Action 52: History and Key Facts

Action 52 is an unlicensed multicart video game compilation developed by Active Enterprises for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1992 and by FarSight Technologies for the Sega Genesis in 1993. It consists of 52 games in a variety of genres, mostly scrolling shooters and platformers. The games include The Cheetahmen, which was part of Active's failed attempt to create a franchise similar to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It initially retailed for the comparatively high price of US$199 (equivalent to $470 in 2025).

The NES version of Action 52 sold poorly and became infamous among gamers for the poor quality and functionality of its games; it is often considered to be one of the worst video games of all time. The Genesis version, although considered an improvement, was also negatively received. Many video game collectors value Action 52 for its notoriety and rarity.

Source and attribution

Text excerpted from Action 52 by Wikipedia contributors, available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0. The extract is abridged and formatting has been adjusted; the adapted text on this page is shared under the same licence. Revision history.