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Vince Perri, a businessman working in international
banking in 1989, didn't know that much about

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video games.

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But his son, who was nine years old, certainly
did.

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The kid had an NES, Nintendo's popular home
console.

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He may also have had a Sega console too, but
it's unclear - because when talking about

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his son's game habit it's clear Perri doesn't
understand the difference.

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"I had to buy a lot of video games", Perri
said in an interview, "a decent Sega or Nintendo

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costs 55 to 60 dollars."

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Yes, this man called a video game for an NES
a 'Nintendo'.\h

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And bear in mind this interview took place
when Action 52 was gearing up to be released

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- I think that will set the tone for the rest
of this guy's video game story to be honest.

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Anyway, back to when Action 52 was just a
twinkle in this guy's eye.

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Vince Perri noted that his son's gaming habit
was costing him a fair pop.

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But being a good dad, of course he got his
kid the games he wanted when he could.

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But one day, he noticed his son had got hold
of a 'Nintendo' that didn't look like the

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kind of thing the Japanese video game giant
would be on board with at all.

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His son was playing a multicart.

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"I happened to see my son playing an illegal
product made in Taiwan that had 40 games on

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it.

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The whole neighbourhood went crazy over it."

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Perri said.

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Yes, a cart with a whole bunch of games on
it was sure to keep gaming kids occupied for

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far longer and far cheaper than getting games
the legit way, from a local video store.

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Honestly, can you blame parents of that era
for wanting to save themselves a bit of cash?

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Let's take this supposed 40 game cartridge.

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now the average price for a game like say
super Mario bros for NES would have been about

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$25 at the time.

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40 games at that much would set you back $1000.

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This is a no-brainer, even if it is a bit
cheeky.

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Unauthorised cartridges like this were a real
problem for Nintendo in the late 80s and early

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90s.

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They are still being made today, although
you're not likely to easily find any that

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include games beyond the NES library.

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Some have some absolutely insane claims, with
labels stating hundreds of thousands of games

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on one little cartridge.

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Of course that would be absolutely mental
even if they were the small size that NES

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used to be, those cartridges take the piss
because they are just the same small handful

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of games listed again and again.

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Damn it, I was hoping to spend the rest of
my life playing 99,999 games and avoiding

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all my other responsibilities.

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Now exactly which bootleg cartridge Vince
Perri's kid had is up for debate.

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Although he says it was a 40 in 1 in most
interviews, it seems more likely he meant

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a 52 in one cartridge.

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specifically, this one - the supervision 52
in one.

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This seems to have released, again without
Nintendo’s permission, around 1989 which

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would make it quite a new kid on the block
when Perri’s son was playing it.

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it actually only contains 50 games, with the
last two being hacks of to others on the cartridge

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- circus Charlie, renamed circus troupe, and
a super Mario bros hack that is incredibly

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glitchy but makes up for that being delightfully
called fancy brothers.

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so fancy.

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We will be seeing the menu screen of the supervision
52-in-1 again in this video; it's was very

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obviously grabbed and used for Perri's mad
lad gaming idea, to the point where the prototype

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of action 52 used the exact same menu.\h

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In any case, confident with his idea, our
man set to work to take the gaming world by

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storm.

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Perri founded Active Enterprises specifically
to produce his 52-in-1 idea.

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That's right - this lad was absolutely not
mucking about.\h

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But he needed a lot of money to start up the
business - and despite leaving a career in

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banking, he'd need more cold hard cash to
pay for his plans.

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Because his plans were...intense.

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This was going to be far more than just a
video game - as far as Perri was concerned,

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his idea was all about the kick off.

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But if there's one thing Perri was good at,
like a lot of bankers, it was bullshitting.

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As we are going to find out.

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To secure funding, he'd need to found a business.

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But doing that is expensive; that is, unless
you can dodge around the kind of things the

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government wants you to spend that startup
cash on.

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Things like, you know, taxes.

