Then after you beat the side scrolling level, you are put in what you takes up most of the game, the town building phase. You control Angel, who goes flying around shooting the giant monsters trying to stop your creation of the town. They are your standard enemies, and they include bats, Blue and Red Demons, and Big Giant skulls. Unfortunately, that is literally every type of enemy in the town building part of the game. The bats grab townspeople. The Blue Demons destroy buildings. The Red Demons dry up what I assume are wheat fields. And then there are the Giant Skulls. These buggers, if you leave them alive for long enough, they'll cause an earthquake, taking out everything in most situations. Generally, you want to build the town to where they're able to destroy monster lairs. Each lair destroyed always gets your something, from an item, to the town being able to create better houses. Better houses equals more of a population. More of a population is how you gain your levels, and what truly makes this a quite different action-rpg.
Oh, and your Angel, he's got a unique life system. When he loses all his health, he merely cannot attack with his bow and arrows. Thankfully he regenerates some of his health back every single time the whole TOWN CURRENTLY BUILDING phase. After you've destroyed all of the towns monster lairs, the town elders tell you to go to another side scrolling level, where you take out the main boss monster of the town.
Anyways, you go through about 6 or so towns. They're your basic fantasy rpg areas. They're not particularly bland perse, but they're all really nothing special. Often after beating the main boss monster of the town, you will end up with the town having a certain issue that slows the development of the town, and you end up having to get an item from another town to solve the issue.
Finally, after the 6 or so towns in the game, you go to the final area, an island where you fight all of the main bosses from the other towns. Then you reach the final boss, who like I said earlier, doesn't say a word, and unfortunately is quite a pushover!
The game ends with the angel looking over the towns, summarizing what happened in each, and what the overall results of your actions were by saving them. It also pointed out how no one in each town visits your shrines, as they have no real need for you anymore, and how it makes the Angel sad that they pay no attention to you anymore, but how he's glad that they have gained true independence. He also explains how all of the humans in the game are reincarnations of all the monsters you destroyed.
Bottom Line is this. It's a combination of very good ideas. It's one of the few games that sets out to please everyone, and I'd say that it hit everything right. Too bad the sequel was such a disappointment.
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Project Beat a Game a Day, along with my Daily NES Archive:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/563947-a-view-to-a-kill