Action Fighter Download (1989 Arcade action Game)

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 invulnerablility.

By destroying cars and bikes that appear on your way, you can collect A-F letters. Collecting A through to D allows you change into a sportscar 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 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.

This is a conversion of SEGA's hit created originally for Sega consoles. Later on, Core Design converted this game onto all popular platforms of that time. The game is an up-scrolling shooter, fast and fun on short terms. Every conversion was successful. As you are probably guessing, PC conversion is not as good as the others (except maybe Spectrum) but is more than adequate (although little hard at times).

You are a secret agent, driving in three different vehicles. There are five missions you need to accomplish and each mission is divided in two parts: the first one is driving through the streets and the second one takes place in the air. At the beginning of the mission, you receive a short briefing about the main enemy you are supposed to destroy at the end.

Every level starts off with you driving the bike. You have to drive through the street that goes on and on in circles. You are very vulnerable on the bike, since cars can run you over. You can also die if you hit the car from behind. So, you can't really drive at top speed unless you want to test your reflexes. As for your weapon, your weapon fires giant bullets. You need to shoot the enemy vehicles in order to destroy them or simply push them off the track. There is a bank on each side of the road, so you can't accidentally loose a life, however someone can ram you into it.

As you shoot more and more enemies, letters will appear (you can see the letter boxes from A to F above the action screen) and you should pick them up. When you pick up letter 'D', the bike will change into the car. Now you can run over bikes and hit other cars more safely. After picking up 'F' you'll just need to drive up to the end of the road, since it won't go forever from that point on. At the end of the road there will be a ramp and your vehicle will transform into an airplane.

Airplane can shoot and throw bombs on the ground targets. While in the airplane mode, there will also be letters to pick, but they are only various improvements. You just need to fly and fight the various enemies until you reach the end of the level, where the big enemy from the briefing is awaiting. The "bosses" are not hard to destroy once you get skilled in the game.

On both parts of the levels, some friendly vehicles may appear. They are easy to spot, since all other vehicles will disappear and your friends will have SEGA written on their roof. You just need to drive/fly into them (something already seen in the Spy Hunter) and you'll come out with a weapon improvement. Besides doubling your guns/rockets, you can receive a "back laser" that keeps you safe from fast vehicles coming from behind. If you loose a life, you will loose all improvements with it as well.

While driving on the streets there will be a small arrow in the middle top showing you the next turning. It really does help. Also, there is a strange chopper coming from time to time. While you're driving the bike, it won't hurt you, but if you are driving the car, it will start dropping bombs. You can avoid the bombs or destroy it if you have rockets (second weapons upgrade).

This game could be better in many aspects simply by comparing to its counterparts on Amiga or C64. However, it will provide you with some fun, and what else is there to expect from a game?

Core Design's computer conversion of SEGA's top-down shoot'em up Action Fighter for the Sega Master System and Mega Drive. Actually quite a good conversion of this fun little game. In Action Fighter, you start your mission as a motorcycle and must collect power-ups in order to become the Porsche, and finally the flying Porsche/Jet-fighter. In addition to this novel concept of driving & flying combination, Action Fighter also contains very challenging end bosses on every mission. Your mission orders come straight from the president, lending a bit of (albeit fake) urgency to the game. Overall, a mostly challenging, fast, and enjoyable oldie that's one of the better PC versions of console games. Recommended.

How to run this game on modern Windows PC?

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