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{{quote|''[[Welcome to Hell|"Make your selection... now."]]''|'''Game Voiceover'''}}
'''''Action 52''''' is a collection of 52 games for the NES
The truly amazing part? The folks at Active were apparently big dreamers, and accompanied the grand unveiling of ''Action 52'' with a press release, proclaiming the upcoming release of ''Cheetahmen'' action figures and a "Disney-quality" Saturday morning cartoon, and the [http://www.consoledatabase.com/consoleinfo/actiongamemaster/ Action Gamemaster], a portable system that would play games from nearly every console available at the time. None of these products ever came to fruition, as ''Action 52'' wallowed in obscurity, but it has gained a new lease on life in the Internet age as [[Snark Bait]].
This isn't to say that Active Enterprises never did anything again; indeed, there was a second ''Action 52'' compilation on the Genesis (which Active farmed out to another developer, who did a ''much'' better, though still just barely passable, job), and a third was planned on the SNES (likely scrapped when they couldn't figure out a way around Nintendo's lockout). Additionally, a sequel to ''Cheetahmen'' was recently discovered, with hundreds of cartridges having been made of the very unfinished ''Cheetahmen
A history of how the monstrosity came to be [[wikipedia:Action 52|is in The Other Wiki]]. [[The Angry Video Game Nerd]] reviewed the game [http://www.gametrailers.com/video/angry-video-screwattack/65116 here]. Even though his review contains some inaccuracies, it still sums the games up pretty well. A more detailed series of all 52 games <ref>
This collection of games is almost universally considered a pile of crap. However, the background music used in ''Cheetahmen'' (and reused in ''Cheetahmen II'') is an exception: it is surprisingly well-regarded, with a large number of musical remixes.
''Action 52'' has been given a shot at redemption with two projects: the ''[http://www.superfundungeonrun.com/action52/ Action 52
----
{{tropelist|The original ''
* [[1-Up]]: Some games have 1-up pickups. Games with these include ''Evil Empire'', ''Dam Busters'', ''Crazy Shuffle'', ''Cheetahmen'' and more.▼
* [[Action Girl]]: ''Underground'', ''Haunted Halls'' and ''Bubblegum Rosy'' have female protagonists.
* [[All There in the Manual]]: Largely averted. The manual talks about features that don't appear in many of the games, or descriptions of games that are just flat-out wrong. The description of ''Bits and Pieces'' in the manual makes it sound like a ''[[Tetris]]''-esque game, but the actual game involves Frankenstein jumping over monsters. This probably results from the developers having bigger ambitions than they had the ability to realize.
* [[Anachronism Stew]]: Sometimes. Look at [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot]].
* [[Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever]]: "Satan Hosain
* [[Bedsheet Ghost]]: Present in ''Haunted Hill/Halls''.
* [[Big Boo's Haunt]]: ''Haunted Hill/Halls'' takes place in that setting.
* [[Blackout Basement]]: ''Illuminator''.
* [[Blatant Lies]]: According to [[wikipedia:File:Action 52 (NES) box art.jpg|the box]], as displayed on [[The Other Wiki]], 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
* [[Blob Monster]]: The enemies in ''The Ooze''.
* [[Boss Rush]]: Sort of. The last game
* [[Bottomless Pits]]: There are many of them. Some cause unintentional vertical [[Wrap Around]].
* [[Carry a Big Stick]]: Aries likes to use clubs in combat.
* [[Cartoon Bomb]]: The enemies in later ''Fuzz Power'' levels. Cartoon bombs are also thrown in ''Boss''.
* [[Catgirl|Cat Men]]: ''Cheetahman''.
* [[Chest Monster]]: Money from ''Streemerz''.
* [[Cinematic Platform Game]]: Attempted with ''Billy Bob'', a ''[[Prince of Persia]]'' clone.
* [[Cloudcuckooland]]:
* [[Collision Damage]]: Collision damage, came-within-two-feet-of-it damage, whatever.
* [[Copy and Paste Environments]]: It even goes so far that some sections of levels in many games are repeated over and over with the same enemy placement (if it's not random).
* [[Damn You, Muscle Memory!]]: The "jump" and "attack" buttons are B and A respectively, the opposite of the vast majority of similar games on the system.
* [[Deadly Walls]]: Most of the [[Shoot'Em Up]] games. Poor collision detection kills you before you actually touch them. ''Starevil'' 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.
