Kung-Fu Master (computer game)
Kung Fu Master | |
---|---|
Studio | Irem |
Publisher | Irem, Data East |
Senior Developer | unknown |
Erstveröffent- lichung |
December 1984 |
genre | Side scrolling beat 'em up |
Game mode | up to 2 players in turns |
control | 4-way joystick ; 2 buttons |
casing | Standard, mini and cocktail |
Arcade system |
Irem M-62
|
monitor | Raster resolution 256 × 256 (4: 3 horizontal), color palette: 512 |
information | First horizontal beat 'em up |
Kung-Fu Master ( Japaneseス パ ル タ ン X, Spartan X ) is an arcade game that was developed in 1984 by the Japanese Irem Corporation . It was the first scrolling beat 'em up game and is often cited as an inspiration for later genre successes like Double Dragon . In the US, it was under license from Inc. Data East USA, sold. Various ports for the most common home computers followed, for example the C64 .
Kung-Fu Master is considered to be one of the most famous Kung-Fu games of the time. It was also quite difficult because it required very good responsiveness. You could hit and jump with your hands and feet; it includes five levels .
The game is based on the Bruce Lee film " My Last Battle " ( Game of Death 1973/78), but was marketed in 1984 together with the Jackie Chan film Kwai tsan tseh (German title: Powerman ) and adapted to this. In Japan, film and games are called "Spartan X" .
There are several games called Spartan X, Kung Fu and Kung-Fu Master, which have a different gameplay and vice versa (see the section on ports). For the home computer system MSX or Spectravideo , which was widespread at the time, especially in Japan, several of these games were published from 1983 onwards. There is also a version with a plot from the Jackie Chan film.
The last official part of the series appeared in 1991, but other compilations exist, similar games e.g. B. Jackie-Chan licensed games and fan projects. The last time a Windows version was programmed in 2009, an unofficial successor to the NES version.
Course of the game
In the guise of the protagonist Thomas , the player must save his girlfriend, who was kidnapped by the villain Mr. X. At the beginning of the game, Thomas holds a letter from the kidnappers in his hands. The action of the game takes place in a multi-story pagoda .
The player looks at the two-dimensionally represented events from a side perspective; the character runs on the screen from right to left (in even levels in the opposite direction); it is always in the same place on the screen while the game environment scrolls to the right or left . Opponents come from both sides who want to clasp Thomas from both sides and consume his life points (this is shown as a bar at the top of the picture); To shake it off, the player must quickly move the joystick left and right. There are also knife throwers who throw their weapons at varying heights and which the character can avoid by crouching or jumping. In the following levels , clay jugs and balls fall from the ceiling, from which snakes and fire-breathing dragons come, as well as exploding confetti balls; in the later course (level 4) killer bees come out of their combs and attack Thomas. Dwarves do somersaults and try to hit the pawn on the head.
Each level represents one floor of the pagoda and is limited in time. At the end of each floor there are bosses . If you kill them, you can go up the stairs to the next floor. After defeating the last boss in the fifth game segment, the game starts again on a higher level of difficulty. You receive a dragon symbol when you have completed the five floors for the first time. The number of dragon symbols increases to three (at the beginning of the fourth round) and starts flashing from the fifth round.
Boss
- Level 1: stick fighter
- Level 2: Boomerang Thrower
- Level 3: Giant (figure is modeled after basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar )
- Level 4: magician
- Level 5: Mr. X, behind to the left is Silvia tied to the chair
The 5 floors mark the 5 different fighting styles. The top one says “ Jeet Kune Do ”. Mr. X wears the same yellow suit as Bruce Lee. So he practically fights against himself.
control
The game is operated with a joystick and two buttons. The playing figure can distribute kicks or blows both standing, jumping and crouching.
music
The 3-part background melody of the AY-3-8910 runs in an endless loop. There are also melodies for the beginning and end of the game and the end of a section of the game.
Implementations / platforms
Arcade hardware
- Original arcade version (1984) Irem M-62 hardware (3 PCBs), Data East devices partly bear the manufacturer name Nihon Bussan / AV Japan
- Spartan-X ditto, with Japanese text
- The game also appeared as Kung Fu for the PlayChoice 10 Arcade system (1985).