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Luckily for Perri, in 1990 The Bahamas made
a move to increase its already considerable

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reputation as a leading financial hub of sorts
for businesses worldwide.

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They passed the International Business Companies
Act in January 1990, significantly reducing

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the cost and complication of incorporating
an offshore business on the sun-soaked collection

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of islands.

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And thus Active enterprises

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Some sources online have the Active Enterprises
company founded in 1989.

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It seems far more likely that Perri, a shrewd
businessman, incorporated it after that Bahamas

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business companies act passed, although it
does seem that 1989 is the year Perri and

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his business partner got together with their
big ideas for taking the video game world

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by storm.

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Going offshore with the business rather than
registering it in America brought with it

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a bunch of benefits; the main one being, of
course, dodging tax.\h

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And Perri did manage to silver tongue his
way into the chequebooks of a whole bunch

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of investors worldwide.

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Thanks to his overseas banking connections,
his private backers came from the likes of

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Saudi Arabia and all over Europe - and by
the end of his quest for startup cash he had

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a cool 5 million dollars to play with.

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It was all go now - time to get together a
team to make Action 52 into a reality.

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And hopefully make an absolutely bobbin load
of cash.

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Now the team behind what would become the
infamous Action 52 weren't exactly some crack

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team assembled by virtue of their skills.

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In fact, they got the gig by chance.

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Apparently Perri bumped into one Mario Gonzalez
while at a Miami recording studio.

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Gonzalez, a young man working as a sound engineer
at the studio, couldn't help but overhear

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Perri chatting about his plan to make a legal
NES multicart.

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In a ballsy but none the less impressive move,
Gonzalez recommended himself and his two friends

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Javier Perez and Albert Hernandez as potential
candidates to make that game a reality, as

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the three of them were keen to make games.

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After presenting Perri with a Tetris-esque
game they'd made, Perri was impressed enough

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to take them on board.

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Remember, this man couldn't tell the difference
between a Sega and a Nintendo console, so

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honestly that Tetris game could have been
one of the worst games ever made and he'd

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probably have chucked money at it.\h

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The team set to work, coding the games on
an Atari ST.

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Perri had the team flown out for an intensive
week-long course to learn how to use an NES

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development kit.

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They were then given three months to make
52 video games.\h

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Now even by modern standards, that's a huge
ask.

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There's no doubt the team were eager and had
the capacity to be competent game creators

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- they certainly had the passion.

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But even the most experienced developers would
be hard-pressed to get that amount of games

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out there in such a short time for a system
they had recently learned how to code for.

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These poor lads had their work cut out for
them - and corners were about to be very much

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cut to get this legit multicart out to the
public.

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According to the fourth developer, another
friend of Mario Gonzales who would join the

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team later on, they used Deluxe paint and
deluxe paint animator to make the game.

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It was programmed in assembly.

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The games would be made in a corner of a recording
studio where absolutely no sunlight could

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get in.

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All four developers would spend ridiculous
hours working in this soundproofed cell for

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three months.

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And I do mean ridiculous hours – these young
men were putting away upwards of sixty hours

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a week and Vince Perri would occasionally
pop in and maybe bring them coffee.

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He didn’t even pay the fourth developer,
and it’s not clear if he paid the other

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three – they certainly had some share of
the profits written into their contracts but

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it’s hard to tell if they were even being
compensated for their time while their boss

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was swanning around all over the world and
schmoozing.

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Now most sources online record Action 52 as
being released in 1991.

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And that is what the copyright says on the
title screen of the game.

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However, it doesn't appear to have been shown
until at least the tail end of 1992 when Active

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Enterprises demonstrated Action 52 at the
International Consumer Electronics Show in

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Nevada.

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In this article for Game Zone issue 5, game
journalist Jeremy Daldry writes that he's

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not at all convinced by Active's big idea
- writing "I’ve heard some tall tales in

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my time, but this one from active enterprises
just about takes the biscuit."

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According to him, the NES cart was going to
cost 80 dollars and there was only the one

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game on show.