* [[Dem Bones]]: Skeletons from ''Bits
* [[Demoted to Extra]]: ''Cheetahmen'' was the main attraction of the NES version, but it's just another title in the Genesis version.
** Likewise, the bosses from the NES version of ''Cheetahmen'' show up in the Genesis one, but are just generic one-hit-kill enemies.
* [[Denial of Diagonal Attack]]: Extremely noticeable (e.g. Stage 5 of ''Cheetahmen'').
* [[Department of Redundancy Department]]: From the intro of ''Cheetahmen'': "The Cheetahmen ran off.... ....and now.... The Cheetahmen."
** May also be a case of [[Epic Fail]] because the text is trying and failing to imitate an energetic announcer reading off a card, so this is like shoving that card in the player's face.
* [[Directionally Solid Platforms]]: Some of the platform games have them.
* [[Doomy Dooms of Doom]]: ''City of Doom''.
* [[Down the Drain]]: Some levels in ''Cheetahmen'' take place in sewers.
* [[Dummied Out]]: Seeing as the game crashes on most cartridges when trying to play ''Alfredo and the Fettucini'' (also known as ''Alfredo'' or ''Alfred n the Fettuc'') or ''Jigsaw'', the two games are effectively [[Dummied Out]] and can only be played with an emulator. Same goes to later levels in some of the games (''Thrusters'', ''Shooting Gallery'' etc
* [[Engrish]]: The manual. Very surprising because it was made in the US.▼
* [[Endless Game]]: Most of the games loop around from the last level, if they don't crash first.
▲* [[Engrish]]: The manual. Very surprising because it was made in the US.
* [[Everything Trying to Kill You]]:
** The classic example: the clearly-marked bags of ''pain'' sitting on the floor in ''Streemerz''. Not to mention the deadly bouncing balls and clowns.
** Haircare products in ''Fuzz Power
** Chains in ''Haunted Halls''.
** Windows, bowling balls, insects and rubble in ''City of Doom''.
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* [[Excuse Plot]]: Most of the games that have them.
* [[Fake Difficulty]]: So many examples...
* [[Frickin' Laser Beams]]: The player character in ''Sharks''.
* [[Funny Animal]]: Most of the characters in ''Boss''.
* [[Game Breaking Bug]]: So, so many.
** If [http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-5487678_ITM this article] is to be believed, the programming duties were done by college students.
** The Genesis version is a lot less buggy... but somehow manages to find a way to still suck.
** Some games ''don't even load at all'', unless you're using certain emulators.
* [[Goomba Stomp]]: In two of the games, you can do that. Namely in ''Mash Man'' and ''Bits
* [[Guide Dang It]]: Mostly on account of [[They Just Didn't Care|laziness on the part of the developers]]. A few of the games become surprisingly playable once you know some horribly uninituitive trick to them. For example, ''Streemerz'' requires the player to step off the side (and it has to be the ''correct'' side) of the top platform in order to progress to the next level. ''Meong'' could be considered an extreme case, as learning to ''play'' it seems to be almost impossible without help.
** Similarly, a pillar in the first level of ''Bubble Gum Rosy'' can only be cleared by standing, so you're just barely hanging onto the edge of the previous platform, then jumping, with pixel-perfect timing that convinced many people it was impossible.
** Also, the guide was often flat out wrong on ''what games were on the cartridge'', which takes this trope about as far as it can go.
* [[Hitbox Dissonance]]: Very severe in some of the games.
* [[Improbable Weapon User]]: Johnny Jawbreaker from ''Lollipops'' uses a large lollipop as a weapon.
* [[Inconveniently-Placed Conveyor Belt]]: They're present in ''Cheetahmen''.
* [[Interface Screw]]: The life bar in some levels of some games isn't visible. In a few others, the life bar isn't visible at all.
* [[Invincible Minor Minion]]: A lot, including the bouncing enemies in ''Bubblegum Rosy''.
* [[Jump Physics]]: Many games will only let you move in mid-jump while you're descending.
* [[Kid Hero]]: In ''Illuminator'' and ''Bubblegum Rosy''.
* [[Kill Screen]]: The second-closest thing to an ending. Particularly frustrating in ''Ninja
* [[Ladder Physics]]: Work as ladders in video games do (unless they're glitchy), except in ''Lollipops'' where you can go up the ladder only by jumping up them.
* [[Leap of Faith]]: Made worse with jumping controls.
* [[Level Ate]]: ''Lollipops'' is entirely level made out of food. ''French Baker'' and ''Alfredo'' have food themed levels.
