Action Fighter

Moby ID: 8921
Arcade Specs

Description official descriptions

This is a top-down vertically scrolling shooter, in which you start off as a motorbike. You are quite vulnerable to attack at first, but power-ups come in the form of a Sega van which you have to dock with. The first time you dock you get double fire, the second time gives you a rocket, the third gives a rear force field, and the fourth invulnerability.

By destroying cars and bikes that appear on your way, you can collect A-F letters. Collecting A through to D allows you to change into a sports car which is less vulnerable to attack, but not as nimble. Collect all the letters in order to be able to transform into a high-tech plane. This is the final stage of one of the five missions. Only the high-tech plane can guide you to your destination in which your main target is hiding.

There is also a time limit in which you have to complete the mission. It is advisable to transform into the high-tech plane as fast as it is possible.

Picking up flags gives you bonus points with 10,000 points gaining you an extra life.

Spellings

  • アクションファイター - Japanese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Credits (Commodore 64 version)

4 People

Programmer
Graphics
Musician
Cover artwork (European Release)

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 61% (based on 32 ratings)

Players

Average score: 2.7 out of 5 (based on 60 ratings with 4 reviews)

Much better than Spy Hunter

The Good
Imagine this scenario: you just brought a Sega Master System and decide to buy a few games with it, and one of these games is Action Fighter. After looking at the screenshots at the back of the box, you think "Oh no, not another Spy Hunter clone". So, is this game really a Spy Hunter clone? Well, yes and no. Like Spy Hunter, you have to drive on the road, shooting everything that moves, and enter trucks to upgrade your weapons.

What makes this game a bit different, however, is not only must you do the above, but to progress further through the game, you must also fight your enemies in the air. But in order to do this though, you also collect six letters to transform into a plane and quickly get to the nearest airfield.

From here on out, Action Fighter looks like something that was pulled out of Xevious. You have the little crosshair from the same game above you, every enemy that appears on screen fires at you from all sides, and the same type of background is present at all times. The enemies themselves do not fire real shots, as their shots look like white circles that approach you. These shots are very easy to avoid as long as you watch where you are going.

It is the "driving on the road" part that I enjoyed most about the game. While driving, I noticed how well the buildings and parks blend in with the road really well, and how the road itself is split into two sections. Unlike Spy Hunter, the game gives you warning signs before this actually happens. In Spy Hunter, you have no idea when there is a split in the road so you end up crashing all the time, but in Action Fighter, at least you can avoid crashing into something in the middle of the road.

The music is excellent. Although there is no Peter Gunn music that influenced Spy Hunter, it is really a joy listing to the game's music. Furthermore, it suits the game, whether you are driving on the road or flying through the air. The sound effects are good for the standard SMS game: basic explosion sounds, shooting sounds, etc.

The Bad
Nothing.

The Bottom Line
One more thing that makes Action Fighter unique is that you have to take down several bosses in the game, as outlined in the mission briefing. If I was looking to buy a SMS and had a choice between Action Fighter and Spy Hunter, I would pick Action Fighter, even if the latter has not got much to it and considered "more retro".

Rating: ****

SEGA Master System · by Katakis | カタキス (43092) · 2005

Excellent Spy Hunter clone.

The Good
Lots of action. Driving, shooting, flying, power ups. Control was fairly good. Good background music.

The Bad
I can not remember disliking anything about this game.

The Bottom Line
You are a motorcycle. A Car. A Plane. You shoot and weave your way through traffic and swarms of enemies. Collect bonuses and Power ups. Defeat the boss and move on to the next level.

SEGA Master System · by gametrader (208) · 2004

A good conversion of an entertaining little game

The Good
The arcade game was a clever design, with a good variety in the gameplay as well as a good difficulty curve, well thought-out level layouts, good power-ups in both sections, and plenty of excitement. Darting between cars on your bike as you try to shoot them out, while ducking across into the Sega vans for bonuses and collecting the upgrade tokens made for good gameplay in the first section, while the second was an adequate 1942-style blaster.

Technically it wasn't a particularly complicated game, and Core Design were well up to the job of converting it. Graphics are crisp and sharp, the handling is precise, with a noticable difference between vehicles, and the road scrolls smoothly, at just the right pace

The Bad
The second section suffers a little bit from colour clash, and bullets are sometimes hard to see in the heat of the moment as a result.

Also, there seem to be a few graphical glitches at the top of the screen, which are occasionally enough to be a distraction.

The Bottom Line
A rather belated conversion of an arcade game in which you must rescue the President from terrorists. The game is split into two distinct sections, both vertically-scrolling - the first involves travelling down a road which occasionally splits across into junctions, while trying to destroy as many of the inhabiting vehicles as possible, and the second involves flying through the sky over the sea shooting down enemy air ordinance. You have 1000 seconds in which to complete all this, and are given 5 lives to progress through six levels with.

It makes for an enjoyable little game, which will take a while to get through.

ZX Spectrum · by Martin Smith (81669) · 2004

[ View all 4 player reviews ]

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Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 8921
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Neepie Lantern.

Arcade added by FatherJack. Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum added by Martin Smith. Atari ST, DOS added by Indra was here. Commodore 64, SEGA Master System added by Katakis | カタキス.

Additional contributors: Kayburt.

Game added April 16, 2003. Last modified December 19, 2023.