Action 52

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Action 52
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Active Enterprises
Developer: FarSight Technologies
Supporting companies: Nu Romantic Productions (sound)
Original system(s): Nintendo Entertainment System
Developer(s) of original games: Active Enterprises
Game total: 52
Sound driver: GEMS
Genre: Compilation
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code US 1992-05 $199.00199.00

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Action 52 is an unlicensed Sega Mega Drive game compilation multicart developed by FarSight Technologies and published by Active Enterprises. An extensively-redesigned port of the publisher's infamous 1991 Nintendo Entertainment System multicart Action 52, it was released exclusively in the United States in May 1992 at a retail price of $199. While considered far superior to the original NES release, the title remains relatively basic and poor in gameplay design.

Games

The first page of the main menu

Action 52 features in total 49 unique games of varying genres (such as for example: platform, shoot-em-up, puzzle, driving and etc.), with 2 games being two-player versions of existing games on the cart (Star Duel and Armor Battle), and the 52th game (Action 52 Challenge) being just a compilation of the highest levels from all 46 single player games.

All games on the main menu are color coded to indicate the difficulty/type, with a legend on the first screen when the cartridge is booted up: Expert, Intermediate, Beginner, Two Player and Special. The Directional Button is used to navigate the main menu, and pressing  START  or any of the face buttons selects one of the games.

All of the games can be exited by pausing with  START  during gameplay, then pressing on the Controller 1 while paused; which will return the game to the title screen.