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* [[Mind Screw]]: ''Non Human'', ''Spread Fire'', ''Time Warp Tickers'', among others.
* [[Minigame Game]]: Ideally, ''Action 52'' is supposed to be this.
* [[Night of the Living Mooks]]: ''Bits and Pieces''.
* [[Ninja]]: ''Ninja Assault''.
* [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot]]: Possibly the crowning achievement of ''Ninja Assault'': big-nosed, coonskin-wearing ''hillybilly ninjas''. Strange indeed are the ways of the Zin-Zan.
* [[Nintendo Hard]]: Games with enough coherence to begin with usually wind up in the worst excesses of this.
* [[No Celebrities Were Harmed]]: The evil "Satan Hosain" from ''Storm Over the Desert''. Running over him gives you an extra life. In ''Cheetahmen'', he becomes an easily-dispatched midget.
* [[No Ending]]: Most of the games. In some, you just keep doing the same level(s) over and over, and in some, [[Game Breaking Bug|you]] [[Unwinnable|can't]] [[Unwinnable By Mistake|even]] [[Unwinnable by Design|reach]] the ending (if they DID program one) [[Luck-Based Mission|for]] [[Jump Physics|various]] [[Obvious Beta|reasons]]. Another thing is that a lot of the levels have no proper indication for when they end; they just end abruptly.
* [[Not the Fall That Kills You]]: Averted. Falling ''can'' kill you, and you need not actually touch the ground from a long jump for a character to begin his death animation.
** Billy Bob is a notorious example of this. If he drops off a ledge, not only does he die before he hits the ground, but he stops in mid-fall, lies flat on his face, and stays there levitated in mid-air.
* [[Obvious Beta|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
▲* [[1-Up]]: Some games have 1-up pickups. Games with these include ''Evil Empire'', ''Dam Busters'', ''Crazy Shuffle'', ''Cheetahmen'' and more.
* [[Palette Swap]]: The hero of ''Mash Man'' is the "defeated" sprite from ''Fuzz Power'' with clothes.
* [[Plagiarism]]: Most of the songs are [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGQAhV8Ga1k lame ripoffs of other musics from the Music Factory on Atari ST].
* [[Platform Hell]]: Some of the games fall right into this. Unusually, this seems to be unintentional.
* [[Poison Mushroom]]: Money bags kill you in ''Streemerz''.
* [[Power Glows]]: According to the manual, ''Rocket Jockey'' was supposed to have a lasso which would glow brighter as it gains power.
* [[Public Domain Soundtrack]]: ''Jigsaw'' uses "Long, Long Ago". ''Cry Baby'' uses the Alphabet song.
* [[Recurring Boss]]: Most bosses reappear from level to level with minimal variation.
* [[Recurring Riff]]: ''Space Dreams'' and ''Dam Busters'' use similar melody at some points. Also, you can hear the level 1 motif of level 3's theme in ''Lollipops'' sometimes.
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* [[Save the Princess]]: You have to rescue your sister in ''Illuminator'' and a woman in ''Billy Bob''.
** And Princess Lolli in ''Lollipops''.
* [[Schizophrenic Difficulty]]: Many examples, but in ''Billy Bob'', it's extremely noticeable where the game goes easier each level.
* [[Sentry Gun]]: Some games like ''Robbie Robot'' have these. Sentry Guns are sole enemies in ''Operation Moon''.
* [[Shifting Sand Land]]: Some levels in ''Storm Over the Desert''.
* [[Some Dexterity Required]]: 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 4 of the platforming games, the player can jump only when moving. It makes it HELL trying to jump across pits.
* [[Space Is Noisy]]: Many space shooters in this game collection.
* [[Space Western]]: In ''Rocket Jockey''.
* [[Spell My Name with an "S"]]: Rosy, Rosie or Rossie?
* [[Spikes of Doom]]: ''Bubblegum Rosy'' features some which won't work at all. In ''Mash Man'', spikes have [[Hitbox Dissonance|much larger hitboxes than it seems]]. And in ''Underground'' (where these take in form of mushrooms or spears), it's safe to fall on top of them but not safe to walk past them.
* [[Super Drowning Skills]]: Aries in ''Cheetahmen''.
* [[Take That]]: The Saddam Hussein analogue in ''Storm
▲* [[Take That]]: The Saddam Hussein analogue in ''Storm over the Desert'' can be killed in just one hit. As a double [[Take That]], he is basically a slightly modded sprite from ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]''. Yeah, take that, Mario! [[Sarcasm Mode|Action 52 will make you obsolete!]] What's more, his name is ''Satan'' Hosain. Because subtlety is for wimps.
