: Your shield cannot protect you while you're
swinging your sword or walking.  To deflect enemy rounds, stand
still.

FLYING: To fly, press the jump button twice (normally B at the
default).  While in the air, you have three options of how to fly:
FLOAT, GLIDE, or DIVE.  To FLOAT, hold up on the D-Pad while still
holding the jump button.  Use this if falling down a long tunnel
and wish to avoid traps or aim directly onto a platform.  To GLIDE,
press the D-Pad left or right while holding the jump button.  This
technique gains you the most ground per flight, but it comes with a
price: upon landing, you will skid a few feet, sometimes right off
of a small platform.  To DIVE, hold down on the D-Pad while holding
the jump button.

MAGIC: The Master also has knowledge of various forms of magic.
You can help him perform these mystical arts by holding down the
attack button after you've swung your sword.  Your on-screen
persona will flash red and when he is flashing very quickly an icon
will appear in the middle of the status bar, signifying the spell
you are casting.  You then let go of the attack button and the
spell is cast.  Each spell consumes one magic point.  The various
spells are as follows:

MAGIC RATING SYSTEM:
DAMAGE: How much damage the spell does to the victims.
RANGE: How far the spell can reach.
DIFFICULTY: How hard it is to cast the spell.
OVERALL: My overall impressions with the spell.

Flame (Symbol of small fire): A stream of flame comes from the
Master's hand and swings up and down, causing damage. Cast simply
by standing still with no D-Pad press.
DAMAGE: Weak
RANGE: Medium
DIFFICULTY: Very Easy
OVERALL: Fair
Ball (Symbol of orange ball): Three balls fly up and forward in an
arc, causing 3 energy points of damage to the enemy upon contact,
whether all balls hit or not.  Cast by standing still and pressing
Up on the D-Pad.  (I've gone through the entire easy level casting
only this spell, so I'm highly supportive of it; I do think it's
one of the best spells in the whole game!)
DAMAGE: Strong
RANGE: Far
DIFFICULTY: Very Easy
OVERALL: Excellent
Earthshaker (Symbol of a flash exploding from the earth): The
Master sticks his sword into the earth, after which a ball of
energy surrounds him for a few seconds, damaging everything around
him.  Cast by holding Down on the D-Pad.
DAMAGE: Medium
RANGE: Short
DIFFICULTY: Very Easy
OVERAL: Very Good
Frost (Symbol of a snowflake): Four balls of frost explode in
separate diagonal directions from the Master's body.  Cast by
jumping into the air ONCE.
DAMAGE: Medium
RANGE: Far
DIFFICULTY: Medium
OVERALL: Good
Glide Thrust (Symbol of a moving white ball): The Master shoots a
single white ball from the tip of his sword.  You must GLIDE in
order to do this.
DAMAGE: Medium
RANGE: Very Far
DIFFICULTY: Medium
OVERALL: Very Good
Lightning (Symbol of a lightning bolt): The Master is surrounded in
a ball of energy as two lightning bolts shoot straight up and down
from him.  You must FLOAT in order to do this.
DAMAGE: Good
RANGE: Medium (Whole screen top and bottom, but very little from
side to side range)
DIFFICULTY: Medium
OVERALL: Very Good
Phoenix: (Symbol of a flaming bird): The master calls the mighty
phoenix to ride in front of his blade, doing far more damage with a
strike.  You must DIVE to do this.
DAMAGE: Strong
RANGE: N/A (It stays with the master the whole time)
DIFFICULTY: Very Hard (Easy to pull off, difficult to master)
OVERALL: Excellent

ADVANCED MOVES
As you get better, these are moves that will certainly help you
out...
GLIDE FALL(OR FLOAT): Normally when landing after a glide, the
Master skids and sends you moving far greater distance than you had
intended.  To prevent this, FLOAT or DIVE just before landing.  The
Master will give a 3-point landing with little muss or fuss.  Try
FLOATING at first to allow yourself practice in landing.  Then use
dive because it is quicker (leaving you vulnerable for shorter time
periods) and more precise.  FLOATING is also detrimental in another
area: see the below subject.
AIR SWORDPLAY: While GLIDING or DIVING, the master can attack with
his sword.  A GLIDE attack does as much damage as the Master
normally would on the ground, but is very easily correctable
without side effects.  A DIVE attack does 1 and 1/2 times the
normal damage, but requires a great deal of precision.  Otherwise,
you'll either end up getting hurt yourself or falling off the
screen in areas where there's no ground.  Also, the DIVE is best
for enemies below you and to the side, while GLIDE attacks enemies
at your level.  I use the DIVE myself a lot, so I recommend you do,
too.

