It annoys me when it becomes a meme to hate a type of media. Action 52 is like ‘The Room’ of video games. Yeah the games aren’t amazing but it is aware of that. The story goes that the dev team were given a week of training on NES development then tasked to create 52 games which were suddenly released to the public before they had a chance to finish them. I only played the first 18 games as playing all 52 could drive me into insanity.
Firebreather - A better looking version of Atari Combat, surely that’s not a terrible thing considering how popular Combat is?
Starevil - I laughed at the obstacle right at the start of the level. Got to the end, didn’t know what to do.
Illuminator - I got the hang of it but didn’t think there was a goal really so just moved on.
G-Force FGT. - A side scroller shooter with seemingly no powerups, a weak basic weapon and endless obstacles?
Ooze - Not being able to jump diagonally while moving is probably this game’s biggest problem. You CAN technically jump at an angle but it uses the backwards control of jump then direction rather than direction then jump
Silver Sword - The best thing about this game is firing your sword to the beat of the music. Surprisingly the lack of score kept on screen too.
Crytical Bypass - With a ‘Y’ nonetheless. It’s hard to move and shoot in multiple directions at the same time with one D-Pad unlike Robotron’s use of two joysticks.
Jupiter Scope - Don’t know why this one is called Jupiter Scope, it doesn’t seem like it is set on Jupiter. You’re a static ship shooting down falling asteroids, your ship will fire as fast as you can tap the A button. There is absolutely no consequence to the asteroids hitting the city, just don’t get hit yourself.
Alfred N The Fettuc - I got the quickest game over in this game out of all the other ones. I did not continue.
Operation Full Moon - You are a helpless moon buggy in this vertical scrolling game. It is quite mindless, the game is over when you lose concentration out of boredom and crash into something
Dam Busters - This game has absolutely nothing to do with the 1955 film ‘The Dam Busters’, instead you’re a Winnie the Pooh looking character throwing cookies at other bears while you yourself avoid their cookies being thrown at you. Perhaps your main character’s weakness is gluten.
Thrusters - Probably one of the most playable games out of the collection, again your ship fires as fast as you can tap the A button. On the whole, it’s a relatively uneventful game.
Haunted Halls - At least in this game you can jump diagonally over gaps but you will very quickly be overcome by enemies
Chill Out - This one definitely feels unfinished, falling from any height will mean death for your character. What is almost always the case is if you fall from one level and the level below has a platform you will land on that platform safely, nope not in this game you don’t. This game also doesn’t seem to let you jump gaps either.
Sharks - Not much to this game apart from, shoot the sharks and don’t die, collect points.
Megalonia - Another side scroller shooter. Your ship fires painfully slowly, no powerups to improve this. I was able to get through level 2 without moving or firing, just let the ship get to the end, where the big ship killed me. Oh well.
French Baker - Again, falling from any height is death in this game. Multiple platforms, you fire something at baked goods while trying to stay alive
Atmos-Quake - Another scrolling shooter. Not much to say about this.
My absolute favourite part of all of this is that the ‘Action 52’ manual has a page at the back where you can mail in and have “complete instructions for your favourite game”. I wonder if anyone ever did…?
Firebreather - A better looking version of Atari Combat, surely that’s not a terrible thing considering how popular Combat is?
Starevil - I laughed at the obstacle right at the start of the level. Got to the end, didn’t know what to do.
Illuminator - I got the hang of it but didn’t think there was a goal really so just moved on.
G-Force FGT. - A side scroller shooter with seemingly no powerups, a weak basic weapon and endless obstacles?
Ooze - Not being able to jump diagonally while moving is probably this game’s biggest problem. You CAN technically jump at an angle but it uses the backwards control of jump then direction rather than direction then jump
Silver Sword - The best thing about this game is firing your sword to the beat of the music. Surprisingly the lack of score kept on screen too.
Crytical Bypass - With a ‘Y’ nonetheless. It’s hard to move and shoot in multiple directions at the same time with one D-Pad unlike Robotron’s use of two joysticks.
Jupiter Scope - Don’t know why this one is called Jupiter Scope, it doesn’t seem like it is set on Jupiter. You’re a static ship shooting down falling asteroids, your ship will fire as fast as you can tap the A button. There is absolutely no consequence to the asteroids hitting the city, just don’t get hit yourself.
Alfred N The Fettuc - I got the quickest game over in this game out of all the other ones. I did not continue.
Operation Full Moon - You are a helpless moon buggy in this vertical scrolling game. It is quite mindless, the game is over when you lose concentration out of boredom and crash into something
Dam Busters - This game has absolutely nothing to do with the 1955 film ‘The Dam Busters’, instead you’re a Winnie the Pooh looking character throwing cookies at other bears while you yourself avoid their cookies being thrown at you. Perhaps your main character’s weakness is gluten.
Thrusters - Probably one of the most playable games out of the collection, again your ship fires as fast as you can tap the A button. On the whole, it’s a relatively uneventful game.
Haunted Halls - At least in this game you can jump diagonally over gaps but you will very quickly be overcome by enemies
Chill Out - This one definitely feels unfinished, falling from any height will mean death for your character. What is almost always the case is if you fall from one level and the level below has a platform you will land on that platform safely, nope not in this game you don’t. This game also doesn’t seem to let you jump gaps either.
Sharks - Not much to this game apart from, shoot the sharks and don’t die, collect points.
Megalonia - Another side scroller shooter. Your ship fires painfully slowly, no powerups to improve this. I was able to get through level 2 without moving or firing, just let the ship get to the end, where the big ship killed me. Oh well.
French Baker - Again, falling from any height is death in this game. Multiple platforms, you fire something at baked goods while trying to stay alive
Atmos-Quake - Another scrolling shooter. Not much to say about this.
My absolute favourite part of all of this is that the ‘Action 52’ manual has a page at the back where you can mail in and have “complete instructions for your favourite game”. I wonder if anyone ever did…?