Overview and Gameplay
Action 52 is an unlicensed NES multicart containing 52 separately selected games. Three menu screens lead to short platformers, scrolling shooters, fixed-screen action games, puzzles, and other arcade-style challenges. Each entry has its own stages, enemies, scoring rules, lives, and completion conditions, with no shared campaign or progression system.
Notable selections include Streemerz, which centers on vertical climbing with thrown streamers; The Cheetahmen, a six-stage action game starring three characters with different attacks; and Fire Breathers, a simultaneous dragon duel played across eight matches.
Controls And Mechanics
The directional pad moves characters, vehicles, and menu cursors. A usually performs the primary action or fires, while B commonly jumps or activates a secondary action. Button assignments change between selections. Start pauses supported games, and Start with Select normally returns to the main menu.
Lives, health, weapons, enemy patterns, and scoring differ by entry. Several games use one-hit deaths, while others provide health or armor meters. Fire Breathers supports two-player competitive play, with both dragons moving independently and firing at each other until one side wins more matches.
Version Notes
This North American cartridge was released without Nintendo authorization. The NES compilation is known for crashes, unfinished stages, collision problems, endless loops, and menu-return commands that fail in some entries.
Release And Credits
- Release year: 1991
- Developer: Active Enterprises
- Publisher: Active Enterprises
- Original platform: Nintendo Entertainment System
