By Joseph Walter
The easy answer is that The Master is basically God, and that should be reason enough. The more colorful answer is that ActRaiser is one of the best games on the Super Nintendo, and likely one of the best games ever made.
Taking on the role of "The Master," you partake in a bold combination of side-scrolling action stages and top-down, simulation stages where you raise civilization (act and raise, see!?!?)
Considering that you're basically God, you perform miracles, guide civilization, solve problems, answer prayers and more. It's a ton of fun, has absolutely fantastic music, tight gameplay, colorful graphics and some unforgettable and impactful story moments.
Despite its stature in the SNES library, ActRaiser has sadly been more-or-less forgotten, and is in desperate need of revisiting. What better way to pay homage of the all-time classics and reinvigorate interest in the game than by featuring The Master in Smash?
Although he's a sword-wielder (I know, I know), his unique powers (and inclusion of his helpful, cherubic assistant) would also make for some interesting moves that would separate him from the pack.
Stats/General Traits:
The Master is very heavy, but he possesses a surprisingly high jump along with a lively sprinting speed. He's armed with powerful short range attacks along with some impressive long-range special attacks.
Unique Traits:
When the Master moves, his movements are very rigid (like his sprite and statue-y nature), and when he double jumps, he briefly gains angelic wings (like the ones in ActRaiser 2.)
Additionally, when his side smash attacks are charged, he shoots out a flurry of mid-range slicer beams, which he used in the final battle against his diabolic nemesis, Tanzra.
And, although this is probably a little much, it might be kind of cool to have his helpful angel servant hovering around him at all times like a familiar. He'll occasionally fire an arrow, physically block projectiles or even perform a small heal on the Master (think 1-2%), but he'll only go into major action when called upon with the appropriate Special Moves (as described below.)
Basic Attacks:
The Master generally uses his powerful sword swipes (complete with "HAA!!" voice clip) as his main means of defense, but considering the fact that he's probably rather physically mighty as well, it's likely he'd throw in some shoulder charges and leg sweeps.
Special Attacks:
Special - Magical Spells
The Master taps into his assortment of magical spells. This move goes through three levels of charges, with each level delivering a different spell. The Master cannot dodge or otherwise save his charge level during the process.
Level 1 is "Fireball," which shoots swirling fireballs across the ground in both directions, doing minimal to moderate damage. Especially effective against people hanging on to ledges.
Level 2 is "Magical Aura," which generates a concentration of magical spheres that shoots forward. The spheres are most concentrated at close range, causing the most damage to targets due to the tight cluster. As the spheres travel outward, they become less aggregated, making them increasingly inaccurate and consequentially, weaker.
Level 3 is "Magical Light," a unique spells that summons a beam of light from the Heavens directly onto the master. The beam causes impressive damage, but its horizontal range is almost nonexistent. However, anyone caught in it during its descent will take damage.
Once the beam dissipates, it blows back anyone in close proximity to the Master, giving him a moment to defend himself from nearby attackers.
Up Special - Angelic Lift
The Cherub helper is summoned to lift the Master up and take him to safety. It's very fast, but nearly impossible to control, meaning that it might do more harm than good if the player isn't familiar with the rigid range and arc of the angel's rapid flight.
Side Special - Cherub Attack
The Master sends out his helpful angel, who attacks foes with different methods depending on whether or not the stick is "smashed," much like how Samus can either fire normal or Super Missiles.
If the stick is not smashed, the angel pops out to quickly shoot a barrage of arrows. This attack is long range, but rather weak.
If the stick is smashed, the angel shoots out, damaging any foes in his path. This attack is close range, but quite strong.
Down Special - Incorporeal Evasion
The Master, in his spiritual form, briefly leaves his stone avatar behind. This makes him completely invulnerable, and the lifeless statue, also resilient to damage, acts as an immovable obstacle.
This should only be used sparingly to get out of a pinch, and players should be wary of enemies waiting to pounce on them once the statue is vulnerable.
Lastly, while this is normally a defensive move, but if performed in the air, the solid statue will drop downwards, damaging anyone it makes contact with or lands on. That said, dropping it over a pit will count as a fall.
Alt. Up Special: Glide
Taking a page from ActRaiser 2, the Master sprouts his angelic wings and glides to safety, much like Pit.
Alt. Down Special: New Avatar
The Master's incorporeal form briefly leaps from the statue and into an opponent, taking control of them and causing major damage, but without any risk of them being launched. This move has extremely limited range and extremely strict timing.
Conjuring his most powerful miraculous abilities, the Master raises his sword and shouts into the air, summoning raging storm clouds which rain a barrage of lightning upon his foes, causing extensive electrical damage. To finish things off, he then slams his sword into the ground and generates an earthquake, causing severe damage and/or burying anyone unlucky enough to be making contact with the ground of the stage.
Alt. Final Smash: Magical Stardust
Using his most powerful magical spell, the Master raises his sword to the Heavens and summons a destructive wave of Stardust, blanketing a large portion of the stage with destructive meteorites.
Alt. Final Smash 2: Bomb!
The Master raises his sword to the air and the Cherub flies into action, wielding the angel-shaped, bell-like offering known as "Bomb!"
He proudly rings it, causing devastating and explosive damage to all who are caught in its destructive blast.
Taunts:
The Master isn't exactly an emotive guy, but there's still a decent amount of iconic imagery to pull from.
1) The classic "raise sword" pose.
2) The Angel pops out for a quick look.
3) The Master stabs his sword into the ground and shows off his angelic wings.
Stage Entrance:
Just like the start of every action stage in ActRaiser, the Master's spirit descends into the aged stone statue of his incarnation, bringing it to life.
There are a lot of memorable areas in ActRaiser, but the most conducive locale for a Smash Bros. stages is likely the one and only Sky Palace.
1) Sky Palace:
Players battle in the Master's throne room, situated in his Sky Palace, high above the clouds. The background does shift, showing the Sky Palace traveling over the various realms of ActRaiser.
Although this stage doesn't have much to speak of in terms of gimmicks or hazards, whenever the Sky Palace reaches a location (let's say Bloodpool), it slows down and hovers in place. Prayers are are soon heard, and then an "offering" appears in the middle of the stage, usually in the form of a healing item or weapon. This pattern continues with each destination.
Music:
ActRaiser has one of the greatest scores on the SNES (and beyond), but the two themes found below are its most famous, and they also just so happen to be the most fitting choices for Smash.
1) A remix of "Fillmore"
2) A "Birth of the People" metal remix (including "Offering")
Reveal Trailer:
Pit, Palutena and others are being pushed back against demonic forces, and, when their backs are to the wall, they realize an ancient statue of the Master is what they're leaning up against.
Cut to the Sky Palace, where, in the form of 16-bit graphics taken directly from ActRaiser, the Cherub talks to the Master and asks if they should help (posing the question with a "YES" or "NO" choice.)
The camera returns to our heroes, whose situation is becoming increasingly desperate, and then it immediately cuts to ActRaiser's famous "descent" sequence, in a modern day rendition of its Mode 7 glory. The Master, in the form of his incorporeal orb enters the statue of his avatar and... "the Master is ready to ACT!"
The next entry is much more mainstream... but the one after that? No promises.
Do you remember ActRaiser? Would a cute cherub make a good friend? Let me know!