History VideoGame / Action52

** ''Micro-Mike'' moves way too fast to plausibly complete.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[{{Pun}} Lights! Camera! ''Action 52!'']]]]

* DeadlyWalls: In ost of the ShootEmUp games, contact with the walls will cost you a life. Poor collision detection kills you before you actually touch them. ''Star Evil'' is the worst offender, as you can get killed less than a second after starting it up due to the speed of the level scrolling.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[{{Pun}} Lights! Camera!]] ''[[{{Pun}} Action 52!]]'']]

* ObviousBeta:
** More like Obvious ''Alpha''. Some games are worse than others, but at one point or another, it becomes clear that most of them were just getting started, especially when compared with the way they are described in the manual.
** ''Cheetahmen II'' was an Obvious Pre-Alpha, and they still programmed it into cartridges. Did they really intend to distribute it in that state?
** Even the cartridge itself was prone to this. As WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd pointed out, if you have the cartridge in your NES while turned on for an extended period of time, it starts to overheat due to the plastic casing, leaving behind a burned plastic smell. He also pointed out this can happen with any NES model, be it the original grey box, the Top Loader, or even third-party clones like his Nintoaster.

%%* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: Not the case with Apollo, the leader of the Cheetahmen. He's got a long reach but a narrow attack range in the NES version, and the levels where you control him are generally considered to be the hardest in the game mainly owing to this. In the Genesis one his arrows take three hits to kill most enemies, while his brothers can kill any enemy in one hit.

* BuxomIsBetter: The protagonist of ''Haunted Hill'' has breasts bigger than her head (although it is also possible they were going for [[WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast Gaston]]-sized pecs).

* AllThereInTheManual: The NES manual contains descriptions for each of the games, providing bits of backstory not covered in the games themselves, such as ''Fire Breathers'' focusing on "the last of the dragon wars," and the main villain of ''Boss'' being "The Toad" with an army of salamander hit men. However, the manual also contains many nonsensical descriptions which are only superficially related to the games, if not outright falsehoods. A notable example being how ''Crazy Shuffle'' is described as an "educational puzzle game" when it is actually an overhead shooter. You can see the manual for yourself [[https://archive.org/details/Action52NESinstructions here]].

* BigBoosHaunt: ''Haunted Hill/Halls'' takes place in one such haunted house.
* BlackoutBasement: ''Illuminator'' has this as its central mechanic. The screen goes dark shortly after the game starts, and the lights briefly turn back on every time the player defeats an enemy.

* BlobMonster: Most of the enemies in ''Ooze'' are these.

* BossOnlyLevel: Level 2 of ''Ninja Assault'' consists of a boss battle.

* CartoonBomb: The enemies in later ''Fuzz Power'' levels throw the classic black spherical bombs. Cartoon bombs are also thrown in ''Boss''.

* CatFolk: The Cheetahmen are a trio of cheetahs that were mutated into a humanoid form.

* ChestMonster: Money from ''Streemerz'' damages you.

* DamnYouMuscleMemory: The "jump" and "attack" buttons are B and A respectively, the opposite of the vast majority of similar games on the system.
* DeadlyWalls: Most of the ShootEmUp games. Poor collision detection kills you before you actually touch them. ''Star Evil'' is the worst offender, as you can get killed less than a second after starting it up due to the speed of the level scrolling.

* DenialOfDiagonalAttack: Most noticeable in ''Dam Busters'', where you can only fire in the cardinal directions but the enemies can fire in any direction they want. It's also quite a problem in Apollo's levels of ''Cheetahmen'', with him having an extremely narrow field of fire whereas the other Cheetahmen have attack ranges spanning their whole sprites.

* FakeDifficulty: All over the place.
** ''Star-Evil'' infamously begins with an obstacle directly in front of your ship immediately after the game starts.

** Similarly, in certain games like ''Underground'' and ''Evil Empire'', enemies can spawn in large quantities on certain small platforms in such a way that it's impossible to reach the platform and shoot the enemies without dying.

* FakeTrap: Certain spikes in ''Bubblegum Rosy'' have no collision detection, meaning the player can fall on the spikes without taking damage.

%%* InconvenientlyPlacedConveyorBelt: They're present in level 4 of ''Cheetahmen''.

%%* BlatantLies: According to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Action_52_%28NES%29_box_art.jpg the box]], as displayed on Wiki/TheOtherWiki, its creators gave it the "Action Seal of Quality Assurance". What kind of quality they were talking about is unclear, but it certainly doesn't mean what most of us would think "quality" means. Hopefully, it means "We're saving the best for last". Also: the manual contains numerous inaccuracies.

# Star Duel - [-Two-player vs. version of Darksyne.-]

# Armor Battle – [-Two-player vs. version of Norman.-]

# Star Duel - [-Two-player game.-]

# Armor Battle – [-Two-player version of Norman.-]

** Yellow is used for Expert (#1-2, 4-9, 11-13, 15-18).
** Purple is used for Intermediate (#19, 21-36).
** Green is used for Beginner (#37-41, 43-50).
** Blue is used for Two Player (#3, 10, 14, 20, 42, 51).
** White is used for Special. Game #52, "Challenge", is the only game to use this category, along with the "Music Demo" and "Randomizer" options on the menu.