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In addition, the only magazine review I was
able to find of the game was for N-Force magazine

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in February 1993.

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Of course that doesn't mean it wasn't covered
elsewhere - but remember, it's not like gaming

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magazines commonly covered lots of unlicenced
games.

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That being said, it's surprising a cartridge
full of legally made games wasn't getting

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more of a buzz about it - it seems Perri spent
his marketing budget on newspaper articles

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and stopped there.

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Perri was keen to make sure that the creation
of the cartridges would happen on American

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soil as much as possible.

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The plastic for the cartridge was produced
by one M&M plastics in Hialeah, Florida.

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The production of packaging was handled by
Caribbean Box Co in North America, and over

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in Orlando American Technologies was manufacturing
the electronic internals for the game.

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When it was finally released, the recommended
retail price for this thing was $199 dollars.

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that works out at less than 4 dollars a game.

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that is dirt cheap for the time - 52 brand
new games for price of a meal deal!

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don't mind if I do.

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Let's have a look at this.

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Now why does the title screen plays 'it takes
two', the 1988 hit, is anyone’s guess.

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Theres not a chance it was used with permission.

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Is it used because technically all the games
are two player?

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Not at the same time mind you, only by taking
turns and competing for a high score.

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So..it doesn’t even really take two, you
can still play this game if you have no friends.

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And if you had them in the first place you
wont have them after getting them to play

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this bullshit.

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Because yes, spoiler alert, everything about
every game on this cartridge is godawful.\h

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The problem is, there's 52 of them and I'm
not sure I can handle playing through each

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one for you.

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I need someone who is so tempered by self-hatred
that they can tell us about what Action 52

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truly has to offer.

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A real miserable bastard.

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Alright, fine.

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I’m not about to go show you each of the
games because I already covered every single

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one in my own video about action 52 which
I will get Peter to link in the description

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do watch it if you want more details about
every individual game.

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if I have to write about each game on this
godawful cartridge again I'm going to murder

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the first person I see, and that wouldn't
be great because I would not do well in prison.

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I would be everyone's bitch.

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So technically action 52 can be two player.

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51 of the games let you take turns to get
the highest score.

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The 

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only solely two player game on this cart is
the very first game.

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fire breathers.

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two dragons frying each other.

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you cant play a one player version.

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Theres no CPU.

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so right away this is a waste of time.

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00:13:03,490 --> 00:13:14,480
Why is the only game that can only be played
with two players the first in the entire massive

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list?

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00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:20,050
I can only think its because logically you
and a friend will play it together before

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you both realise how much of a pile of garbage
the whole thing is.

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The sprites for the dragons are cute though.

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This is one of the games that looks like effort
was put in.

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But that’s all I’ve got here.

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00:13:30,980 --> 00:13:32,519
and yes, its only going to get worse.

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00:13:32,519 --> 00:13:33,519
like, a lot worse.

192
00:13:33,519 --> 00:13:37,460
For a start, the second game Star Evil just
straight up kills you right off the bat.

193
00:13:37,460 --> 00:13:38,460
For gods sake!

194
00:13:38,460 --> 00:13:42,199
How are you supposed to know you need to avoid
something as soon as the game starts?

195
00:13:42,199 --> 00:13:47,279
I don't have the reflexes of a jet fighter
pilot, sometimes I don’t even realise milk

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00:13:47,279 --> 00:13:50,649
has gone off until I’m halfway through a
bowl of cornflakes.

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00:13:50,649 --> 00:13:54,060
Look at level two.

198
00:13:54,060 --> 00:13:55,060
Absolute troll!

199
00:13:55,060 --> 00:13:56,630
Come on!

200
00:13:56,630 --> 00:14:01,639
Every time you get taken back to the title
screen, the cursor will be on game five.

201
00:14:01,639 --> 00:14:06,300
This is probably because that's how the bootleg
cart active enterprises totally nicked the

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00:14:06,300 --> 00:14:08,220
title screen from was set up.