List of games

	1: Go Bonkers (Expert)
	Known simply as "Bonkers" on the in-game list. You control a green ball that will bounce all the way up and all the way down on a vertical field. You can move it left and right with the D-Button. The ball will destroy bricks of matching colors; touching a grey brick with a different color will change the ball's color (however, the ball cannot be changed back to green using the gray bricks with green in the middle). Hitting a Black Cross brick will make you lose one ball and revert the ball color to green. After all colored bricks are removed, simply remove the remaining bricks with green in the middle to clear the level. Also worth mentioning, this is one of the few games of the cart to have a title screen.
	2: Darksyne (Expert)
	Darksyne is a multi-directional shooter, in which the player pilots a ship stuck in a room with enemies and is bound by gravity. shoots; Holding and using the D-Button will allows for some limited form of motion; Holding activates the shield, which has limited energy. Destroy all the enemies without hitting the walls of the level to move on to the next.
	3: Dyno-Tennis (Two player)
	Simple tennis game. Player 1 controls the orange dinosaur, while Player 2 controls the purple one; and move, swings. Most points after 9 sets wins.
	4: Ooze (Expert)
	A platforming run-and-gun where players take the role of the Ooze Boy and are tasked to collect keys throughout each level, in order to progress to the next one. shoots (notoriously, Ooze Boy is not able to shoot while jumping); jumps. crouches; moving while crouched crawls. Falling from too high a slope will kill Ooze Boy.
	5: Star Ball (Expert)
	A pinball game; launches the ball, flips the left flippers and flips the right flippers. There appears to be multiple tables; the manual mentions that collecting all bonuses and destroying all the enemies you can, will take to the next table.
	6: Sidewinder (Expert)
	A shooting game similar to After Burner/G-LOC; enemies attack by firing homing missiles (with a warning popping up on the screen) and the player must dodge them. The Directional Button moves the ship around, fires the cannons.
	7: Daytona (Expert)
	Simple 3D racing game. the goal is to win many races as possible, thereby increasing cash winnings and enter the ultimate race, the "Daytona". Hold to accelerate; brake with , Steer with and and hit to switch between low and high gears. Players start the game with $ 3,700 and will be charged an entrance fee to enter each race; with the entrance fee increasing as the races progress. Players must avoid hitting obstacles and other cars; or else the car will take damage and be completely stopped. Payment will be deducted for any damage incurred to the car, and the game ends if the player runs out of money.
	8: 15 Puzzle (Expert)
	Action 52's adaptation of Fifteen puzzle. Players must get all the scrambled numbers in order under a 5 minute time limit. Use the Directional Button to move the cursor and to move the selected block.
	9: Sketch (Expert)
	Line art canvas. D-Button moves the pencil; Hold to draw; changes pen size; changes pen color. Sketch is similar to Art Alive! by using the same pencil sprite and other features.
	10: Star Duel (Two player)
	A two-player version of Darksyne. This game is a one on one spaceship battle that plays similar to Asteroids. Controls are similar to Darksyne.
	11: Haunted Hills (Expert)
	Known as "Haunted Hill" in-game, and also one of the few games on the card to have a title screen. Tommy Tow is lost in the haunted hills and he must find the way out by collecting all of the hidden diamonds. D-Button moves Tommy left and right; makes Tommy attack with his torch, and jumps.
	12: Alfredo & the Fettucinni's (Expert)
	Known as just "Alfredo" in-game. Alfredo must catch the fettuccini's and pasta's and avoid the sausages and the meatballs flying out from the pot. Alfredo can be moved by pressing and .
	13: The Cheetahmen (Expert)
	Use Aries, Apollo and Hercules to find all the stolen cheetah cubs in every level. D-Button moves, jumps and attacks. Each of the Cheetahmen has their own attacks: Hercules punches, Apollo shoots a crossbow and Aries uses his clubs.
	14: Skirmish (Two player)
	A strategy game where each player controls an army with its objective; to get one of its pieces onto the enemies headquarters. Before starting a game, players must select a battle scenario. The D-Button moves the selection cursor; while picks up/puts down pieces and fires weapon in combat, and puts the piece where it was.
	15: Depth Charge (Expert)
	Players control of an ASW cruiser dropping mines on enemy submarine cruisers and avoiding their missiles. D-Button moves the cruiser left and right, while releases mines on the sea.
	16: Minds Eye (expert)
	17: Alien Attack (Expert)
	A belt-scrolling shooter in which the player must proceed to the right, while defeating the aliens who are trying to take the world. The D-Button moves around, while fires.
	18: Billy Bob (Expert)
	19: Sharks (Intermediate)
	20: Knockout (Two player)
	A one-on-one boxing game, playable with two players; D-Button moves the fighter around, punches, and jumps.
	21: Intruder (Intermediate)
	22: Echo (intermediate)
	23: Freeway (Intermediate)
	Spike's family moved to a new home, but they left some things behind — all of Spike's toys. Help Spike travel safely back and forth across the freeway and carry his bones, frisbees and balls to his new home while avoiding getting ran over by the vehicles. Spike can only carry one object at a time. The D-Button moves Spike around; to pick an object, the player must move spike towards the object.
	24: Mouse Trap (Intermediate)
	Known in-game as "Mousetrap". Marty the mouse must get all the pieces of cheese before any of the cats get him. The D-Button moves Marty around.
	25: Ninja (intermediate)
	26: Slalom (Intermediate)
	A skiing game where players must try to get to the bottom of the mountain without hitting any trees; D-Button moves the skier around.
	27: Dauntless (intermediate)
	28: Force One (intermediate)
	29: Spidey (Intermediate)
	30: Appleseed (Intermediate)
	31: Street Skater (Intermediate)
	Known simply as "Skater" in-game. Control the skater, collecting the portable radios while avoiding the small animals and beach balls. D-Button moves the skater around, while jumps over objects.
	32: Sunday Driver (intermediate)
	33: Star Evil (intermediate)
	34: Air Command (Intermediate)
	A vertical shooting game that scrolls from top to bottom. Players take the role of a World War II pilot over enemy territory trying to get home. D-Button moves the bomber around and fires the ship's cannons.
	35: Shoot Out (Intermediate)
	Listed in-game as "Shootout". A shooting gallery game where players must shoot all of the targets with a limited ammunition supply. The D-Button moves the gun left and right, while fires the pistol.
	36: Bombs Away (Intermediate)
	A running autoscroller. Players control a soldier deep in enemy territory that has been separated from the rest of his unit, and must avoid the barrage of bombs aimed at his direction. D-Button moves left and right, and jumps.
	37: Speedboat (Beginner)
	Listed in-game as "Speed Boat". Pilot a speeding boat racing to the end of the course, dodging obstacles. D-Button moves the boat around.
	38: Dedant (Beginner)
	39: G-Force Fighter (Beginner)
	Listed as "G Fighter" in-game. Players must escape with a stolen prototype of the enemy's new starship. Move the ship with the D-Button, and fire with .
	40: Man At Arms (Beginner)
	41: Norman (Beginner)
	42: Armor Battle (Two player)
	A one on one tank battle. Gameplay, controls and graphics are the same as Norman.
	43: Magic Bean (Beginner)
	Based on the Jack and the Beanstalk fairytale.
	44: Apache Chopper (Beginner)
	Known just as "Apache" in-game. Command the Apache gunship through a narrow canyon at a low altitude; destroying any enemy planes, tanks and helicopters in sight. The D-Button moves the Apache helicopter around, while fires the Vulcan cannon.
	45: Paratrooper (beginner)
	46: Sky Avenger (Beginner)
	A Horizontal shooting game that scrolls right-to-left. Players control a helicopter in a reconnaissance mission. The D-Button moves the helicopter, while shoots the Apache's vulcan cannon.
	47: Sharp Shooter (Beginner)
	Listed in-game as "Sharpshooter".
	48: Meteor (Beginner)
	49: Black Hole (beginner)
	50: The Boss (Beginner)
	The Lizard gang is loose. Collect all of the hidden money bags in the hideout; and moves, and climbs the ladders and shoots.
	51: 1st Video Game (Two player)
	Referred as "1st Game" at the in-game menu. The game itself is a rendition of Pong (which post-dates the first "video game" by many years) which can be played only with two players. The winner is decided between 9 matches.
	52: Action 52 Challenge (Special)
	Simply referred as "Challenge" in-game, is an endurance test which puts the player into a random series of the highest levels of the other remaining 46 single-player games.
	Music Demo (Special)
	Listen to the games' music and sound effects. Press  START  to exit to the title screen.
	Randomizer (Special)
	The game will randomly select a variety of games to play

History

Development

Vince Perri gave FarSight Technologies one year of developing time for the Mega Drive version of the game.

Mario González, which designed the NES version, did not work in this one.

Release

Like the NES game of the same name, it sold poorly and was met with negative reception.

A Nintendo Super Famicom version of Action 52 was advertised alongside the Sega Mega Drive version, but was ultimately unreleased (presumably due to Active Enterprises' bankruptcy.)

Magazine articles

Main article: Action 52/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

FI advert (1993)

FI advert (1993)

FI print advert

Print advert in GamePro (US) #54: "January 1994" (199x-xx-xx)

Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #57: "April 1994" (1994-xx-xx)

Print advert in EGM² (US) #5: "November 1994" (1994-1x-xx)
also published in:

• Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #65: "December 1994" (1994-xx-xx)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 40 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 40

	40
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Action 52

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, TW
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, AS†
Cart

Multi-cart appearances

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Technical information

Main article: Action 52/Technical information.