Kung Fu Master
Encyclopedia
Kung-Fu Master, known in Japan
as , is a beat 'em up
arcade game
developed and published in Japan by Irem
. It was later published in North America
by Data East
. The Japanese version was based on the Jackie Chan
movie Wheels on Meals
, known as Spartan X in Japan, and credited "Paragon Films Ltd., Towa Promotion", who produced the film upon which it was based. The game is considered by many to be the first beat 'em up video game, and contains elements of Bruce Lee's
Game of Death
.
and slippers. Thomas's girlfriend, Sylvia, has been kidnapped by "Mr. X", and Thomas must fight through five side-scrolling floors full of enemies to rescue her.
Brutally summarized as "rescue girlfriend – hit people", the US and UK
version opens with the phrase "Thomas and Sylvia were attacked by several unknown guys...."
The game was an early fighting game
. The main character, Thomas, can punch with the A button and kick with the B button. Either move can be done from a standing, crouching or jumping position. Punches are worth twice as much as kicks and do twice as much damage, but their range is shorter.
The first floor
of the temple contains Grippers and Knife Throwers. Subsequent levels introduce Tom Toms, poisonous moths, fire-breathing dragon
s, snakes, and confetti balls.
Each of the five floors ends with a different boss
who must be defeated before Thomas can climb the stairs to the next floor. Thomas must complete each floor within a fixed time. The timer starts at 2000. If it falls below 330, an acoustic warning sounds. If a boss defeats Thomas, the boss laughs. Although there are five bosses, the game only uses two different synthesized laughs. (The NES port uses a third, high-pitched synthesized laugh for the Black Magician.)
Once the player has completed all five floors, the game restarts with a more demanding version of the Devil's Temple, although the essential details remain unchanged. A visual indication of the current house is displayed on the screen. For each series of five completed floors, a dragon symbol appears in the upper-right corner of the screen. After three dragons have been added, the dragon symbols blink.
Kung-Fu Master was ported to the Atari 2600
, Atari 7800
, Amstrad CPC
, Apple II
, BeOS x86
, Commodore 64
, DOS
, Java
, Linux
, NES/Famicom
, MSX
(Irem/ASCII version as Seiken Achō), PlayChoice-10
(arcade, nearly the same as the NES version), Sega SG-1000, Sinclair ZX Spectrum
and Windows
. It was also made for the 8-bit Gameking
console, under the name of Nagual. Some of the 8-bit conversions offered highly degraded performance, sound and image resolution. The NES version was ported and published by Nintendo
simply under the title "Kung Fu" in North America and the PAL region
. It is also one of two NES/Famicom games that had Jackie Chan as its lead character, the other being Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu
(which was also released for the TurboGrafx-16
). The original arcade version was later included along with the arcade versions of 10-Yard Fight
and Zippy Race
in IAC/Irem Arcade Classics for the PlayStation
and Sega Saturn
, released in Japan only in 1996 by Irem and I'Max. The arcade version was also released to cell phones.
In 1988, another arcade game by Irem titled as Vigilante was created and released, which is a spin-off of Kung-Fu Master, due to the gameplay being nearly the same, but with a completely different plot added to it that takes place in the urban areas of New York City
, where a nameless titular character must save his girlfriend, Madonna ("Maria" in the Sega Master System
version) who was captured by the Skinheads ("Rogues" in the Sega Master System version). One unique feature is the ability to pick up and use the battering weapon: the nunchuks, until either the player gets hurt, finishes a stage or begin battling the final boss.
About a year later in 1990, the arcade game received a completely different Game Boy sequel titled as "Kung-Fu Master" ("Spartan X" in Japan), which has similar gameplay to the arcade game, but with a completely different plot, setting, set of enemies and stages. Some of Keiji Thomas's new abilities are back-flip kicks and small bombs dropped by enemies. The flat levels were modified into stages with different platforms and objects in an urban city style similar to Vigilantes. The English version was modified from the Japanese version, by changing the look of Thomas and add some small enemies in the final stage before fighting the final boss.
Another year later in 1991, a Japan-exclusive sequel to the game was released for the Famicom
, titled Spartan X 2
. Like Vigilante and the Game Boy version of Kung-Fu Master, Spartan X 2s plot is also quite different and takes place in an urban area, with no mention of Sylvia, but rather "Johnny Spartan", a member of an unnamed crime-fighting unit who wears a red, short-sleeved jacket, an charges with foiling a group of drug smugglers. One unique feature is the ability to crouch for a second before either sending an uppercut or grab and throw enemies from behind.
featured the game prominently in a film of the same name (Kung-Fu Master!
