PrinceWatercress plays ActRaiser - Part 12 of 13

...and here's the final normal level in the game, which has the best music on the soundtrack.

Northwall - Act 2

Welcome to the last level in the game before the grand finale. Here, you'll be climbing up the great tree of Northwall, defeating enemies and collecting points as you go.

First of all, just like Act 1, Act 2 gets its own music that you won't hear anywhere else...and it is amazing. Reminds me of the Death Star attack run music from Star Wars.

Anyway, go up and to the left at the beginning to get another 1-Up.

Aside from the birds now dropping caterpillars on you, there are some all-new enemies here. The yellow ice jotuns are not only faster than their blue compatriots, they're also more impenetrable (they take three hits to go down) and more accurate as well (they may throw their axes high or low, but they always throw them straight). There are also mold-like sets of bubbles that shoot spores at you - you won't have a choice but to stay from them, since you basically can't hit them at all.

Before you reach the top of the second section, you'll find an opening on the right that takes you to another 1-Up.

The third section has bubbles. The green ones take you upwards, the blue ones can't hold your weight, and the yellow ones do nothing but damage you with projectiles when they burst.

Unless you can jump on and off of them so fast that they don't bend, don't bother riding the blue ones.

The boss here is an ice wyvern. It will swoop down from the sky to attack, but sometimes it'll stay put in mid-air to attack you with its ice breath (which also does splash damage with the ice crystals when it hits the ground.) When it prepares for the ice breath attack, get under it and jump slash it twice. If you're careful, you can attack it as it swoops down without getting hit.

When you beat Act 2, the game will shift to a mountain range in the sea, where a volcano will rise from the ocean. This is Death Heim, and it is in the upper-right corner of the world map. The final battle takes place here, but don't get your fingers dirty just yet. Instead, head back to Northwall and max out your population. When you hit 4600 people, you'll hit Level 17 and your original strength will be restored! If you've gotten the maximum population in all cities, you should have 4652 people - the highest world population you can get. You don't get anything for maxing out the entire world, but it's still an accolade in itself.