Apatros Action 52 Masochist: Chapter 54 - The Cheetahmen

The most infamous game on the infamous original NES multicart of Action 52, this was originally supposed to be a skill challenge based on the hardest levels from random games on the multicart [something that actually saw use on the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive remake], but it was then decided to create a rival franchise to the then-extremely popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, the result being the trio of superheroic mutant cheetahs known as the Cheetahmen - Aries, Hercules and Apollo.
The resulting game is plagued with bad design choices, poor character handling and an absolute onslaught of instakill enemies that will now you down [you only have about three or four HP tops, and start the game with only four lives - the standard complement for most Action 52 games on the NES multicart]. By all respects this should be the worst game on the multicart...

But as it turns out, this game does have a strange allure to it that proves interesting, as the weird game design choices offer up some real surprises. There are three hidden warps [one for each character] that provides a free 1UP, some beautiful 8-bit water sprites and the boss battles are surprisingly easy to beat if you figure out precisely where the safe zone is located. This game is best played on an emulator [which ironically is how most play it these days], with aggressive use of save stating strongly recommended.

A real gem of 8-bit masochism...

My Grade: AD- [So Bad It Is Passable]

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