CheetahMen II

Overview

CheetahMen II was an unlicensed video game by Active Enterprises, which was in development for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Although the "II" in the title would imply that a prequel had been published, this is only somewhat true; the original CheetahMen game was the last minigame in the NES game entitled Action 52. Despite the fact that the game already had packaging and was in a shippable state, the game never saw a commercial release. Nevertheless, in 1997, collectors managed to find 1,500 copies of the game lying in a warehouse, and the it became infamous for its poor gameplay, which contains noticeable glitches. It is notoriously known as one of the worst NES games ever made. Even the actual game cartridge is poorly done, as it is merely a recycled Action 52 game cartridge with a CheetahMen II sticker applied to the underside, misspelled, "Cheetamen."

Gameplay

The gameplay essentially consists of rudimentary platforming in which the CheetahMen traipse through to the levels' end in order to continue onward. After every two levels, which culminate in a corresponding boss fight, the playable CheetahMan is switched out. Each one has a weapon which they can use to defeat enemies. However, because some enemies lie low to the ground, the CheetahMen are unable to attack them due to their inability to kneel and duck. Others can be attacked, but unless they are defeated before reaching the CheetahMan, the CheetahMan is forced to take damage while the enemy remains alive and proceeds to keep moving forward.

Glitches

CheetahMen II contains glitches which range from minor to outright insurmountable. For example, in the first level, if the player turns left and jumps twice, the CheetahMan becomes invisibile and also partially enters the ground. Additionally, when playing as the second CheetahMan, it is possible to jump in such a way that he reaches the sky and then teleports to the bottom of the screen. The most major glitches, however, involve the boss battle with the Ape Man. Besides the fact that Ape Man actually causes no damage and simply runs through the same animation, it is impossible to finish the game under normal circumstances after defeating him. The CheetahMan is simply stuck at that screen. Additional levels which are meant to take place after that fight can be accessed, but they require the use of cheating devices.