* [[Technical Pacifist]]: Hercules in ''Cheetahmen'' doesn't want to attack unless provoked, as backstory tells.
* [[Title by Number]]
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* [[Trapped in TV Land]]: The plot of ''Cheetahmen'', insofar as some kid called the Action Game Master is pulled into the game. Then the Cheetahmen show up, tell him not to worry, and run off to fight things. [[What Happened to the Mouse?|The Action Gamemaster never sees them again]].
* [[Trial and Error Gameplay]]
* [[Underground Level]]: ''Underground'' and ''Dedant'' are entirely that for obvious reasons, but some other games have underground levels as well.
* [[Unexpected Gameplay Change]]:
** ''Bubblegum Rosy'' and ''Ninja Assault'' both fall victim to this, for the worse.
** ''Cheetahmen'' has more of a non-indictive first taste of gameplay
* [[Unwinnable By Mistake]] and [[Unwinnable by Design]]:
** Many of the games contain tough, nasty and cruel examples. Most famously ''The Ooze'', which was part of a back-of-the-box competition where anyone who beat said game would be entered into a raffle. Since the game is impossible to beat, this raffle saw extremely few entries.
** In ''Starevil'', when too many sprites are onscreen when it's a boss time, the boss itself doesn't appear at all.
** The fifth level of ''Atmos Quake'' is unbeatable since your ship always randomly explodes.
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* [[Very Definitely Final Dungeon]]: The last level of ''Cheetahmen'' takes a stab at this.
* [[Very False Advertising]]: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZ3fVEA8lNE The TV commercial.]
* [[Violation of Common Sense]]: There are MANY of these in ''Action 52''. But one that stands out is in the game ''Sombreros
* [[Wackyland]]: Where ''Time Warp Tickers'' takes place. Also, ''Manchester''. There are unintentional examples too. Like ''Micro Mike'', due to tiles chosen for the level.
* [[What Happened to the Mouse?]]: ''Cheetahmen'': so what happened to the Action Game Master? Granted, it contradicts what the opening cinema shows, but according to the manual, he transforms into each of the Cheetahmen.
* [[
** ''Sharks'' and ''Dedant'' will give you [[Game Over]] screen when the final mission is completed.▼
▲** ''Sharks'' and ''Dedant'' will give you Game Over screen when the final mission is completed.
* [[Wrap Around]]: 2-directional horizontal variation is present in ''Chill Out'', ''Cry Baby'' and ''Dedant''. There are unintentional examples too.
* [[Xtreme Kool Letterz]]: ''Streemerz'' and ''Lazer League''.
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* [[Adaptation Expansion]]: Given how insubstantial the original games are, every remake of them is going to have this to some degree.
** The ''Action 52 Owns'' version of ''Meong'' is the most extreme case, changing it from a featureless tile puzzle into something of a dungeon crawler with a [[Gentleman Thief]] protagonist.
* [[
* [[Asteroids Monster]]: The regular zombie [[Mooks]] in ''Non-Human'' can split up into even more annoying [[Mooks]] in the hard mode.
* [[Badass Spaniard]]: The protagonist of ''Sombreros''.
* [[Body Horror]]: The Zombies in ''Non-Human'' transform into other grotesque creatures, while the final boss becomes an evil caterpillar-thing.
* [[Buried Alive]]: Happens to you in ''Sombreros''. You have to suck your sombrero back to you while blowing smoke at ants that are out to eat your head.
* [[Call Back]]: In the ''Alfredo and the Fettuccine'' remake, the final boss is {{spoiler|the original Alfredo}}.
* [[Captain Ersatz]]: The ''Action 52 Owns'' remake of ''Streemerz'' turns every character into an Ersatz ''[[Bionic Commando]]'' character - from making the playable character "Superb Joe" to including a fake [[Stupid Jetpack Hitler|Hitler]] as the villain.
* [[Defeat by Modesty]]: Every time the hero of ''Fuzz Power'' takes a hit, he loses some of his hair. Once [[Naked People Are Funny|he is naked]], he falls down and loses a life.
* [[Did Not Get the Girl]]: The hero in ''Jigsaw'', {{spoiler|
* [[Easy Mode Mockery]]: ''Non-Human'' has a "now go play on hard mode, it's cooler" ending if you beat it on easy mode.