203
00:14:08,220 --> 00:14:09,220
Impressive laziness, I’m not even mad.

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00:14:09,220 --> 00:14:13,440
Remember the three lads and eventually the
fourth who were making this had three months

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00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:15,360
to make 52 games, im not surprised they had
to cut corners like that.

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00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:16,470
I’ll let you off lads.

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00:14:16,470 --> 00:14:17,779
Vince perri though?

208
00:14:17,779 --> 00:14:18,779
No.

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00:14:18,779 --> 00:14:19,779
Bad Vince.

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00:14:19,779 --> 00:14:28,910
Bad marketing minded vince.

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00:14:28,910 --> 00:14:40,810
Ggame number five is ooze and it's disgusting.

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00:14:40,810 --> 00:14:46,380
You're a guy jumping around on snot, the monsters
are snot.

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00:14:46,380 --> 00:14:50,250
the background is snot, even the title is
snot.

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00:14:50,250 --> 00:14:55,470
yes this is one of the very few games that
has a title screen.

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00:14:55,470 --> 00:14:59,680
I did want to blow this game into a tissue
and never talk about it again but I have to

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00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:04,380
mention it because theres some interesting
facts about it, if this kind of thing is interesting

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00:15:04,380 --> 00:15:05,519
to you I donth know.

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00:15:05,519 --> 00:15:11,430
One, this is the game used in the promo material
for a proposed Action 52 competition.

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00:15:11,430 --> 00:15:15,140
Apparently, completing the game would enter
you into a prize drawer.

220
00:15:15,140 --> 00:15:22,120
the hilarious thing about that is the game
crashes somewhere in level three and can't

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00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:27,230
be completed.

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00:15:27,230 --> 00:15:37,790
Second, the last game on the cartridge was
originally called action gamemaster.

223
00:15:37,790 --> 00:15:45,399
After the cheetahmen were made up to replace
that slot, action gamemaster was apparently

224
00:15:45,399 --> 00:15:50,220
reworked into Ooze and another game on the
cartridge, Robbie N the Robots.

225
00:15:50,220 --> 00:16:02,959
The music is ooze also came from the originally
planned action gamemaster.

226
00:16:02,959 --> 00:16:11,160
And finally - Active enterprises put a flyer
in with some distributions of Action 52 saying

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00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:16,630
that complete the incompletable Ooze would
unlock two secret extra games.

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00:16:16,630 --> 00:16:17,630
Here’s said flyer.

229
00:16:17,630 --> 00:16:21,270
No, that doesn’t mean theres actually 54
games on action 52.

230
00:16:21,270 --> 00:16:27,380
The flyer is referring to the games Jigsaw
and Alfredo and the fettucinis, which is shortened

231
00:16:27,380 --> 00:16:30,089
to alfredo in the fettuc on its title screen.

232
00:16:30,089 --> 00:16:31,089
That’s not the only misspelling by the way,
there’s loads of them.

233
00:16:31,089 --> 00:16:34,149
Both of those games are here, in the game
selection list.

234
00:16:34,149 --> 00:16:40,209
That’s because they were meant to work but
for some reason select them and action 52

235
00:16:40,209 --> 00:16:43,410
will crash.

236
00:16:43,410 --> 00:16:49,649
So what did Active Enterprises do to hide
the fact two of the advertised 52 games you’re

237
00:16:49,649 --> 00:16:52,050
paying for don’t even sodding work?

238
00:16:52,050 --> 00:16:57,269
Chuck in a flyer lying about them being only
accessible by secret means.

239
00:16:57,269 --> 00:17:03,490
Even if that was believable, why then have
these “secret games” listed on the game

240
00:17:03,490 --> 00:17:05,540
select screen like an absolute pricktease?

241
00:17:05,540 --> 00:17:09,490
You know, I’m furious about this blatant
lie.

