• Platform: Sega Master System
• Release Date: 1986
• Similar Games: Road Rash (Sega Genesis), Bump 'n' Jump (Arcade), Road Rash (PlayStation), Chase H.Q. (TurboGrafx-16), Spy Hunter (Arcade), Road Rash (IBM PC Compatible), Road Rash (Sega Game Gear), Road Rash (Sega Saturn), Road Rash (Sega CD), Road Fighter (Arcade), Road Rash (3DO), Chase H.Q. (Sega Master System), Road Rash (Game Boy), Road Rash (Sega Master System)

Game Description

Action Fighter has a James Bond theme similar to Spy Hunter. You assume the role of an international spy armed with a car that transforms into other vehicles, from a motorcycle to a jet fighter. In order to transform you will need to find power-ups.

View the action from an overhead perspective with five levels the game calls, secret missions. Levels scroll upwards while players can move their vehicle forward, backward, left, and right. Moving forward will speed the vehicle up and in turn pushing down on the D-Pad will slow the vehicle's speed. ~ Jonathan Sutyak, All Game Guide

Roots & Influences

Action Fighter's most noticeable influence is Spy Hunter, with an upward scrolling screen, a transforming car, and a tractor-trailer to help.

The background graphics appear to be heavily influenced by Bump 'N' Jump. ~ Jonathan Sutyak, All Game Guide

Review: Enjoyment

There's plenty to shoot at in the flying shooter segments, unfortunately, the driving isn't as interesting. ~ David Filip, All Game Guide

Review: Overall

As one of the earliest Sega Master System titles, Action Fighter filled the void that titles like Spy Hunter left in the system's opening lineup. In fact, Action Fighter is pretty much a Spy Hunter clone, right down to the weapons truck that powers up the roadway shooter with guns and a helicopter missile. The only visual twist is the vehicle starts as a motorcycle and gradually collects the first four letters of the alphabet to turn into a car, which players can revert to a motorcycle. However, since the car is so much more stable on the road, there's no point in changing back. After collecting the letters E and F, you can give the car rocket thrusters and can take to the skies, where the game turns into a more traditional vertically scrolling shooter.

What is missing from this Spy Hunter look-alike is the roadway control. Rather than having the opportunity to do fantastic sideswipes and rams at a reasonable speed, the car loses too much control and flies to the sides of the road much too easily. With the deadly guardrails and frequently narrow lanes, you crash and burn too often, and the Sega van doesn't provide the cool road defense gear that made Spy Hunter so much fun. No oil slicks or smokescreens -- sorry. While not bad in itself, Action Fighter lacks many gameplay elements that made Spy Hunter much better. Couple this with fairly basic first-generation Sega Master System graphics and Action Hunter is left with a little more historical significance than the simple shooters of Sega's early days. ~ David Filip, All Game Guide

Review: Graphics

Standard fare for early Sega Master System games, but some parallax effects while flying (as seen in the 8-bit version of Choplifter and other games) could have been implemented to make it look better. ~ David Filip, All Game Guide

Review: Sound

Not many sound effects, although the music is catchy. Too bad, there's only one flying and one driving theme. ~ David Filip, All Game Guide

Review: Replay Value

Action Fighter is a decent shooter, but the game's driving and flying sections repeat themselves so often that players aren't likely to run back. ~ David Filip, All Game Guide

Review: Documentation

The manual covers the basics. ~ David Filip, All Game Guide