V. Level Walkthroughs
NOTE: The game does suggest an order, although it's completely up to
you with which level you want to begin.  So you don't ruin the game
for yourself, you can refer to the following list to find out which
level you're having problems with.
ANOTHER NOTE: The numbers after each enemy refer to how many hit
points the enemy has at varying difficulty levels: the first is Easy,
the second is Normal, and the third is Hard.  An enemy with stats
(3/5/9) can take 3 regular sword hits on Easy, 5 on Normal, and 9 on
Hard.
Part I - Diligence
A. INDUSTEN
B. BENEFIC
Part II - The Queen
C. TORTOISE ISLAND
D. (The rest of the list is coming soon.  It's been a long time since
I've played this game [although I have beaten it], so it's going to
take awhile to get all the information recorded in the right order.)

Part I - Diligence
The people of DILIGENCE are finding it harder and harder to get up
and work everyday.  This is not right, and is obviously Tanzra's
doing.  The nearby area of INDUSTEN seems to be causing the problem,
as a large raincloud seems to be the source of this lethargic
attitude in the townspeople.  Time to cleanse the earth again.
A. INDUSTEN
Industen is a straightforward level at the beginning.  Several grey
trolls (1/2/3) will jump down from mushrooms or come scampering in at
you, dragonflies (3/4/5) will drop down from the top of the screen
and fly at you, and caterpillars (1/2/3) will crawl up from holes in
the ground.  Just keep walking right and smashing the grey powerup
blocks.  Nothing's very hard here.  Eventually the music will stop
and a giant mid-level boss attacks.

MID-LEVEL BOSS VILE WEED (10/16/?):
The easiest least costly way of dealing with this overgrown walking
plant is to follow the pattern.  When he's chomping quickly, he's
ready to shoot three fireballs from his mouth.  Duck so the top two
miss you and the bottom one hits your shield.  When the plant opens
his mouth wide and prepares to run, get ready to double jump (as if
preparing to GLIDE) over him and hit him from the back.  If you feel
you can do it, do a DIVE attack when you get behind him to do more
damage.  This boss is very easy, and he should go down in at most 3
tries.

After defeating the boss, continue moving right.  You will come to a
brown, disgusting stream.  The stream is dangerous, so jump instead
from the flowers growing in it.  Wait until the flowers bend towards
each other before jumping (although the frogs (2/3/?) can give you
trouble).  You will see a tree with a hole near the bottom.  Jump for
the hole (flying if necessary) and then double jump to the right to
reach a platform inside the tree.  From here, move up the tree while
killing the archers (2/3/?) until you reach the top.  Jump again and
you'll warp to the top of the tree, where the battle with FATIGUE
takes place.

END-LEVEL BOSS FATIGUE (20/20/20)
FATIGUE rides his cloud slowly towards the left of the screen,
occasionally stopping to toss some scythes into the air.  Take this
time to slice or place magical hurt on the skeleton riding the cloud
(the scythes aren't a big deal; stay close to the cloud and they'll
sail right over you).  At some point FATIGUE will sail quickly back.
When this happens, walk (and ONLY walk) towards the left side of the
screen, being cautious to avoid the thorns.  The cloud will begin
sucking in air, pulling you towards the right side of the screen.  If
you find yourself forced to fly to avoid the thorns, do so; if you
walked to the left early enough, you'll be able to land far enough
left to avoid damage.  When the cloud does stop inhaling, it will
begin spitting out spinning discs.  Avoid these by standing under the
cloud, facing left, and ducking.  Those that DO come near you will
hit your shield and be deflected.  FATIGUE will repeat the entire
pattern at this time, so begin attacking him some more.  Soon FATIGUE
will explode and he will be done for.  Reap the rewards for your
labor as you return to the map screen.

DILIGENCE has returned to normal now that the cloud has gone, but
there still seems to be some leftover monsters infecting the nearby
river.  You are asked by the townsfolk to cleanse the river head and
end the influence once and for all.  Time to go to BENEFIC.
B. BENEFIC
The river area is slightly harder than Industen, but nothing truly
difficult.  The first enemies you'll run into are bats (1/?/?),
sharkmen (1/?/?), brown heads (2/?/?), and purple crawlers (1/?/?).
Nothing too difficult.  Just go to the right, jumping over the spikes
in the water, until the way dead-ends.  You will see a ledge with a
leaf sticking out to the left.  From the very left edge of the leaf,
GLIDE over to the ledge a short distance to the left (it's pretty
difficult, and it may take a few tries to get over; I recommend
double jumping instantly, without waiting until the Master reaches
the height of his first jump).  Continue crossing left until it dead
ends in a tunnel going up.  Follow it up out of the water cave and
into the open air.  Unfortunately, you'll now encounter flying green
trolls (1/?/?).  Walk left and you'll reach the mouth of another
cave...and the mid-level boss.

MID-LEVEL BOSS Cobra (10/?/?):
This boss moves his head around the screen a lot, stopping
occasionally to throw three fireballs in your general direction.  Try
to stand on the tiny ledge on the far left and let him aim his
fireballs at you there.  You can then jump over him and DIVE attack.
When you land, you can slice him once or twice, then go back to the
left platform.  If you're not afraid to use some magic (and you
should, since the final boss is MUCH easier to deal magic on), try
Flame.  He's an easy mid-boss as well, and you shouldn't have much
trouble with him.  Enter the cave after he's through.