- Kung Fu Hero (unknown maker) Arcade
- two more bootlegs (arcade)
Ports
The table contains both original arcade adaptations and games of the same name with different gameplay and different titles with identical or very similar gameplay. Instructions can be found at the end of the table.
year | like Irem | platform | Surname | Original name | developer | Publisher | Color palette | Disk | particularities | source |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1983 | MSX ( Spectravideo ) | Kung Fu Master | ク ン フ ー マ ス タ ー | ASCII | Mass Tael Ltd. | 16 | cassette | scrolling vertically | ||
1984 | x | Arcade | Spartan X / Kung-Fu Master | ス パ ル タ ン X | Irem | Irem, Data East | 512 | ROMs | Original arcade version | |
1984 | ZX Spectrum | Kung fu | Kung fu | Bug byte | Bug byte | 8th | cassette | Duel | ||
1984 | x | Atari 2600 / VCS | Kung Fu Master | Kung Fu Master | Activision | Activision, HES | 128 | Cartridge | 4 publications, one in 1987 | |
1985 | MSX | Spartan X | ス パ ル タ ン X | Pony Canyon | Pony Canyon | 16 | cassette | Multigenre based on Powerman film | ||
1985 | x | Arcade / PlayChoice-10 | Kung fu | カ ン フ ー | Irem | Nintendo | 52 | ROMs | カ ン ゲ ・ フ ー (KLOV), second monitor | |
1985 | x | NES | Kung fu | カ ン フ ー | Nintendo | Nintendo | 52 | Cartridge | like PlayChoice, without a second monitor | |
1985 | x | MSX | Kung-fu acho / Seiken acho / Irem Karate | 聖 拳 ア チ ョ ー | Irem, ASCII | Irem / ASCII, Clover (Korea, 1987) | 16 | Cartridge | ||
1985 | x | C64 | Kung Fu Master | Kung Fu Master | Berkeley Softworks | US gold , HES | 16 | Cassette, floppy disk | ||
1985 | x | Apple II e | Kung Fu Master | Kung Fu Master | Berkeley Softworks | Data East | 8th | diskette | Back of the C64 disk | |
1985 | x | SG-1000 | Dragon Wang | ド ラ ゴ ン ワ ン | Sega | Sega | 16 | Cartridge | Holes in ceilings instead of stairs | |
1985 | Epoch Cassette Vision | (Nekketsu) Kung-Fu Road | 熱血 カ ン フ ー ロ ー ド | Epoch | Yeno / epoch | 16 | Cartridge | partly similar, inside and out | ||
1986 | x | ZX Spectrum 48K | Kung Fu Master | Kung Fu Master | US gold | US gold | 8th | cassette | ||
1986 | x | Amstrad CPC | Kung Fu Master | Kung Fu Master | Choice software | US gold | 16 | cassette | Elevator instead of stairs | |
1986 | Sega Master System | Black Belt / Hokuto no Ken | 北斗 の 拳 | Sega | Sega | 64 | Cartridge | partly similar, indexed | ||
1989 | x | Atari 7800 | Kung Fu Master | Kung Fu Master | Absolute entertainment | HES | 128 | Cartridge | ||
1990 | Game Boy | Kung Fu Master | Spartan X | Irem | Nintendo | 4th | Cartridge | 4 gray levels on original GB | ||
1990 | NES | Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu | ジ ャ ッ キ ー チ ェ ン | Now Productions | Hudson Soft | 52 | Cartridge | |||
1991 | NES | Spartan X 2 | ス パ ル タ ン X 2 | Irem | Irem | 52 | Cartridge | |||
1995 | Arcade | The Kung-Fu Master Jackie Chan / Fists of Fire | ジ ャ ッ キ ー ・ チ ェ ン 、 ジ ャ ッ キ ー ・ チ ェ ン | Kaneko | Kaneko | 32768 | ROMs | digitized characters | ||
1996 | x | Sega Saturn | Spartan X (on Irem Arcade Classics) | ス パ ル タ ン X | Irem | I'Max | 512 | CD-ROM | ||
1996 | x | PlayStation | Spartan X (on Irem Arcade Classics) | ス パ ル タ ン X | Irem | I'Max | 512 | CD-ROM | ||
2001 | GBA | Jackie Chan Adventures : Legends of the Dark Hand | ジ ャ ッ キ ー ・ チ ェ ン ア ド ベ ン チ ャ ー ズ | Torus Games | Activision | 32768 | Cartridge | based on cartoon series, also on PS2 (different gameplay) | ||
2009 | x | Windows | Kung Fu II | Kung Fu II | The Games Page | The Games Page | 52 | Download | Fan project | |
2010 | x | Windows, Mac | Kung Fu Master (on Irem Arcade Hits) | Irem | DotEmu | 512 | DVD-ROM | Original arcade version | ||
2011 | x | Android | Kung Pow | Kung Pow | PhunDroid | div. | 512 | Download | Touchscreen, other music | |
2013 | x | Android , iOS | KungFu Quest: The Jade Tower | IPlayAllDay | App Store | Download | 37 level, 8 bosses, upgrades e.g. .B clothing |
There are also other games, especially Kung Fu , and fan projects.
