CheetahMen II

Here we have an unreleased platform game that was supposed to be released for the Nintendo Entertainment System, as the sequel to Cheetahmen, which was one of the games featured on the infamous Action 52. It may have started while the Action 52 was still on the market, but presumably due to the poor sales and reception of Action 52, Cheetahmen II was cancelled and 1,500 cartridges were sealed in a warehouse. However, the cartridges were discovered in early 1996 and the game became very valuable to game collectors. The cartridges that had Cheetahmen II in it were actually reused Action 52 cartridges that just had a gold sticker that said Cheetamen II on it. So the plot goes like this: you've got a mad scientist named Dr. Morbi, who kills a mother cheetah while on safari in Africa, then takes her three cubs for his genetic research. Subjected to his experiments, the cubs evolve into half-cheetah, half-human creatures. Once they learn of Morbis' evil plans, they turn on him, and he, in turn, creates an army of half-animal, half-human species (known as "Sub-Humans") to stop the Cheetahmen once and for all. Elements of the story directly contradict the first NES Action 52 game. In the first Cheetahmen game the Cheetahmen were game characters, but in Cheetahmen II they're mutants in real life. Although this could however hint at Cheetahmen II actually being a prequel. This game is glitch incarnate that is actually worse than the original. Since it was never finished, this entire game is covered in nothing but glitches. There are patches and ROMs that fix them on the internet, though. In fact the vast majority of the flaws, problems, and game glitches in the first Cheetahmen game also return in the sequel, such as the infinite jump glitch. The game mechanics are not consistent from level from level. For example, using the jump glitch and going too high can kill Hercules and Aries in some levels while doing it in other levels will not. The game also sometimes experiences slowdown, especially if you use the infinite jump glitch. Hercules is unable to take down enemies from a distance, or even low on the ground. It is also very difficult to make him jump over enemies such as a worm, thus forcing the player to take a hit without using the jumping glitch. It's impossible to access some levels. Defeating the boss on level four (incorrectly referred to as LEVEL 3 in game which is also used as the title of the real level three) does not send the player to level five. Sometimes when launching the game it starts on level five. The final boss in level six of the game is Cygore, a henchman of Doctor Morbis, not the Ape Man (which Mr. Morbis created to defeat the Cheetahmen in the first place) which is the strongest Sub-Human made. Speaking of levels, each and every level appears to be made using a different engine, as different sounds were used, depending on the level. The architecture in these levels loop at least once so players will go through the same geometry multiple times during a level, which can be rather confusing. And invisible coin blocks are placed wherever throughout the level potentially blocking the player from jumping and causing them to take damage from enemies they were trying to jump over. The health gauge in the upper left corner is hard to read due to the strange X pattern used for the sections of the gauge. One can count how much health remains by observing the holes in the gauge, but only on the first level. In later levels it involves counting the circles in the center of the X crosses. The health gauge is also inconsistent in appearance; the gauge changes appearance due to it using a palette that changes with each level. Since this game was never finished and programming for going to level five was not implemented, it's impossible to beat the game. Players can thus only get as far as the game will allow them. This game was so incomplete that level five (which is inaccessible unless a game glitch occurs) is actually ripped straight from the first Cheetahmen game on Action 52. My advice: stay away from this game if you appreciate decencies.