Action Game

Essentially, an Action Game is a video game with a primary focus on combat above all else, and is usually characterized by fast-paced, intense gameplay, which demands speed, mental dexterity and hand-eye coordination in lieu of exploration or puzzle-solving.

Technically speaking, many genres, including platformers, Action Adventure games, and first-person shooters can be considered subsets of the action genre, although they are generally seen as distinct from straight-up action games.

Notable action games include:

 * Abuse
 * ARES
 * Alien Hominid
 * Alien Soldier
 * Alien Storm
 * Aliens Infestation
 * Amateur Ninja
 * Astyanax
 * Asura's Wrath
 * Battle City
 * Battletoads
 * Bayonetta
 * Blood Bros
 * Bloodline Champions
 * Bomberman
 * Cabal
 * Cannon Dancer
 * Contra
 * Hard Corps Uprising
 * Cannon Fodder
 * Code Name Viper
 * Commando 2
 * Crimsonland
 * Dantes Inferno
 * The Dark Meadow
 * Dark Void
 * Deae Tonosama Appare Ichiban
 * Devil May Cry
 * Dm C Devil May Cry
 * Dgeneration
 * Dig Dug
 * Mr. Driller
 * Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
 * Enter the Matrix
 * Evolva
 * Expendable
 * Fat Princess (also part Real Time Strategy)
 * Fixeight
 * The Force Unleashed
 * Framed (1995, and it has Platform Game elements mixed in)
 * Frogger
 * Ghosts N Goblins
 * God of War
 * Guerrilla War
 * Gungrave
 * Gunstar Heroes
 * Hagane
 * Hammerfight
 * Heavy Barrel
 * Home Front
 * Hunted the Demons Forge
 * Ikari Warriors
 * The Incredible Hulk Ultimate Destruction
 * Infinity Blade
 * Joust
 * Kiki Kai Kai
 * Knights Contract
 * Kung Fu Louie vs. the Martial Art Posse
 * Lair
 * Last Alert
 * The Legend of Kage
 * Lugaru
 * Mad World
 * Magical Whip Wizards of Phantasmal Forest
 * Manhunt
 * Mafia the City of Lost Heaven
 * Mafia II
 * Mappy
 * The Matrix: Path Of Neo
 * Mendel Palace (a.k.a. Quinty)
 * Metal Slug
 * Midnight Wanderers: Quest for the Chariot
 * Millipede
 * Monster Party
 * Moon Diver
 * Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks
 * Mortal Kombat Special Forces
 * Mystic Warriors
 * Nightshade Kunoichi
 * Ninja Gaiden
 * Noitu Love
 * Operation Inner Space
 * Out Zone
 * Overgrowth
 * Paperboy
 * Pitfall
 * Pitfall 3D Beyond the Jungle
 * Plants vs. Zombies
 * Psycho Soldier
 * Q Bert
 * Rabbids Go Home
 * Ranger X
 * Rework the Dead Evil
 * Robotron 2084
 * Smash TV
 * Robot Alchemic Drive
 * Rock of Ages
 * Rocket Knight Adventures (also a Platformer, although it's more combat-focused than most straight platformers, and dips into Shoot Em Up territory in some levels)
 * Rolling Thunder
 * ROM Check Fail
 * Run Saber
 * Seek and Destroy 2002
 * Shatterhand
 * Shinobi
 * Shock Troopers
 * Shoot Many Robots
 * Silhouette Mirage
 * Solomons Keep
 * Soulcaster
 * Bounty Hunter
 * Stretch Panic
 * Strider
 * Sunset Riders
 * TAGAP
 * Thexder
 * Time Commando
 * Trauma Center
 * Turrican
 * Warriors of Might and Magic
 * Wild Guns
 * Zombies Ate My Neighbors
 * Zone of the Enders
 * Zookeeper