242
00:17:09,490 --> 00:17:15,390
You just know some poor kids spent hours of
their precious childhood pricking about on

243
00:17:15,390 --> 00:17:21,030
this snot-covered game trying to find a way
access two games that their parents had sodding

244
00:17:21,030 --> 00:17:22,030
paid for.

245
00:17:22,030 --> 00:17:26,799
Also, the flyer says ooze is game number 6,
correcting itself in the next paragraph.

246
00:17:26,799 --> 00:17:32,500
The spelling errors are rife not just in the
game but in the damn instructions.

247
00:17:32,500 --> 00:17:38,280
Well due to the wonders of emulation, we can
play those games now.

248
00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:39,940
and they are not worth it.

249
00:17:39,940 --> 00:17:43,410
Jigsaw is a terrible, terrible game.

250
00:17:43,410 --> 00:17:47,370
alfredo and the fettuccines is a terrible,
terrible game.

251
00:17:47,370 --> 00:17:52,720
both are lazy side scrolling platformers with
dinky enemies and barely any actual action.

252
00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:58,530
If I was being nice I’d say Alfredo and
the fettuccines is better because its cuter.

253
00:17:58,530 --> 00:17:59,530
Look at these angry pastas.

254
00:17:59,530 --> 00:18:01,660
Look at this chef getting levels by macaroni.

255
00:18:01,660 --> 00:18:04,789
There’s something to be said for that, that
is funny.

256
00:18:04,789 --> 00:18:06,630
By the way, that other flyer there?

257
00:18:06,630 --> 00:18:12,120
It tells you how to exit a game without needing
to reset the NES.

258
00:18:12,120 --> 00:18:17,299
It literally makes out that a standard feature
is some kind of excting secret tip.

259
00:18:17,299 --> 00:18:22,070
Again, its because they forgot to put that
basic instruction in the instruction book,

260
00:18:22,070 --> 00:18:26,110
so they were trying to save face.

261
00:18:26,110 --> 00:18:45,730
The obnoxious marketing bullshittery is off
the scale at this point.

262
00:18:45,730 --> 00:18:47,770
Look at the enemies in Overground.

263
00:18:47,770 --> 00:18:50,929
What is going on here, these lads are going
absolutely mad.

264
00:18:50,929 --> 00:18:53,030
It’s an utter party of franticness in there.

265
00:18:53,030 --> 00:18:54,559
I wanna join in.

266
00:18:54,559 --> 00:18:55,559
Nope, dead.

267
00:18:55,559 --> 00:18:58,250
By spinning around like a propellor.

268
00:18:58,250 --> 00:19:05,620
This guy survives a massive fall at the start
of the level but not by being buffeted by…these…things.

269
00:19:05,620 --> 00:19:06,620
Non human.

270
00:19:06,620 --> 00:19:07,620
What?

271
00:19:07,620 --> 00:19:08,620
Sorry, what?

272
00:19:08,620 --> 00:19:12,320
This guy in the game Fuzz Power is the only
playable character that shows up more than

273
00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:13,320
once.

274
00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:18,390
In Fuzz Power he's bouncing along avoiding
hair-related paraphernalia, because he likes

275
00:19:18,390 --> 00:19:21,230
looking like a bonsai Truffula tree thank
you very much.

276
00:19:21,230 --> 00:19:22,230
State of him.

277
00:19:22,230 --> 00:19:33,750
Then later on in the game Mash Man he pops
up clean shaven with his hands in his pockets

278
00:19:33,750 --> 00:19:37,580
as he bounces along some weird woodblock world
avoiding more...things.

279
00:19:37,580 --> 00:19:38,611
Things that are sometimes obscured by the
background, which is bullshit.

280
00:19:38,611 --> 00:19:43,570
It’s nice to see hes cleaned himself up
a bit though, I hope his life gets better.

281
00:19:43,570 --> 00:19:55,200
On to Time Warp Tickers.

282
00:19:55,200 --> 00:20:33,150
Alright fine, I'll play some of the games.

