Sega Master System #2: Action Fighter

Developer: Sega

Publisher: Sega

Release Date: November 1987

Does this look like a real game you would want to play? Sega bungles it again.

There are a few things you can expect with Sega Master System games. They tended to have boring titles and bad cover art. There was also a frequent problem of the name on the box and cartridge not matching. Action Fighter doesn’t have the latter problem, but it has the first two. The name gives you no information about it whatsoever, and the box art is even more generic. The magnifying glass makes it look like it is about a highway detective. Nope it’s a Spy Hunter clone. I’ve never been the biggest Spy Hunter fan, and the knockoff version doesn’t change my opinion much, but it’s not a worthless game either. It’s just not a particularly interesting one.

This is definitely a picture of a spy in the middle of a hunt

 At least it’s more interesting than the title. I knew something was up when I got my first mission briefing. I was ready for some fast motorcycle shooting action when I discovered that I was going to be destroying some battleships. Getting from highway action to high-seas adventure did intrigue me enough to want to delve into the game further. It turns out you earn powerups which turns your motorcycle into a plane. What starts out as a motorcycle racer turns into a vertical shooter. It goes back and forth the entire game. Before you have to lose your lives there is a timer, so that helps you find the parts you need without having to worry about crashing too much. Sadly, the developers weren’t going to let the players get off that easy.

Yay for self promotion!

 Now I will admit that I am not the greatest gamer in the world, but I am not a die every five seconds gamer. That was the problem here. They decided since there is a timer instead of lives they would put loads of enemies to kill the player almost constantly. There are just too many enemies on the screen, and you are too big of a target to ever get very far along. Now I am sure that if I practiced I would get better, but it’s just not interesting enough of a game for me to want to put in the effort. The setup for every level is the same, and so if you don’t like the first level much you won’t like any of the others. There’s just not much motivation to move forward other than trying to get a better score, which I admittedly I always enjoy, but I don’t enjoy it that much in this game.

Here's those battleships I talked about

 So the first game alphabetically is a little bit of a disappointment. I also wanted to review it first and move through my games alphabetically, but I couldn’t find it at the time. So you were doubly disappointing to me Action Fighter. Have fun being number fifty! You’re still less frustrating than Dragon Crystal, but if I am going to go for a high score I’d rather be playing Galaxian. It is fun having a top 50 though. If anyone knows a better way for me to post my full list without putting it at the bottom of my posts every time please let me know. I want it to be available, but it’s starting to get a little long. I hope you don’t mind awkward screenshots until then.

Sega Master System Quality Percentage: 1/2 or 50%

1.  Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

2. Super Mario Odyssey

3. The Legend of Zelda

4. Galaga

5. Donkey Kong

6. Exodus: Ultima III

7. Pac-Mania

8. Wrecking Crew

9. Super Pac-Man

10. Pac-Man

11. Viva Pinata

12. Dragon View

13. Excitebike

14. Drakkhen

15. Todd’s Adventures in Slime World

16. Arc the Lad

17. Clu Clu Land

18. Tails’ Adventures

19. Scrapyard Dog (Lynx)

20. Artifact Adventure Gaiden DX

21. Mickey’s Racing Adventure

22. Metro-Cross

23. Double Dragon

24. Alex Kidd in Miracle World

25. Panic Restaurant

26. Felix the Cat

27. Adventure

28. Ice Climber

29. Gaplus

30. Dragon Spirit

31. Pinball (NES)

32. Ninja Golf

33. Fast Eddie

34. Super Soccer

35. Gopher

36. Walt Disney World Quest: Magical Racing Tour (GBC)

37. Entombed

38. Red Sea Crossing

39. Baraduke

40. Demon’s Crest

41. Brave Battle Saga

42. Evoland

43. Tennis

44. Renegade

45. Beethoven

46. Hogan’s Alley

47. Gamma-Attack

48. The Legend of “Valkyrie”

49. Galaxian

50. Action Fighter

51. Dragon Crystal

52. Cosmic Commuter

53. Hot Pixel

54. PocketBike Racer

55. Wild Gunman

56. Defunct

57. Gyruss (2600)

58. Looney Tunes Racing

59. Squidlit

60. Gordo 106

61. Baseball

62. Space Jockey

63. Home Alone

64. Birthday Mania

65. Bad Street Brawler

66. Burly Men at Sea

67. Wayne’s World

68. WeakWood Throne

69. X-Men (HyperScan)

70. My Name is Mayo

71. Marvel Heroes

72. The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends

73. Ben 10

(screenshots are from Mobygames.com)