Action
Action is a genre of video games in which the success of completing a task depends on the player's reaction speed and ability to make quick, correct decisions. The dynamics of such games are high, although some allow for a slower pace. Most often, this genre includes fighting games, shooters, platformers, and some sub-genres of real-time strategy. Action games may include elements of exploration, racing, puzzles, and more, but the foundation is always built on visual-motor coordination.
Years
Platforms
NESSNESGame BoyZX SpectrumTurboGrafx CDAtari 8-bitGenesisSEGA Master SystemPC-98FM TownsSharp X68000SEGA CDDOSTurboGrafx-16Neo GeoGame GearArcade
Statuses
Best Games in the Action genre of 1992 (Game released)
Game released: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, iPhone, iPod Touch, DOS, Game Boy Advance, PC → 4 June 2009
Players:
9.5/10
Steam:
92/100
Metacritic:
62/100
This first-person shooter follows OSA agent B.J. Blazkowicz as he tries to escape Castle Wolfenstein and battle the Nazi regime. Enemies include Hans Grosse and...
Game released: Android, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, BlackBerry, Commodore 64, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Game Gear, Intellivision, iPhone, MSX, Neo Geo Pocket Color, NES, PC-88, PC-98, PC Booter, TI-99/4A, VIC-20, Wii, Windows Phone, Xbox 360, ZX Spectrum, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One → 27 October 2009
Players:
8.3/10
Steam:
90/100
Metacritic:
58/100
Pac-Man is a top-down arcade action game. You have to guide Pac-Man through the maze and eat all the dots without being caught by the ghosts. You will find exciting...
Game released: Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari ST, DOS, FM Towns, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Gear, Genesis, iPad, iPhone, Mac, NES, Nintendo 3DS, SAM Coupé, SEGA CD, SEGA Master System, Sharp X68000, SNES, TurboGrafx CD, Wii, iOS → 1990
Players:
8.1/10
Prince of Persia is a side-scrolling adventure arcade action platformer. While the Sultan of Persia is waging war in a foreign country, his Grand Vizier Jaffar...
Game released: Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Genesis, Lynx, SEGA Master System, TurboGrafx CD, ZX Spectrum, PlayStation 4 → 1989
Shadow of the Beast is a side-scrolling arcade action platformer. Aarbron is a man with magical powers who was kidnapped as an infant by the dark sorcerer...
Game released: Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Game Boy Advance, iPhone, Sharp X68000, SNES, Wii, ZX Spectrum → 1991
Players:
9.7/10
Metacritic:
82/100
Final Fight — The main character of this game is the mayor of Metro City, Mike Haggar. One day he receives an anonymous phone call, and a voice tells him that...
Game released: Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Apple II, Atari 7800, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Intellivision, MSX, NES, Palm OS, PC-88, PC Booter, TI-99/4A, VIC-20, Wii, Windows Mobile, Xbox 360, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One → 1983
Players:
7.5/10
Steam:
91/100
Metacritic:
65/100
Dig Dug is an arcade action game set in underground tunnels, where the hero digs through the earth while hunting monsters. A harpoon pump inflates enemies until...
Game released: Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, FM Towns, Game Boy, Game Gear, MSX, NES, SEGA Master System, Sharp X68000, TurboGrafx-16, Wii, ZX Spectrum → 1991
This arcade racing game centers on police chases, with the player driving a Porsche 928 in pursuit of fleeing criminals. Each level requires catching the target...
Game released: 3DO, Amiga, Apple IIgs, Atari ST, DOS, Genesis, SNES, Windows 3.x, Android, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PS Vita → 21 October 1994
Players:
8.8/10
Young physicist Lester Knight Chaikin is conducting a physics experiment at a synchrotron when suddenly lightning strikes the facility. As a result of the reaction...
Game released: Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Game Boy, Game Gear, MSX, NES, PC-98, PC Booter, Thomson TO, ZX Spectrum → 1987
F-15 Strike Eagle — the game begins with the player selecting Libya (much like Operation Eldorado Canyon), the Persian Gulf, or Vietnam as the mission...
Game released: Atari 2600, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 7800, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, Lynx, NES, SEGA Master System, TRS-80 CoCo, ZX Spectrum → 1989
Players:
8/10
Rampage is a fun side-scrolling action platformer. George, Lizzie and Ralph were ordinary people until a failed experiment turned them into a gorilla, a lizard and...
Game released: Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit, BlackBerry, Commodore 64, ColecoVision, DOS, Game Boy, Intellivision, J2ME, Mophun, MSX, NES, Odyssey 2, TI-99/4A, VIC-20 → 1983
Players:
7.5/10
This arcade game centers on an isometric pyramid of cubes that the protagonist must recolor by hopping from one to another. Each landing changes a cube’s color, and...
Game released: Amiga, Apple II, Apple IIgs, Atari ST, BlackBerry, Commodore 64, FM Towns, Game Boy, Game Gear, Game Boy Color, Genesis, NES, PC Booter, SEGA Master System, Sharp X68000 → 1986
Players:
6.5/10
Marble Madness is an isometric arcade game with action elements from the developers at Atari Games Corporation. The main publisher of the game is Electronic Arts...
Game released: Amiga CD32, Amiga, DOS, Game Boy, iPhone, Jaguar, PlayStation, PlayStation 3, PSP, SNES → September 1993
Metacritic:
81/100
An arcade pinball game featuring four tables from the original Pinball Fantasies. Players score points by controlling the ball with the flippers and keeping it on...
Game released: Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Genesis, SEGA Master System, Wii, PC, ZX Spectrum, Mac, Linux → 1991
Players:
5.5/10
Steam:
87/100
An arcade action shooter about an invasion by alien predators that wreak havoc across the planet. The player controls the Alien Busters, a team fighting back...
Game released: Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple IIgs, Atari ST, BBC Micro, BlackBerry, Commodore 16, Plus/4, Commodore 64, DOS, Electron, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Gear, Genesis, J2ME, Lynx, NES, SEGA Master System, Xbox 360, ZX Spectrum → 1989
Players:
2.7/10
Metacritic:
71/100
This arcade game follows a paperboy riding a bicycle along an isometric suburban street to deliver newspapers. The goal is to reach subscribers while avoiding...
Game released: Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, FM Towns, MSX, NES, SEGA Master System, TurboGrafx-16, Wii, ZX Spectrum → 1988
Players:
7/10
Operation Wolf is a first-person arcade game with action and shooter elements from developers from the Taito Corporation studio. The game is published by Ocean...
