- UID
- 69762
- 帖子
- 5939
- 积分
- 46000
- 阅读权限
- 90
- 注册时间
- 2007-9-20
- 最后登录
- 2015-6-20
- 在线时间
- 9972 小时
|
Action 52
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Action 52
NES version cover art
Developer Active Enterprises (NES)
FarSight Studios (Genesis)
Publisher Active Enterprises
Released NES version
NA 1991
SMD/Genesis version
NA 1993
Genre 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 abysmal quality of its games. Many video game collectors value 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 major 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. Each game gets a one-sentence description in the manual, some describing completely different games--in particular, games reported as puzzle type were not--Jig Saw is a surrealistic platform side-scroller and Bits and Pieces is a horror-themed side-scroller. More complete manuals were supposedly available for $1 each according to the main manual, but may never have existed. It implies that they were trying to get $52 extra for complete instructions.
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, slightly more professional graphics, and a number of technical problems. 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.
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Games
o 1.1 Nintendo Entertainment System
o 1.2 Sega Mega Drive/Genesis
* 2 Screenshot gallery
o 2.1 Nintendo Entertainment System
o 2.2 Sega Mega Drive/Genesis
* 3 References
* 4 See also
* 5 External links
[edit] Games
[edit] Nintendo Entertainment System
1. Fire Breathers
2. Star Evil
3. Illuminator
4. G-Force Fighters
5. Ooze
6. Silver Sword
7. Critical Bypass
8. Jupiter Scope
9. Alfredo
10. Operation Full-Moon
11. Dam Busters
12. Thrusters
13. Haunted Halls of Wentworth
14. Chill Out
15. Sharks
16. Megalonia
17. French Baker
18. Atmos Quake
19. Meong
20. Space Dreams
21. Streemerz
22. Spread-Fire
23. Bubblegum Rosie
24. Micro-Mike
25. Underground
26. Rocket Jockey
27. Non-Human
28. Cry Baby
29. Slashers
30. Crazy Shuffle
31. Fuzz Power
32. Shooting Gallery
33. Lollipops
34. Evil Empire
35. Sombreros
36. Storm Over the Desert
37. Mash-Man
38. They Came...
39. Lazer League
40. Billy-Bob
41. City of Doom
42. Bits and Pieces
43. Beeps and Blips
44. Manchester Beat
45. The Boss
46. Dedant
47. Hambo's Adventures
48. Time Warp Tickers
49. Jigsaw
50. Ninja Assault
51. Robbie and the Robots
52. Action Gamemaster Starring The Cheetahmen
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.
Of 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. Further levels in the game reveal that like many of the titles before it, The Cheetahmen was not completely finished before release: Apollo's stage is unbeatable--he reaches a point where he cannot move any farther and the game freezes. It was difficult to reach this point because many of Apollo's foes could not be lined up with the limited areas one could shoot his arrows. 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. Other than the bosses, all of the other enemies in the game are characters from the other games, including Saddam Hussein parody Satán Hossain from Storm Over the Desert, a simple overhead tank game where running over Hossain, who appeared very frequently, caused one-ups. While many of the games were unbeatable, Storm Over the Desert was interminable if one did not make stupid moves. Another game highlighted on the back of the box was the Indiana Jones-style adventure Billy-Bob, which had a very difficult jump on the second screen of the game, with no abilities afforded the character but jumping and shooting.
Also of note is that 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] Sega Mega Drive/Genesis
1. Bonkers
2. Darksyne
3. Dyno Tennis
4. Ooze
5. Star Ball
6. Sidewinder
7. Daytona
8. 15 Puzzle
9. Sketch
10. Star Duel
11. Haunted Hill
12. Alfredo
13. The Cheetahmen
14. Skirmish
15. Depth Charge
16. Minds Eye
17. Alien Attack
18. Billy Bob
19. Sharks
20. Knockout
21. Intruder
22. Echo
23. Freeway
24. Mousetrap
25. Ninja
26. Slalom
27. Dauntless
28. Force One
29. Spidey
30. Appleseed
31. Skater
32. Sunday Drive
33. Star Evil
34. Air Command
35. Shootout
36. Bombs Away
37. Speed Boat
38. Dedant
39. G Fighter
40. Man At Arms
41. Norman
42. Armor Battle
43. Magic Bean
44. Apache
45. Paratrooper
46. Sky Avenger
47. Sharpshooter
48. Meteor
49. Black Hole
50. The Boss
51. First Game (Pong)
52. Challenge
The Sega Genesis version of Action 52 was developed by FarSight Studios, since Active Enterprises was unable to develop for the system.
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 an endurance test to see how long the player lasts in a random series of the highest levels of the other 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. The bosses from the NES version appear as enemies.
[edit] Screenshot gallery
[edit] Nintendo Entertainment System
Ooze
Haunted Halls of Wentworth
Micro-Mike
Sombreros
The Cheetahmen
Game 7, Critical Bypass Game 13, Haunted Hills Game 24, Micro-Mike Game 35, Sombreros Game 52, The Cheetahmen
[edit] Sega Mega Drive/Genesis
The Cheetahmen
Spidey
Sunday Drive
Black Hole
Game 13, The Cheetahmen Game 29, Spidey Game 32, Sunday Drive Game 49, Black Hole
[edit] References
1. Action 52. MobyGames. Accessed on September 15, 2005.
2. "Jay Obernolte Interview." Cheetahmen Corner. Accessed on September 15, 2005.
3. 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
* Gamecrap Review screenshots and descriptions of the first 25 games.
* Cheetahmen Corner - A site dedicated to Action 52, Cheetahmen and other Active Enterprises information.
* Action 52 page located at NES HQ
* List of all Action 52 games A comprehensive website detailing all 52 of the games in the collection
* [1] - A website with information on both Action 52 and Active Enterprises.
* [2] Something Awful review of Action 52 |
|