Team17 1995
Genre: Action
Rating: 5/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

Now, this is quite a famous game, and unlike some it’s popular with a reason. You get the lemmings, give them weapons (after changing the little suicidal rodents to worms) and you get an action game with plenty of explosions and collateral damage.

Ljn 1994
Genre: Action
Rating: 5/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: SNES

WWF RAW - the reference to digital showfights. The ridiculous wrestling-scene is presented absolutely serious. And that's good for all who are amused by clearly missing but apparently very painful hooks and for those who still can't understand why two wrestlers are trying to kill each other in the ring, but having a nice barbecue together after the fight (are there any?).

Acclaim 1995
Genre: Sport, Action
Rating: 4/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: PC

WWF Wrestlemania - The name says it all. The official license has both its advantages and disadvantages for the game designers. Much room for creativity concerning character design and playing modes does not remain, but these are of course advantages, either. Because well-known fighter "personalities" already exist to whom the followers of this "sport" connect different cliché attributes, the typically ridiculous plot of an average fighting game can fortunately not be found. Another point is that potential weaknesses of the playability will be easier looked over by the players because of the disciples' emotional link to their idols. The designers could therefore put all their efforts in a conversion as "realistic" as possible.

Capcom 1994
Genre: Action
Rating: 4/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: SNES

The X-Men are Marvel's most successful team of superheros. And that is actually surprising if you know a bit about the history of this series. It was started back in the mid-60s, like so many others. But the X-Men never really made it, the sales couldn't compare to the Fantastic Four and all the others. So their story ended in 1970: the series was discontinued. No more stories of Professor Xavier, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, Beast and Iceman. Gone the threat of Magneto, the Juggernaut and the Sentinels.

Mr Chip Software 1987
Genre: Action
Rating: 3/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: Plus/4

Everything was so easy 'back in the days'. Just throw together a action-packed game concept in which you control some vehicle in some tricky situation, add some nice graphics, mix it up and there you are: a finished game.

Imagine / Konami 1985
Genre: Action, Sport
Rating: 4/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: C64

Aspiring youngster Oolong wants to become Grand Master of Kung-Fu. To achieve this, he has to defeat ten opponents (one after another, not all at the same time).

Nothing special so far, the mid-80s had their fair share of beat 'em ups (and many good ones). What sets Yie Ar Kung-Fu (I'll drop the capitalization seen on the title screen here) apart is the opponents. In the seminal hits of the time (Karate Champ and all), the player mostly faced faceless enemies who were identical to each other and also to the player. In Yie Ar (to shorten this even further), each opponent has his or her own sprite, his or her own moves and even his or her own weapon (!).

Binary Asylum / Empire Software 1994
Genre: Action
Rating: 4/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: Amiga

If a new company starts producing games for a system after it has become clear it's going to die is a sure sign of dedication. Binary Asylum had been founded by former employees of games magazines - after Commodore's bancruptcy. After this game (and its sequel), they never got any other release out again. Yet, the company showed that the Amiga was still there to deliver a good blast.

Binary Asylum / Pinnacle 1995
Genre: Action
Rating: 5/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: Amiga

Do the changes warrant a release as a standalone sequel, or is it just a data disk with new levels? One of the eternal questions of the gaming industry. Almost always answered to the customer's disadvantage. The question is also very valid for Zeewolf 2 (not going to repeat the nonsensical subtitle).

Konami / Lucas Arts 1993
Genre: Action
Rating: 4/6
Language: English
Licence: Commercial
System: SNES

'Zombies ate my Neighbours' is one of those classic frenzied shoot-em-ups. Gameplay and perspective very much remind of 'Chaos Engine', which is of almost the same age and which can be found in the PC section. You move your character freely (not just from left to right) through the levels and get rid of countless enemies.