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As far as classics go, Kung Fu is one high up there in terms of
leaving an indelible impression. Even if you've never played the
game itself, you've doubtlessly played a game inspired by its
elementary concept - punch and kick through armies of martial arts
foes, and fight a boss with a life bar at the end. "Hurt bad guys"
is like the rice or wheat of the gaming industry, and this game first
presented the idea of Hong Kong kung fu action flicks in videogame
form.
This is an arcade port of Kung Fu Master. In Japan, it was
apparently tied in with a Jackie Chan chop-saki movie release, but the
game appears to take only the names of the film's protagonists, and
the hitting people, from the movie. The result is a fairly simple
scroller where you climb up five levels of a pagoda, fighting various
foes and a diminishing timer, with a boss blocking your way to the
stairs. Success means repeating the five levels over again with
increased difficulty.
Luckily,
the game's simple nature is its strongest point. Kung Fu can be
surprisingly addictive, as it does one thing, sticks
to it, and does it well. You'll be moving through levels, punching
or kicking human and supernatural enemies. Being a martial arts
master, you can punch and kick swiftly, and both attacks
knock enemies off screen in one hit. The punch has a shorter range
but gives more points. The kick has a longer range and is better
for lines of charging foes. You will also encounter
enemies that will throw knives
or breathe fire, usually resulting in having to quickly jump-duck-jump
your way through the later levels. There are no level hazards per se,
like open pits or falling pillars,
but the dragons in particular act as stationary hazards that require you
to stop for a moment and deal with them before moving on. That's
about all there is to the game. There's not much challenge involved,
and the human enemies will rush at you like zombies, throw themselves
on you in groups and literally squeeze the life out of you. There's...
a lot of love in the pagoda, shall we say. The supernatural enemies
are much more difficult, but more of a timing challenge than a
fighting one. |
Big trouble
in little pagoda.
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Snakes and bees make appearances to shake things up, and to provide
enemies with different movement patterns from the standard humans.
As a badass kung fu master, you'll deal
with them just the same. I apparently am one of those people that
taste delicious to all manner of insects, which always causes
trouble on vacation. So I would gladly travel to the highest mountains
of Shikoku and dedicate years of my life to refining and harmonizing my
body and soul, if it would result in the ability to punch a mosquito
right the fuck out as featured in this game. Kung Fu, like
Total Recall, also has a fascination with
dwarves. Why this is, or what this has to do with kung-fu, I don't
know. But these leprechaun-looking fellows can offer some... amusing
situations.
SLUUUUURRRRPP!
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The
game's graphics are unsophisticated but still sharp. It's actually
a rare NES title that doesn't drop much quality from its arcade
source. Characters are smaller here, as usual, but the colors are
identical. Not much detail is lost either, mostly because the arcade
version doesn't have terribly detailed art itself. The sounds
are very basic but unique and classic ("kyup kyup hiii!").
The music will be memorable long after playing the game. It's not
orchestral or elaborate, but it does fit the game perfectly, and
to my knowledge, has never been used again in another game. The
controls are not really varied or complex, but are very accurate and
responsive. If you're timing is good, you won't have trouble fending
off your attackers. If it
sounds like there's not much to this game, that's because there
really isn't. But that doesn't mean it's worthless either. It's
a great time-waster, and replaced Solitare for me for a while. If
you've got five minutes with nothing to do, fire up the game and
see how far you get. A dedicated attempt to beat the game will
probably only be worthwhile once, but the game's style ensures
you'll be having fun even at the first level. |
It's a fun game for certain, and a good choice for the NES's opening
round of titles. It's a fantastic example of arcade fun without the
quarters, and doesn't even lose much on the conversion to the weaker
console processor. Today, it would still be little more than an
afterthought in a bigger game - like an arcade cabinet in the corner
of Shenmue, and would be hard to justify as a full title that you're
going to play happily all the way to the end. But it is what it is,
and what it is is a pretty solid classic title.
-reviewed 4/8/02 - game copyright 1985 Nintendo
Fun title that influenced decades of games to come.
Fights boredom skillfully, but for only a limited time.
Kung Fu on MobyGames
Gameplay video at NESGuide
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