283
00:20:33,150 --> 00:20:35,750
Time Warp Tickers is just...bizarre.

284
00:20:35,750 --> 00:20:37,039
I'm not happy to play it.

285
00:20:37,039 --> 00:20:41,450
You’re a pair of fingers strutting along
in some insane budget Alice in wonderland

286
00:20:41,450 --> 00:20:44,080
with god knows what flinging itself at you.

287
00:20:44,080 --> 00:20:48,100
You defend yourself by jumping over them or
doing this dinky little flick which makes

288
00:20:48,100 --> 00:20:53,419
the enemies turn into the word 'time', complete
with an almost nervous question mark.

289
00:20:53,419 --> 00:20:54,679
I don't know what's going on.

290
00:20:54,679 --> 00:20:58,940
I'd say it's got obvious the small development
team were struggling with ideas when they

291
00:20:58,940 --> 00:21:03,380
made a literal pair of fingers into a video
game character, but honestly you could say

292
00:21:03,380 --> 00:21:05,700
they were struggling way before this.

293
00:21:05,700 --> 00:21:08,300
Time warp tickers is game number 48.

294
00:21:08,300 --> 00:21:13,860
by this point you've already played as an
Action 52 logo, a tiny guy on a carpet, a

295
00:21:13,860 --> 00:21:19,560
nondescript spec, a man who is 60% foot, various
poorly-drawn space ships and whatever the

296
00:21:19,560 --> 00:21:22,880
hell the thing in non-human was.

297
00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:26,320
Time warp tickers is one of the games made
by that fourth developer who joined the team

298
00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:27,320
later.

299
00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:29,960
He has a small blog website which I will link
in the description.

300
00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:33,721
This lad started out just hanging around with
the three Action 52 developers while they

301
00:21:33,721 --> 00:21:36,860
were working, taking them snacks and just
generally chilling.

302
00:21:36,860 --> 00:21:40,679
He was fascinated by the process and ended
up learning how to use Deluxe Paint.

303
00:21:40,679 --> 00:21:45,350
This lad started working insane hours for
absolutely no pay on Action 52.

304
00:21:45,350 --> 00:21:48,430
He was eventually paid, he reckons, about
1500 dollars.

305
00:21:48,430 --> 00:21:53,230
That’s for more than two months of 60+ hour
weeks helping to make Action 52.

306
00:21:53,230 --> 00:21:54,230
Now obviously, that’s bullshit.

307
00:21:54,230 --> 00:21:56,680
He was very young, and thus taken advantage
of.

308
00:21:56,680 --> 00:21:59,570
Yet another reason to be a bit miffed at Vince
Perri.

309
00:21:59,570 --> 00:22:02,040
Anyway, the reason it says “time?”

310
00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:07,570
when an enemy is killed or our playable…fingers…are
hit, is this fourth developer made a Miami

311
00:22:07,570 --> 00:22:11,890
dance song with Action 52’s first developer
Mario Gonzales.

312
00:22:11,890 --> 00:22:15,820
In the song, there was a sampled voice saying
the word “time”.

313
00:22:15,820 --> 00:22:20,929
This fourth developer was also, as he says
on his blog post, “just into a time theme

314
00:22:20,929 --> 00:22:22,340
at the point in my life.”

315
00:22:22,340 --> 00:22:23,630
There you go.

316
00:22:23,630 --> 00:22:27,200
Mystery solved, let’s get the fuck out of
this game.

317
00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:31,520
Most of the games are either a side scrolling
shooter - usually set in space - or a godawful

318
00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:32,960
platforming game.

319
00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:37,919
The standout space shooter has got to be Operation
Moon, which is the most offensive-looking

320
00:22:37,919 --> 00:22:40,080
game the Action 52 has to offer.

321
00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:44,440
I challenge anyone to look at this putrid
mess of a colour pallet for more than five

322
00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:48,640
minutes and not come away with the top layer
of their corneas hanging off.