Remarks:
- Year : There are partly contradicting information on the publication dates. Many games have been reissued multiple times, mostly by different publishers, for the same platform. See in particular the notes on the Atari 2600 game.
- Like Irem : Games with (almost) identical gameplay to the arcade version are checked.
- Color palette : The color palette describes the selection of available colors and not those actually used.
- Source : Only sources are given that are not already accessible via the databases (MobyGames and KLOV) specified in the web links, or that differ from them.
- Atari 2600 : There are currently four known modules, some of them rare. The Activision version is often given as 1987. The other three, one of them by HES in Australia, are said to have appeared in 1984. Two stickers (see receipt) indicate this. Possibly it is a prototype or an adaptation of the copyright to the Irem version.
- Game Boy : Officially part of the series, but different gameplay (plays outside, 6 levels, player can throw bombs). Four shades of gray or four selectable colors on the Game Boy Color.
- NES Spartan X 2: Extended gameplay, plays mainly outside, especially on trains, direction of travel only to the right. Similar to Vigilante and Double Dragon .
- Sega Saturn / PS (Irem Arcade Classics / ア イ レ ム ア ー ケ ー ド ク ラ シ ッ ク ス): Compilation with two other games. Only 1: 1 implementation (with minor, system-related adjustments).
- Sega Master System : Black Belt / Hokuto-no-Ken series is based on Manga Fist of the North Star . Same action as Kung-Fu Master, partly very similar, but walking direction to the right, no stairs, inside and outside, indicated in Germany.
Info
Successor games
- (Arcade): Super Kung-Fu Master / Super Spartan X / Kung-Fu Master 2 (prototype 1985) developed, appeared in 2015
- (Arcade): Vigilante (3/1988)
- (Nintendo Famicom ): Spartan X 2 (1991)
Movies
Although the game is called Spartan X in Japanese , it has only the title and the names of the characters in common with the movie Spartan X ( Powerman , Wheels on Meals ). The game is mainly based on Bruce Lee's My Last Fight ( Game of Death ): There is also a 5-story pagoda, the giant Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the kidnapping of Sylvias. In the film Bruce's Finger (1964, on Bruce Lee: Best of the Best ) you see the kidnapper's letter and a woman in a red dress tied to a chair.
In the movie Goodbye, Bruce Lee: His Last Game with Death (1975 with Bruce Li , not Lee) there is a 7-story pagoda. Here you can see the red pillars (color changes in the upper levels: three times red, twice brown, twice black) and the ceiling molding, which are very similar in this game.
The arcade game can be seen in the film Die Zeit with Julien ( Kung-Fu master! ).
Place of the pagoda
The pagoda is the Beopjusa Buddhist temple in Chungcheongbuk-do , South Korea. See: Bruce Lee, Der Weg einer Kämpfers / A Warrior's Journey ( My last fight documentary, 2000 with new excerpts found 27 years after death.) In the film, Bruce Lee has four fighters, one of whom dies per floor, up to he's fighting upstairs alone.
Level 1 is called Hall of the Tiger . The final boss is Master of the Escrima (Filipino stick fight, planned actor: Dan Inosanto )
Level 2 is called Floor of the Praying Mantis (praying mantis). Bruce Lee did not shoot the first two levels. It starts with the 3rd (stick fighter) who is the first in the game. The 5th level (giant Kareem) is therefore the third in the game.
Level 4 is called the Red Area . The fighting style there is called Hapkido and is portrayed by the actor Ji Han Jae .
Footnotes
- ↑ Chrontendo-3-Video at archive.org, video position 46 min.
- ↑ 1983, MSX: GenerationMSX
- ↑ Kung Fu, ZX Spectrum 1984: MobyGames
- ↑ Atari 2600, 1984/1987 atari-computermuseum.de ( Memento of the original from November 15, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ YouTube video Spartan X for MSX 1985
- ↑ Kung-fu acho: GenMsx
- ^ Dragon Wang, pictures, video
- ↑ Gamefaqs: Kung Fu Road
- ↑ ZX Spectrum 1986: Worldofspectrum
- ↑ Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu (MobyGames)
- ^ Fists of Fire, KLOV entry
- ↑ Sega Saturn illustrations
- ↑ PS: Gamefaqs
- ↑ Jackie Chan Adventures, GBA, MobyGames
- ↑ Kung Fu II (2009) MobyGames entry
- ↑ Zhangku.com ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Google play
- ↑ arcadeheroes.com
Web links
- Kung-Fu Master in the Killer List of Video Games (English)
- Kung-Fu Master at MobyGames (English)
- Arcade history entry
- MAWS Mameworld entry ( Memento from October 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- German fansite Kung-Fu Master 3-D with polygons (PD)
- Kung-Fu Master on StrategyWiki