Cheetahmen II is a video game developed by Active Enterprises for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game is a sequel to Cheetahmen, the flagship game of Active's previously released game compilation Action 52. While the game contains a 1992 copyright, Active went under before the game could be completed, and it was never properly released as a result. However, in the year 1996, 1,500 cartridges of the game were discovered in a warehouse in Florida, where they would find themselves being sold on the secondary market. As such, it is one of the rarest and most expensive games on the NES.
The evil Dr. Morbis has returned to defeat his previously failed creations, the Cheetahmen, from ruining all of his evil plans. To this end, he has created his most powerful Sub-Human ever, in the form of Ape Man, and sends him after the three. Apollo, Aries, and Hercules jump into action once again to do battle with this new mutant and stop Morbis once again.
The game uses the same engine as the first Cheetahmen game, and the gameplay is largely unchanged from before. The player takes control of one of the cheetahs and ventures through various platforming levels while battling enemies. Each cheetah is playable for two levels at a time, after which control shifts to the next member of the team.
And now... the Cheetahmen:
- Bee Afraid: Giant bees start to appear in level 4 that attack Hercules.
- Character Title: The game is named after the three main protagonists.
- Denial of Diagonal Attack: Apollo's crossbow can only fire to the left or right in a straight line. Many enemies are too short for him to be able to shoot them as a result, while others attack at awkward angles that the height he fires at can't account for.
- Depending on the Artist: The art in the opening cutscene makes Ape Man appear very muscular and strong, but his in-game sprites during his boss fights are much more lanky.
- Disc-One Final Boss:
- Despite being the main villain, Dr. Morbis is actually the first boss in the game, and is fairly straightforward to defeat.
- While the intro makes a big deal about him being the main threat, Ape Man is not the final boss either, being fought at the end of level 4.
- Do Not Touch the Funnel Cloud: Tornadoes appear as enemies. They only damage your Cheetahman if they come into contact with him, and Apollo can destroy them by shooting an arrow at them.
- Dragon Their Feet: The final boss of the game is Morbis' right-hand man Cygore. Despite being the Big Bad, Morbis himself is fought earlier in stage 2.
- Falling Damage: Your Cheetahman will instantly lose a life if he falls from too high a distance. Much like many of the games in Action 52, he doesn't even need to hit the ground first.
- Feathered Fiend: Birds appear as regular enemies in the stage and fly toward the left when they appear. Shooting them down with Apollo's crossbow can be difficult due to the small hitboxes of the arrows.
- Final Boss: Under most circumstances, the game ends after Ape Man is defeated, as the game fails to load any more levels after that. If the player is able to make it to the last two stages however, they can face the actual final boss, Cygore.
- Game-Breaking Bug: If the player takes too long to defeat Ape Man in level 4, he eventually disappears off the side of the screen and never returns, and since there's no way the player can kill themselves, there's no choice but to restart the game. If they do manage to beat him, however, the game doesn't load the following level, leaving them no better than they were before.
- Hard Levels, Easy Bosses: The levels require the player contend with lots of enemies they can't even defeat, as well as a host of difficult platforming mechanics. By comparison, the bosses are very straightforward, typically only having one movement pattern they never deviate from.
- Killer Gorilla: The latest Sub-Human Dr. Morbis has sent after the Cheetahmen is Ape Man, a large ape described as being the strongest Sub-Human yet. He fights Hercules at the end of level 4.
- No Ending: Most of the time, the game ends after Ape Man is defeated in level 4 with the game failing to load the next stage, leaving the player stuck as Hercules in an empty screen with no way of progressing. Even if the player manages to access the final two stages, however, all that happens after Cygore is defeated is a quick trip to the Game Over screen.
- Nostalgia Level: The last two levels are recycled from the original Cheetahmen, having originally been levels 2 and 3 of that game.
- Recycled Soundtrack: The main gameplay music is the same as the first Cheetahmen, while the title screen and intro recycle the music from Fuzz Power.
- Tyop on the Cover: The gold sticker on the cartridge reads Cheetamen II, missing the second "h" in "cheetah".