323
00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:51,280
It's enjoyable to see how much these meteors
look like flaming condoms, like it's raining

324
00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:52,280
especially aggressive STDs.

325
00:22:52,280 --> 00:23:03,530
Octavius said I could use that joke from their
video and I'm quite pleased.

326
00:23:03,530 --> 00:23:09,090
Aside from Not Human which is, as Octavius
said, and absolute horror party, the standout

327
00:23:09,090 --> 00:23:12,390
platformer would probably be Billy Bob.

328
00:23:12,390 --> 00:23:17,170
It's the only one with any fluid animation
that might remind you of early prince of Persia

329
00:23:17,170 --> 00:23:18,170
games.

330
00:23:18,170 --> 00:23:21,460
The problem is getting across some of the
screens is insanely difficult because you

331
00:23:21,460 --> 00:23:26,190
need to time your jump so precisely and usually
from the previous screen.

332
00:23:26,190 --> 00:23:30,299
if you don’t you're falling into a pit and
yes like most of the other platforming games,

333
00:23:30,299 --> 00:23:32,180
billy bob can't take fall damage.

334
00:23:32,180 --> 00:23:36,361
It’s a shame because this one starts off
looking almost promising...but that might

335
00:23:36,361 --> 00:23:49,450
just be because all the other games so far
have been utter bobbins.

336
00:23:49,450 --> 00:24:03,910
There's only really one puzzle game on this
cartridge, although calling it a game is a

337
00:24:03,910 --> 00:24:05,210
long stretch.

338
00:24:05,210 --> 00:24:10,510
Meong, where you move an A52 logo around (which
by the way, is never seen elsewhere on the

339
00:24:10,510 --> 00:24:14,550
cartridge so calling it a logo is also a stretch)
on a load of squares.

340
00:24:14,550 --> 00:24:16,169
Some of the squares blow you up.

341
00:24:16,169 --> 00:24:17,820
How do you know which squares?

342
00:24:17,820 --> 00:24:19,150
You don't.

343
00:24:19,150 --> 00:24:20,700
So that's fun.

344
00:24:20,700 --> 00:24:25,620
Then there's Crazy Shuffle, which the instruction
book calls an educational puzzle game.

345
00:24:25,620 --> 00:24:27,779
Is this a puzzle game?

346
00:24:27,779 --> 00:24:32,520
The music is frantic and you're running around
a maze picking up what look like crucifixes.

347
00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:36,539
The instructions say this is a picture matching
game, and it could be if the picture you're

348
00:24:36,539 --> 00:24:40,510
matching to this screen is an especially troubled
child's drawing.

349
00:24:40,510 --> 00:24:44,490
Actually, that's another point - the instruction
book very often says stuff about the games

350
00:24:44,490 --> 00:24:48,860
that either isn't true, or sounds more like
it's about another game entirely.

351
00:24:48,860 --> 00:24:52,760
For example, Fire breathers, which is that
two player dragon game I refused to play with

352
00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:57,710
Octavius earlier, features just two dragons
one played by you and your long-suffering

353
00:24:57,710 --> 00:24:58,710
friend.

354
00:24:58,710 --> 00:25:02,190
the instructions says 'you must kill the dragon
riders', plural.

355
00:25:02,190 --> 00:25:06,809
Unless it's inviting you to kill yourself,
which at this point is tempting, there's been

356
00:25:06,809 --> 00:25:08,620
a mistake here.

357
00:25:08,620 --> 00:25:11,730
Instructions for Alfredo and the fettuccines
says you’re racing against the clock and

358
00:25:11,730 --> 00:25:16,059
you get the runaway pasta back into a pot
- but all the chef does is slam the carby

359
00:25:16,059 --> 00:25:20,760
bastards into the floor which would suggest,
if he's wanting to keep that hygiene rating,

360
00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:22,190
he's not going to serve them.

361
00:25:22,190 --> 00:25:26,790
And also there isn't a clock anywhere, the
level just ends when it feels like it.

