Action 52
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Action 52 | |
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| Developer(s) | Active Enterprises (NES) FarSight Studios (Genesis) |
| Publisher(s) | Active Enterprises |
| Release date(s) | NES version NA 1991 SMD/Genesis version NA 1993 |
| Genre(s) | Various |
| Mode(s) | Mostly single player |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis |
| Media | 16-megabit cartridge (NES) |
Action 52 is a multicart consisting of 52 individual video games, released in 1991 for the Nintendo Entertainment System and in 1993 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis consoles by Active Enterprises. It was initially sold for the comparatively high price of $200 USD (or "less than $4 for each game"), and became notorious among gamers for the poor quality of its games. Many video game collectors covet Action 52 for its notoriety and rarity.
The cartridge states that it contains 52 "new and original exciting games". The games cover a variety of genres, although the most common are scrolling shooters and platform games. Examples of scrolling shooters include Star Evil, G-Force, Thrusters, and Megalonia. Some of the platform games available are Ooze, Alfredo, and Bubblegum Rosie. All but one of the games are single player, the exception being Fire Breathers, a simple two-player fighting game.
The majority of the titles included on the cartridge have significant glitches. Some games start on a real NES but fail in many emulators, while some actually only work on an emulator. Some freeze or crash for no apparent reason, and some levels exist only in incomplete and impassable forms. Many games have severe design flaws, including unresponsive controls and level designs leading to frequent instant deaths.
While the original NES collection was developed internally by Active Enterprises, the Sega version, released two years later, was developed by FarSight Studios, who had also developed Color a Dinosaur for the NES. The Sega version featured a somewhat different lineup of games, and slightly superior graphics, but the majority of the technical problems remained. Plans for a Super NES version of the cartridge were announced, but Active Enterprises withdrew from the video game industry shortly thereafter, and no copies are known to exist.
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[edit] The games
[edit] Nintendo Entertainment System
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Of special note is the last game on the cartridge, The Cheetahmen. The Cheetahmen were Active Enterprises' attempt to compete with the success of multimedia franchises such as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Action 52 was released along with a twelve page comic book providing the Cheetahmen's backstory. The game is noticeably superior to most of the other games on the cartridge, and contains considerably fewer glitches. However, further levels in the game reveal that like many of the titles before it, The Cheetahmen was not completely finished before release. The game consists of six levels, each of the three Cheetahmen getting two levels, the second of which includes a boss battle. It is also known on Action 52's menu by the title The Action Gamemaster, named for a humanoid character who appears briefly in the opening cinema sequence, but does not appear elsewhere in the game.
[edit] Sega Mega Drive/Genesis
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Each game is color coded on the main menu screen. "Beginner" games are displayed in a green font, "intermediate" games are displayed in a purple font, "expert" games are displayed in a yellow font, and multiplayer games are displayed in a blue font.
In addition to the fifty two games listed above, the Mega Drive/Genesis version features a music test mode, and a "randomizer" option. If selected from the main menu, the randomizer will randomly choose and start one game from the fifty two available on the cartridge. The fifty-second game, Challenge, is a random sequence of the highest levels of the other fifty-one games.
Several new games were introduced for the Sega version. A number of these have the same name as games on the NES cartridge, although they are not the same game: the Sega Haunted Hills, for instance, is entirely different from the NES Haunted Hills. Other games feature other changes, including a version of The Cheetahmen which completely deviates from the original NES platformer, and is replaced with a game where the Cheetahmen rescue captured cheetah cubs from monsters.
[edit] Screenshot gallery
[edit] Nintendo Entertainment System
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| Game 7, Critical Bypass | Game 13, Haunted Hills | Game 24, Micro-Mike | Game 35, Sombreros | Game 52, The Cheetahmen |
[edit] Sega Genesis
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| Game 13, The Cheetahmen | Game 29, Spidey | Game 32, Sunday Drive | Game 49, Black Hole |
[edit] Trivia
- A sample of Rob Base's song It Takes Two was used in the beginning sequence of the NES version.
- The sound generated for moving the select cursor on the NES version was used for the Power Player Super Joy III's menu.
- Active Enterprises advertised a competition in which anyone who could complete level 5 of Ooze (NES version) would be entered into a prize draw to win $104,000. It was soon discovered that the game would crash on level 3, making the prize impossible to win.
[edit] References
- Action 52. MobyGames. Accessed on September 15, 2005.
- "Jay Obernolte Interview." Cheetahmen Corner. Accessed on September 15, 2005.
- FarSight Studios. Accessed on September 15, 2005.
[edit] See also
- Cassette 50 (1983), a 50-game compilation for various 8-bit home computers by the British software house Cascade Games Ltd.
[edit] External links
- Cheetahmen Corner - A site dedicated to Action 52, Cheetahmen and other Active Enterprises information.
- Action 52 page located at NES HQ
- [1] - A website with information on both Action 52 and Active Enterprises.