** Yellow is used for Expert (#1-2, 4-9, 11-13, 15-18)
** Purple is used for Intermediate (#19, 21-36)
** Green is used for Beginner (#37-41, 43-50)
** Blue is used for Two Player (#3, 10, 14, 20, 42, 51)

# Fire Breather [[note]]The one game on the cartridge that is two-player, and there '''needs''' to be two players to really do anything with it. [[/note]]
# Starevil

# Ooze [[note]] The select cursor always starts on this game when the menu is loaded; it also crashes after playing 3 levels. [[/note]]

# Alfredo (aka Alfred N The Fettuc)[[note]] This game crashes the Rev. A cartridges if one attempts to start it; a player will need an emulator or Rev. B cartridge to play this game. [[/note]]

# Haunted Hill
# Chill Out

# Atmos Quake

# Streemerz [[note]] This game has the potential of crashing the cartridge after making it a ways into the game [[/note]]
# Spread Fire
# Bubblegum Rosy (aka Bubble Gum Rossie)

# Shooting Gallery [[note]] Attempting to exit this game after starting it will likely cause the cartridge to crash, necessitating a hard reset. [[/note]]

# Sombreros
# Storm Over the Desert

# They Came...
# Lazer League

# Manchester

# Jigsaw [[note]] Like Alfredo, this game crashes on Rev. A cartridges and only works on an emulator or Rev. B cartridges. [[/note]]

# Robbie Robot (aka Robbie N The Robots)
# Cheetahmen (aka Action Gamemaster)

# Bonkers

# Dyno Tennis
# Ooze

# Star Duel
# Haunted Hill
# Alfredo
# The Cheetahmen
# Skirmish

# Minds Eye

# Billy Bob
# Sharks
# Knockout

# Ninja

# Star Evil

# Dedant
# G Fighter
# Man At Arms
# Norman
# Armor Battle

# Sharpshooter
# Meteor

# The Boss
# First Game [[note]] clone of VideoGame/{{Pong}}. [[/note]]
# Challenge

* AllThereInTheManual: The NES manual contains descriptions for each of the games, providing bits of backstory not covered in the games themselves, such as ''Fire Breathers'' focusing on "the last of the dragon wars," and the main villain of ''Boss'' being "The Toad" with an army of salamander hit men. However, the manual also contains many nonsensical descriptions which are only superficially related to the games, if not outright falsehoods. A notable example being how ''Crazy Shuffle'' is described as an "educational puzzle game" when it is actually a top-down shooter. You can see the manual for yourself [[https://archive.org/details/Action52NESinstructions here]].

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Johnny Jawbreaker, the protagonist of ''Lollipops''.

* BlackoutBasement: ''Illuminator'' has this as it's central mechanic. The screen goes dark shortly after the game starts, and the lights briefly turn back on every time the player defeats an enemy.

* AwesomeMcCoolName: Johnny Jawbreaker, the protagonist of ''Lollipops''.

* AllThereInTheManual: The NES manual contains descriptions for each of the games, providing bits of backstory not covered in the games themselves, such as ''Fire Breathers'' focusing on "the last of the dragon wars," and the main villain of ''Boss'' being "The Toad" with an army of salamander hit men. However, the manual also contains many nonsensical descriptions which are only superficially related to the games, if not outright falsehoods. A notable example being how ''Crazy Shuffle'' is described as an "educational puzzle game" when it is actually a top-down shooter.

* BuxomIsBetter: The protagonist of ''Haunted Hill'' has breasts bigger than her head (although it is also possible they were going for [[WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast Gaston]] sized pecks).

* SomeDexterityRequired: To move while jumping in most of the platformers, the B button has to be released - it can't be held down. However, the B button is also a jump button. In four of the platforming games, the player can jump only when moving.
** ''Haunted Halls'', ''Bits 'n Pieces'' and ''Cheetahmen'' don't have this problem.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To another unlicensed multicart called ''Supervision 52-in-1''. The two games have identical coding for the main menu, and both are a compilation of 52 games (although in ''Supervision'''s case, it is mostly made up of slightly edited versions of other games, and it actually has 50 games with two repeats).
* StealthPun: A possible example with ''Thrusters'', which has a rather suggestive looking spaceship as the protagonist.

** The "lost levels" of ''Cheetahmen II'', which are {{Remixed Level}}s from ''Cheetahmen 1'' where the music is all glitched, and your Cheetahman is invincible. Once you play through here, the game locks up, just like at the end of Level 4.

* RecycledSoundtrack: ''They Came'' and ''Beeps 'n Blips'' have the same music, while the themes from ''Fuzz Power'' and ''Cheetahmen'' end up being reused in ''Cheetahmen II''. (and ''VideoGame/SyobonAction'', in the case of the latter)

* SchizophrenicDifficulty: Level 3 of ''Sharks'' is much harder than the rest of the game, due to the sharks being replaced with jellyfish which are hard to hit.
** In ''Billy Bob'', it's extremely noticeable where the game goes easier each level.