• Stream Class Action Park on HBO Max. Grab your swimsuit, buckle up, and keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times! Except if you’re at Action Park, the notoriously dangerous and chaotic - but wickedly fun - 1980s New Jersey water and amusement park that long ago entered the realm of myth (and gave perhaps less thought to safety measures).
• The prime attraction of Max Action comes at four of a kind. Starting with five-coin returns, four 5s through Kings soar from 250 to 375, 500, 625, 750 and 1,000.

The official website for Cinemax, home of Hollywood hits and action-packed original series. Find movies and TV shows to watch online.

The Action Max is a home video game console using VHS tapes for games. It was manufactured in 1987 by Worlds of Wonder. The system had a very limited release outside the U.S.

Gameplay[edit]

The Action Max system requires the player to also have a VCR, as the console has no way to play the requisite VHS tapes itself. Using light guns, players shoot at the screen. The gaming is strictly point-based and dependent on shot accuracy, and, as a result, players can't truly win or lose a game. The system's post-launch appeal was limited by this and by the fact that the only real genre on the system are light gun games that play exactly the same way every time, leading to its quick market decline.^[1]

Before playing, a red sensor must be attached to the lower right corner of the television screen. This corner contains a circle that was usually black, but flashes rapidly whenever something on the screen is targetable. At the same time, targets are highlighted by rapidly flashing panels for the player to shoot at. The console uses the corner circle and light from the targets (picked up by the guns) to determine when something has been hit. Flashes in sync with the corner circle count as enemy hits, and earn points for the player. Flashes out of sync with the corner circle count as friendly hits, losing points.

With this implementation, the unit can function with copies of the original VHS tapes, including those on more modern formats such as DVD-R or personal computers. The console can work with any filmed footage properly formatted to function with the console's light gun.

Games[edit]

Five VHS cassettes were released for the system:

• .38 Ambush Alley, a police target range;
• Blue Thunder, based on the eponymous 1983 motion picture;
• Hydrosub: 2021, a futuristic underwater voyage;
• The Rescue of Pops Ghostly, a comic haunted-house adventure;
• Sonic Fury, aerial combat, bundled with the system.

A planned sixth cassette, Fright Night (possibly based on the 1985 horror film of the same name), was unreleased at the time the Action Max was discontinued.

Each game follows an identical gameplay format, differing only in theme, playing the same way each time.

Technical specifications[edit]

Max Action Figure

• CPU: HD401010
• Internal Speaker
• 2 Character, 7 segment LED score display

See also[edit]

• Control-Vision a prototypical VHS video game console
• View-Master Interactive Vision, another VHS-based console

Max Action Poker

References[edit]

1. ^Plunkett, Luke (March 28, 2011). 'Only In The 80's Would They Put Video Games On A VHS Tape'. Kotaku. Retrieved December 26, 2015.

Max Action Arena

External links[edit]

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• Feature titled 'THE MOST BIZARRE CONSOLE FLOPS IN GAMING HISTORY' by ADAM JAMES at SVG.com

Max Action Trucks