Microreviews of games on the SuperVision 52-in-1
Published at 2026-03-30T23:48:33-05:00
In late 2024 I decided I wanted to play through and stream the SuperVision 52-in-1, the bootleg multicart that served as the inspiration behind Action 52. I typed up a text file with a roughly 2-3 short sentence review of every game I played (for the most part), shared it with a few folks and never really thought about it again until I realized I could just put it in a blog post. Formatting for Gemini aside, the vast majority of this was typed up in October of 2024. Don't take this super seriously.
My overall opinion on this multicart: It's better than the multicart that was inspired by this one by a fair margin, even if all of these games are early NES/Famicom titles. At least most of these games function and are playable, even though you might only get about 5-10 minutes of playtime out of some of them.
More info on the Supervision 52-in-1 (Bootleggames wiki)
A disassembly of the menu used in the Supervision 52-in-1 (Github)
After the title of most games I have linked a video from RndStranger acting as a brief overview/review of the game, if you want something that's more than a one line summary from me. I recommend watching them as they're not long (at most 10 minutes) and offer more context.
RNDStranger's Youtube channel, I recommend checking it out if you have an interest in the history of Famicom games.
01. ISLANDER (Adventure Island)
Famidaily - Episode 0140 - Takahashi Meijin no Bouken Jima/Adventure Island
One of the early platformers that adopted the standard created by Super Mario Bros. It's fun, difficult though.
02. GRADING (Gradius)
Famidaily - Episode 0116 - Gradius
Gradius is some good stuff especially for an early title. Power up system is unique too which is an added bonus.
03. P-D FIGHTING (Hokoto no Ken)
Famidaily - Episode 0133 - Hokuto no Ken/Fist of the North Star
It honestly blows my mind this game released in 1986 and yet is worse than Kung Fu which released in 1985. You can make people's head explode. That's about it. No idea where the title comes from.
04. STAR SOLDIER
Famidaily - Episode 0123 - Star Soldier
Honestly a bit bizzare that you cannot shoot while you're behind a background object. Otherwise, it's a space shooter. Still better than what you'd find on Action 52.
05. GOONIES (The Goonies)
Famidaily - Episode 0099 - The Goonies
The music is good but it's Cyndi Lauper in 8-bit, how could it be bad? The game itself is okay, puzzle platformer of the era.
06. LEGENDRY (The Legend of Kage)
Famidaily - Episode 0111 - Kage no Densetsu/The Legend of Kage
Honestly I have no idea what's even going on in this game. You can jump super high I guess?
07. TETRIS (Tetris - Tengen version)
Every NES Game With No Japanese Release (Timestamped to a short 1 minute clip of a 6+ hour video)
It's hard going back to classic style Tetris after playing modern style for so long but this works very well, probably the best NES tetris game, certainly better than Nintendo's version.
08. BROS. II (Super Mario Bros, graphics from Super Mario Bros 2 Japan)
Famidaily - Episode 0064 - Super Mario Bros.
I mean, it's SMB but with SMB2's graphics for some reason. Golden standard of platformers.
09. TWIN BEE (TwinBee)
Famidaily - Episode 0097 - Twinbee
Well, it's not in space. It's still a shooter though. One of the better ones on this multicart however, and it's cute.
10. NINJA 2 (Ninja Jajamaru Kun)
Famidaily - Episode 0072 - Ninja Jajamaru-kun
Why does Ninja 2 come before Ninja 1. It's a fun arcade style title with some nice chibi style sprites.
11. CITY CONECT. (City Connection)
Famidaily - Episode 0066 - City Connection
This is definitely a Jaleco game. Pretty fun, harder than it looks though.
12. B-WINGS
Famidaily - Episode 0120 - B-Wings
The fact that you can select your weapon addon at the start is the only saving grace here. Otherwise the graphics seem dull and the sound is awful, game is very repetitive too.
13. 1942
Famidaily - Episode 0086 - 1942
DO DO DO DO DO DO DO DO DO DOOT. I sure do love listening to the same ear grating audio for 30+ minutes. Gameplay is very slow too.