362
00:25:26,790 --> 00:25:30,950
Instructions for French baker are not relevant
to the game but sound like a euphemism: 'you

363
00:25:30,950 --> 00:25:36,010
may try to keep the cookie patterns pounding,
and the bread rising but its not as easy as

364
00:25:36,010 --> 00:25:37,010
it sounds.'

365
00:25:37,010 --> 00:25:39,320
Heh, no it isn't, especially not as you get
older but there's things you can take to help

366
00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:40,320
with that.

367
00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:44,000
Shooting gallery promises quick draw and a
final shootout with bad guys, but in the game

368
00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:48,330
itself you're just popping shots at various
panicking animals and that's it.

369
00:25:48,330 --> 00:25:52,110
Bits and pieces is meant to be a game where
you make 'solid lines out of various sizes

370
00:25:52,110 --> 00:25:58,120
and shapes', so obviously Tetris, but the
actual game is a jump suited Nosferatu jumping

371
00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:01,919
over a short-wearing werewolf and humanized
snot blobs.

372
00:26:01,919 --> 00:26:04,990
There's plenty more examples but this video
has already gone on long enough.

373
00:26:04,990 --> 00:26:05,990
All the games really are a barely-functional
chore.

374
00:26:05,990 --> 00:26:06,990
And the worst thing is there's 52 of them.

375
00:26:06,990 --> 00:26:07,990
Active Enterprises were all about quantity,
not quality.

376
00:26:07,990 --> 00:26:08,990
And they certainly got quantity right.

377
00:26:08,990 --> 00:26:09,990
It's very obvious not a single game on this
cartridge was play tested.

378
00:26:09,990 --> 00:26:12,620
The guys making it didn’t have a chance
to – to get that deadline met, they slapped

379
00:26:12,620 --> 00:26:15,610
on that lights camera action intro and called
it a day.

380
00:26:15,610 --> 00:26:19,590
As a result, you’ve got glitches, inconsistent
play mechanics, random instances of things

381
00:26:19,590 --> 00:26:23,929
that normally kill you not killing you, random
instances of the scenery being in the way

382
00:26:23,929 --> 00:26:27,480
as soon as a level starts and killing you,
boss battles where the boss just forgets to

383
00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:32,820
show up, whatever this bullshit is, and characters
so poorly drawn its hard to know where they

384
00:26:32,820 --> 00:26:35,070
start and end.

385
00:26:35,070 --> 00:26:39,460
Even if they were functional, none of these
games stand alone as games in their own right.

386
00:26:39,460 --> 00:26:44,289
They all have at best a few minutes of play
time – so it fails even as a multicart.

387
00:26:44,289 --> 00:26:49,190
The supervision 52 in 1 was shady, but it
had games that could occupy a kid for hours.

388
00:26:49,190 --> 00:26:52,169
And at about 4 dollars a game, not a single
one is worth it.

389
00:26:52,169 --> 00:26:55,091
I wouldn’t pay you 10p for a single title
on here.

390
00:26:55,091 --> 00:27:07,950
I’m in a really, really bad mood now.

391
00:27:07,950 --> 00:27:12,730
Action 52 was planned for the SNES too, but
thankfully that never happened.

392
00:27:12,730 --> 00:27:17,919
However, in 1993 a version was made for the
Mega Drive and released in America only.

393
00:27:17,919 --> 00:27:22,210
An actual development company did this one,
and it’s noticeably more functional.

394
00:27:22,210 --> 00:27:25,840
Octavius did a video covering every single
game on that version.

395
00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:29,760
The game is no where near as bad, or even
as charming, as this NES version but if you

396
00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:33,659
want to watch Octavius torture themselves
the link is in the description.

397
00:27:33,659 --> 00:27:36,940
But there's more we need to talk about - game
number 52.

398
00:27:36,940 --> 00:27:39,620
Yes, the infamous cheetahmen.

399
00:27:39,620 --> 00:29:22,850
And we'll be talking about that in another
video, because it really does need its own.