* [[Fan Remake]]: The [http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=12439.0
** [http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=009BFA783210948A ''Action 52 Revisited''] does things a bit differently, tying all the games together tighter to form a cohesive [[Crisis Crossover]] plotline, with the Cheetahmen still in the forefront.
* [[Fan Sequel]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20120723190604/http://www.indiekombat.com/indiekombat/?p=606 ''Streemerz 2''], which is to ''Streemerz'' what ''[[Bionic Commando]] Rearmed'' was to ''Bionic Commando'', but with a lot of [[Refuge in Vulgarity|dick jokes for some reason.]]
* [[Flunky Boss]]: The [[True Final Boss]] of ''Non-Human''.
* [[Fun with Acronyms]]: The ''Action 52
* [[Gainax Ending]]: ''Jigsaw'' is a puzzle platformer where you have to save a girl. {{spoiler|But upon reaching the final area, you are treated to a small cutscene showing a silhouette of said girl suspended from a rope, with nails sticking out of her body, dripping with blood. Beside her is another silhouette of your character holding a hammer ''which is also dripping with blood
* [[Giant Mook]]: The large cat-head cyclops things in ''Non-Human'', which can attack with a [[Shockwave Stomp]].
* [[Good Ending]]: In the ''Mash Man'' remake, if you don't mash any of the blob things, the Cheetahmen save Mash Man's life.
* [[Gravity Screw]]: Present in ''Streemerz 2''.
{{quote|'''Joe:''' Somehow I freaking broke gravity.}}
* [[Half the Man He Used To Be]]: Happens to the second boss of ''Sombreros'', after he gets pulled apart by two donkeys. He somehow survives, and appears as a boss who can split himself into two halves, each of which can attack separately.
* [[Huge Holographic Head]]: Remember the giant green heads in the NES ''Non-Human''? The remake justifies those by making them appear on computer screens at the bottom of the level.
* [[Humans Are
* [[Intentional Engrish for Funny]]: Any remakes that pay homage to the poor English in the manuals has this, especially ''Streemerz''.
* [[Ludicrous Gibs]]: Enemies in ''Non-Human'' die like this. There's a setting that allows you to turn this up further!
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* [[Malevolent Mugshot]]: Satan Hosein's base in ''Storm Over the Desert''. Full stop.
** Also seen on the computer screens that light up in ''Non-Human'' at the bottom of the screen, in a reference to the original game.
* [[Man Versus Machine]]: The plot behind ''Mash Man''. Mash Man used to mash the grapes to make wine, until a grape-mashing machine was introduced, making him obsolete and having the townspeople chase him out.
* [[Medium Awareness]]: Joe from ''Streemerz 2''.
* [[Mexican Standoff]]: Happens a few times in ''Sombreros''.
* [[More Dakka]]: Bubblegirl Rozy fires out a rapid stream of bubbles by default, with even more possible with the various powerups. One of them causes her to [[Law of Inverse Recoil|recoil]].
** The player in ''Non-Human'' can do this if he gets enough fast-fire powerups.
* [[Nintendo Hard]]
** Meong also qualifies, easily.
** ''Non-Human'' on hard, as well.
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** Bubblegirl Rozy looks like it could have been made by [[Cave Story|Studio Pixel]].
** Ditto for ''Fuzz Power''.
** ''Non-Human'' has a ''[[Super Metroid]]'' feel to it, with a similar interface. There is an enemy that attacks like the mini-Kraids, and the final boss is reminiscent of Crocomire (it advances towards you, and you shoot into his mouth to push it backwards).
* [[Spell My Name with an "S"]]: Bubblegirl Rozy doesn't help in regard to this trope.
* [[Survival Horror]]: ''Illuminator'' only gives you a flashlight to fight off enemies in a pitch dark house. Its not rare to get swarmed by the undead or getting pinned in a corner with no battery left.
* [[Trick Boss]]: The first few bosses of ''Non-Human'' start out as a regular zombie [[Mook]]... then when you kill them, they transform into a grotesque creature.
* [[Video Game Caring Potential]]: You get the good ending in ''Mash Man'' if you do not mash any of the innocent eyeball things. Easier said than done
* [[Video Game 3D Leap]]: ''Dedant'' has 3D graphics.
* [[Villainous Harlequin]]: ''Streemerz'' takes the harmful clowns in the original and runs with it, making them a very potent threat by way of [[Collision Damage]] and [[Pie in the Face]].
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[[Category:Action 52]]
[[Category:Video Game]]
[[Category:Memetic Works]]
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