14. GYROOINE (Gyrodine)
Famidaily - Episode 0102 - Gyrodine
You're a helicopter that shoots at unarmed people on the beach and cars on the street. Kinda fucked up tbh. Just another shooter, nothing special here.
15. FLAPPY
Famidaily - Episode 0043 - Flappy
This has no relation to Flappy Bird. This is a weird variant of Sokoban honestly. Cute character though.
16. SPARTAN (Spartan X)
Famidaily - Episode 0046 - Spartan X/Kung Fu
This is actually pretty fun. A far, far better game than Hokoto no Ken.
17. BOMBER MAN (Bomberman)
Famidaily - Episode 0093 - Bomber Man
I forgot how rough the first Bomberman is. It's...fine? For the era that is. Just don't bomb the doors.
18. FRONT LINE
Famidaily - Episode 0056 - Front Line
What the absolute fuck are these sprites. What is this audio. What is this gameplay. Easily the worst title on this entire compilation.
19. MACROSS (Choujikuu Yousai Macross)
Famidaily - Episode 0085 - Choujikuu Yousai Macross
This is a very repetitive game. I guess it's cool that you can swap between mech and plane mode, but outside of that it's another space shooter.
20. 1989GALAXIAN (Galaxian hack, speeds up player bullets)
Famidaily - Episode 0019 - Galaxian
Totally not space invaders. Because it's hacked its far easier than the original game. Honestly I'd say play the original, but either works.
21. STAR FORCE
Famidaily - Episode 0045 - Star Force
Insert an AVGN clip complaining about space shooters from Action 52 here.
22. KUNG-FU (Yie Ar Kung-Fu)
Famidaily - Episode 0038 - Yie Ar Kung Fu
This sure isn't Street Fighter. Early fighting game. It's as good as every early fighting game (it's not good at all)
23. NINJA 1 (Ninja-Kun: Majou no Bouken)
Famidaily - Episode 0040 - Ninja-kun
Finally, Ninja 1. It's similar to Ninja 2 but more vertical than horizontal. Pretty fun arcadey title.
24. PIPELINE (Mario Bros)
Famidaily - Episode 0006 - Mario Bros.
I have no idea why the title screen is hacked to say "Mr Mary" but I mean, it's Mario Bros. It's still a good game especially for such an early title.
25. MAHJONG 2 (Mahjong)
Famidaily - Episode 0005 - Mahjong
It's everyone's favorite tile game for japanophiles. It gets the job done.
26. MAHJONG 4 (4 Nin uchi Mahjong)
Famidaily - Episode 0021 - 4Nin Uchi Mahjong
Despite what you might think that is not a penis on the title screen. Outside of that it's 4 player mahjong with tiny tiles. Good for the time but you could do better.
27. LODE RUNNER1 (Lode Runner)
Famidaily - Episode 0017 - Lode Runner
Neat puzzle platformer and it even has a level editor, plenty of fun to be had.
28. LODE RUNNER2 (Championship Lode Runner)
Famidaily - Episode 0037 - Championship Lode Runner
Unironically probably the hardest official NES game. I can't even make it halfway into the first level.
29. KING KONG 1 (Donkey Kong)
Famidaily - Episode 0001 - Donkey Kong
Literally the first title released for the NES. It's Donkey Kong. What more can I say?
30. KING KONG 2 (Donkey Kong Jr.)
Famidaily - Episode 0002 - Donkey Kong Jr.
The sequel to Donkey Kong. Very, very slightly more advanced than the first game. It's...maybe better than the first one, by an equally slight amount.
31. KING KONG 3 (Donkey Kong 3)
Famidaily - Episode 0016 - Donkey Kong 3
The third game that nobody remembers outside of that one time a Stanley the Bugman trophy ended up in Smash Bros. It's alright though.
32. MAPPY
Famidaily - Episode 0026 - Mappy
I'm glad this game exists to fill the rodent quota. Very, very arcadey fun.