This area of the level is less complicated than the first, as now all
you do is climb against stream up a hill to the final boss.  Be wary
of bats dive bombing you and sharkmen using the hill as a waterslide.
If you need it, there's a gray box halfway up the slope.  Jump onto
the two blocks that a lone sharkman patrols and fly left to the ledge
with the box.  At the top of the slope is this level's final boss.

END-LEVEL BOSS Giant Snail (20/20/20)
First of all, note the two blocks that comprise platforms on the left
side of this board.  Unless otherwise directed, STAY ON THE LOWER
RIGHT BLOCK!  This makes dealing with the boss easier.  The first
part of the attack pattern is boulders that drop from the top of the
screen.  Simply hold your shield up to deflect them (if you can't
seem to deflect, try turning the Master around without lowering the
shield.  You may find blocking much easier).  While blocking, charge
your magic.  Three mines will go by in the water.  Ignore them; on
the platform they won't hurt you.  Eventually, the snail will poke
its head out of its shell.  Cast ball magic on it once to harm it.
When it shoots two beams of light at you, just jump up and over them
and land back on the platform.  Repeat until the snail is dead.  (If
you run out of ball magic, dive at the snail when it pops out.
Afterwards, jump back onto the lower platform and continue in this
manner.)

Part II - The Queen
After destroying the last of the monsters around Diligence, the
people have returned to their industrious selves.  However, some of
the locals are reporting a mournful cry coming from the sea.
Traveling to the west reveals a large tortoise swimming in the sea.
A town appears to have been built on its back, and now the creature
has submerged.  Why have the townspeople built this place?  What
happened to them?  Why are monsters swarming in force around the
town?  Only the might of the Master can correct the situation.
C.      Tortoise Island
This level is incredibly simple.  You start off walking to the right,
killing swimming sharkmen (?/?/?), big fish (?/?/?), red big fish
(?/?/?), seahorses (?/?/?), and exploding snails (one hit causes them
to burst into eight damaging pieces).  Continue this way and you'll
reach the second area.  No Mid-level boss here.

This section is also a simple move to the right area, just with
different platform levels to walk along.  You'll encounter more of
the same as well as claw shooters (?/?/?) which can be deactivated by
hitting the jewel in the center of them.  I recommend taking the
highest platforms as it's a shorter distance as well as fewer
enemies.  However, the lowest ones have lots of powerups, so the
choice is really up to you.  Eventually the platforms will darken
into a deep red and the Giant Squid will be ready to fight you.

END-LEVEL BOSS Giant Squid (20/20/20)
This boss is incredibly easy.  Stand under the eye for a little bit
until the tiny arm starts swinging your direction.  Quickly move
left, jump straight up twice, and move on top of the eye.  Jump and
strike down and take away two hits with every blow.  You should get
in a good four or five blows if you did it right, and even more if
you're good.  As the arm swings back, jump down to the middle arm
platform.  Wait for the eye to charge up a Medusa shot and jump over
it when it comes by.  Repeat until monster is dead.

More to come later.

VI. Secrets and Codes
This area talks about the stuff everyone loves most: cheats!  Well,
there's some other things worked in here, too, like little features
the game has that you might not have known about.
RAISE AND LOWER YOUR CASTLE: Your castle in the air can reach
different altitudes on the world map.  Press the L button to climb,
press R to ascend.  There are three levels of altitude that you can
go to.  The only use this seems to have is for movement purposes; it
helps get a better overall look of the map, but doesn't provide
anything really interesting.

LEVEL PASSWORDS: Since the walkthrough above is linear, so is the
list of passwords below.  They are divided in three sections, for
each of the difficulty levels.  The level listed next to it is the
level THAT HAS JUST BEEN COMPLETED.  If unsure where to go after you
start the game, put the castle over the last completed level to see
if it tells you where to go.  NOTE: If you'd like to play the game
for yourself without the aid of passwords, you can get one by
pressing the A or B button without being over a named area (no name
appears in the box at the top of the screen).

EASY:
INDUSTEN:        XZKC XRZM XXZD
BENEFIC:         JCLD XYTX SLCS
TORTOISE ISLAND:
NORMAL:
INDUSTEN:        XZKC XBZM WTHC
HARD:
INDUSTEN:


ENDINGS: Upon completion of the easy level, you'll notice that the
game has more to offer.  Each of the difficulty levels offers a
different ending if you beat it.  If you prefer to be surprised,
don't read the following section.  However, do read the following
line:
MORE TO COME!  KEEP WATCHING AS NEW VERSIONS COME OUT!





EASY: I have seen this ending, but it's been awhile since I've
beaten it and will have to see it again.  It basically says to try
the normal difficulty level.

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