33. EXCITE BIKE (Excitebike)
Famidaily - Episode 0028 - Excitebike
It's exciting...assuming the year is 1985. I guess it's okay. Level editor can give you a bit extra enjoyment.
34. F-1 RACE
Famidaily - Episode 0023 - F1 Race
This is just a slightly worse version of Pole Position.
35. ROAD FIGHTER
Famidaily - Episode 0050 - Road Fighter
It's nice that they clustered the three racing games together in this. Very arcadey, make it to the finish before your gas runs out. AI can be aggressive though.
36. PIN BALL (Pinball)
Famidaily - Episode 0011 - Pinball
Well, it's very basic pinball. Not great, not bad either. Pretty average.
37. BASE BALL (Baseball)
Famidaily - Episode 0008 - Baseball
It's baseball. We're talking a very slight upgrade over Atari 2600 Baseball.
38. POPEYE
Famidaily - Episode 0003 - Popeye
Weird game and actually surprised it was released so early in the NES's lifespan. It's about as complex as you'd expect for an early Nintendo title.
39. GALAGA
Famidaily - Episode 0032 - Galaga
One of those popular early arcade titles ported to the NES along with Space Invaders and Pac-Man. Pretty good port, but it's a game you'll probably play for 10 minutes before moving on.
40. GALAXIAN (Unhacked version of Galaxian)
[same video as 1989 Galaxian]
It's just the unhacked version of Galaxian. So in this case, it's literally just Space Invaders.
41. PAC-MAN
Famidaily - Episode 0022 - Pac-Man
C'mon, do I really need to give a review of fuckin Pac-man? If you don't know this game you shouldn't even be reading this. The NES port is okay I guess.
42. ICE CLIMBER
Famidaily - Episode 0030 - Ice Climber
Probably the worst game on this multicart from Nintendo. Well either that or Baseball. Somehow Ice Climbers managed to get entry into Smash Bros with this.
43. 1989 EXERION (Exerion hack, removes limit on player bullets)
Famidaily - Episode 0031 - Exerion
For whatever reason this is a hacked version that lets you shoot way more projectiles than normal. That's literally the only interesting thing I can say about it. Another space shooter. Yawn.
44. WRESTLE (Kinnikuman: Muscle Tag Match)
Famidaily - Episode 0070 - Kinnikuman: Muscle Tag Match/M.U.S.C.L.E.
This game hurts my eyes and I have no idea what's going on in this. Maybe enjoyable for like 5 minutes.
45. BATTLE CITY
Famidaily - Episode 0063 - Battle City
A multicart staple but this is really good. Simple enough to pick up and play, complex enough to get plenty of enjoyment out of it.
46. SKY DESTRYOER (Sky Destroyer)
Famidaily - Episode 0071 - Sky Destroyer
Psuedo-3d effects are kinda nice I guess. This feels like one of those types of games that just goes on forever though, play it for 5 minutes and you've seen it all.
47. CHESS (Gomoku Narabe Renju)
Famidaily - Episode 0004 - Gomoku Narabe
This actually isn't Chess, it's Go. It's decent for what it is but nothing special honestly.
48. BALLOON FIGHT
Famidaily - Episode 0029 - Balloon Fight
Despite being such an early title and so simple, it still holds up incredibly well. Solid title.
Famidaily - Episode 0034 - Formation Z
This really feels like a worse version of the Macross game from earlier. Both were released in the same year so that's impressive. It's pretty average.
50. POOYAN
Famidaily - Episode 0065 - Pooyan
Awful intro music aside this is actually okay. Like a weird take on balloon fight or something. I could see myself playing this more.
51. CIRCUS TROUPE (Circus Charlie)
Famidaily - Episode 0100 - Circus Charlie
I got to the end of level 3 and made a mistimed jump and instead of landing on the finishing platform I hit the ground and lost 0/10 game sux. Seems like a game you'd get 10 minutes of enjoyment out of.
52. FANCY BROS (Super Mario Bros hack, swaps mirroring from horizontal to vertical, glitched graphics)
This isn's very fancy, this isn't very fancy at all! It's just Super Mario Bros with fucked graphics!