), dealing with an affair between a 40 year-old woman and a fourteen year-old boy obsessed with the game. When he finally beats it after 6 months, he asks a bartender to give the older woman a call to let her know. The bartender is initially a bit dismissive but still picks up the phone. However, she cannot get the message because she is not home, and the bartender reaches her daughter who is too young to be a messenger. The film was retitled Le Petit Amour for U.S. release so it would not be perceived as a martial arts film.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
as , is a beat 'em up
Beat 'em up
Beat 'em up is a video game genre featuring melee combat between the protagonist and a large number of underpowered antagonists. These games typically take place in urban settings and feature crime-fighting and revenge-based plots, though some games may employ historical or fantasy themes...
arcade game
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
developed and published in Japan by Irem
Irem (company)
is a Japanese video game console developer and publisher, and formerly a developer and manufacturer of arcade games as well. The company has its headquarters in Hakusan, Ishikawa Prefecture....
. It was later published in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
by Data East
Data East
also abbreviated as DECO, was a Japanese video game developer and publisher. The company was in operation from 1976 to 2003, when it declared bankruptcy...
. The Japanese version was based on the Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, comedian, director, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer. In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts...
movie Wheels on Meals
Wheels on Meals
Wheels on Meals is a 1984 Hong Kong martial arts action film written and directed by Sammo Hung. Starring in the film are Hung, Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao...
, known as Spartan X in Japan, and credited "Paragon Films Ltd., Towa Promotion", who produced the film upon which it was based. The game is considered by many to be the first beat 'em up video game, and contains elements of Bruce Lee's
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee was a Chinese American, Hong Kong actor, martial arts instructor, philosopher, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts movement...
Game of Death
Game of Death
The Game of Death is a 1972 film starring Bruce Lee. It was almost the last film Bruce Lee had planned to be the demonstration piece of his martial art Jeet Kune Do. Over 100 minutes of footage was shot before his death, some of which was later misplaced in the Golden Harvest archives...
.
Plot
The player takes the role of Keiji Thomas, a man in a KeikogiKeikogi
or dōgi is a uniform for training, used in martial arts derived from Japan, or budō. . The prototype for the modern keikogi emerged in the late 19th century. The keikogi was developed by judo founder Kano Jigoro...
and slippers. Thomas's girlfriend, Sylvia, has been kidnapped by "Mr. X", and Thomas must fight through five side-scrolling floors full of enemies to rescue her.
Brutally summarized as "rescue girlfriend – hit people", the US and UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
version opens with the phrase "Thomas and Sylvia were attacked by several unknown guys...."
Gameplay
Fighting game
Fighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...
. The main character, Thomas, can punch with the A button and kick with the B button. Either move can be done from a standing, crouching or jumping position. Punches are worth twice as much as kicks and do twice as much damage, but their range is shorter.
The first floor
Level (computer and video games)
A level, map, area, or world in a video game is the total space available to the player during the course of completing a discrete objective...
of the temple contains Grippers and Knife Throwers. Subsequent levels introduce Tom Toms, poisonous moths, fire-breathing dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
s, snakes, and confetti balls.
Each of the five floors ends with a different boss
Boss (video games)
A boss is an enemy-based challenge which is found in video games. A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight...
who must be defeated before Thomas can climb the stairs to the next floor. Thomas must complete each floor within a fixed time. The timer starts at 2000. If it falls below 330, an acoustic warning sounds. If a boss defeats Thomas, the boss laughs. Although there are five bosses, the game only uses two different synthesized laughs. (The NES port uses a third, high-pitched synthesized laugh for the Black Magician.)
Once the player has completed all five floors, the game restarts with a more demanding version of the Devil's Temple, although the essential details remain unchanged. A visual indication of the current house is displayed on the screen. For each series of five completed floors, a dragon symbol appears in the upper-right corner of the screen. After three dragons have been added, the dragon symbols blink.
Ports and related releases
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
, Atari 7800
Atari 7800
The Atari 7800 ProSystem, or simply the Atari 7800, is a video game console re-released by Atari Corporation in January 1986. The original release had occurred two years earlier under Atari Inc. The 7800 had originally been designed to replace Atari Inc.'s Atari 5200 in 1984, but was temporarily...
, Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
, Apple II
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
, BeOS x86
BeOS
BeOS is an operating system for personal computers which began development by Be Inc. in 1991. It was first written to run on BeBox hardware. BeOS was optimized for digital media work and was written to take advantage of modern hardware facilities such as symmetric multiprocessing by utilizing...
, Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
, DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
, Java
Java (programming language)
Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...
, Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, NES/Famicom
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
, MSX
MSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
(Irem/ASCII version as Seiken Achō), PlayChoice-10
PlayChoice-10
PlayChoice-10 was an arcade machine which could consist of as many as 10 different games previously available only on the Nintendo Entertainment System home console...
(arcade, nearly the same as the NES version), Sega SG-1000, Sinclair ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
and Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
. It was also made for the 8-bit Gameking
GameKing
GameKing is a brand of handheld game consoles, designed and developed by TimeTop in 2003, for the Hong Kong consumer market. The brand has three consoles, the GameKing I, the GameKing II and the GameKing III...
console, under the name of Nagual. Some of the 8-bit conversions offered highly degraded performance, sound and image resolution. The NES version was ported and published by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
simply under the title "Kung Fu" in North America and the PAL region
PAL region
The PAL region is a television publication territory which covers most of Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and most of Western Europe...
. It is also one of two NES/Famicom games that had Jackie Chan as its lead character, the other being Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu
Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu
Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu is an action platform video game produced by Hudson Soft. It was first released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in and for the TurboGrafx-16 in ....
(which was also released for the TurboGrafx-16
TurboGrafx-16
TurboGrafx-16, fully titled as TurboGrafx-16 Entertainment SuperSystem and known in Japan as the , is a video game console developed by Hudson Soft and NEC, released in Japan on October 30, 1987, and in North America on August 29, 1989....
). The original arcade version was later included along with the arcade versions of 10-Yard Fight
10-Yard Fight
is a American football arcade game that was developed and published in Japan by Irem and published in the United States by Taito and in Europe by Electrocoin. It is the first slightly realistic American football video game ever developed and released.-Gameplay:...
and Zippy Race
MotoRace USA
MotoRace USA is an arcade game released by Irem in 1983.-Gameplay:...
in IAC/Irem Arcade Classics for the PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
and Sega Saturn
Sega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
, released in Japan only in 1996 by Irem and I'Max. The arcade version was also released to cell phones.
In 1988, another arcade game by Irem titled as Vigilante was created and released, which is a spin-off of Kung-Fu Master, due to the gameplay being nearly the same, but with a completely different plot added to it that takes place in the urban areas of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where a nameless titular character must save his girlfriend, Madonna ("Maria" in the Sega Master System
Sega Master System
The is a third-generation video game console that was manufactured and released by Sega in 1985 in Japan , 1986 in North America and 1987 in Europe....
version) who was captured by the Skinheads ("Rogues" in the Sega Master System version). One unique feature is the ability to pick up and use the battering weapon: the nunchuks, until either the player gets hurt, finishes a stage or begin battling the final boss.
About a year later in 1990, the arcade game received a completely different Game Boy sequel titled as "Kung-Fu Master" ("Spartan X" in Japan), which has similar gameplay to the arcade game, but with a completely different plot, setting, set of enemies and stages. Some of Keiji Thomas's new abilities are back-flip kicks and small bombs dropped by enemies. The flat levels were modified into stages with different platforms and objects in an urban city style similar to Vigilantes. The English version was modified from the Japanese version, by changing the look of Thomas and add some small enemies in the final stage before fighting the final boss.
Another year later in 1991, a Japan-exclusive sequel to the game was released for the Famicom
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
, titled Spartan X 2
Spartan X 2
is a beat 'em up video game developed by Tamtex and published by Irem exclusively in Japan for the Family Computer. It is a sequel to Irem's coin-operated video game Spartan X , which was later ported to the Family Computer by Nintendo in .-Plot:Translated from the game's manualThe city has been...
. Like Vigilante and the Game Boy version of Kung-Fu Master, Spartan X 2s plot is also quite different and takes place in an urban area, with no mention of Sylvia, but rather "Johnny Spartan", a member of an unnamed crime-fighting unit who wears a red, short-sleeved jacket, an charges with foiling a group of drug smugglers. One unique feature is the ability to crouch for a second before either sending an uppercut or grab and throw enemies from behind.
Film
Agnès VardaAgnès Varda
Agnès Varda is a French film director and professor at the European Graduate School. Her movies, photographs, and art installations focus on documentary realism, feminist issues, and social commentary — with a distinct experimental style....
featured the game prominently in a film of the same name (Kung-Fu Master!
Kung-Fu Master (film)
Kung-Fu Master is a 1988 French drama film directed by Agnès Varda. It was entered into the 38th Berlin International Film Festival.-Cast:* Jane Birkin as Mary-Jane* Mathieu Demy as Julien* Charlotte Gainsbourg as Lucy* Lou Doillon as Lou...
), dealing with an affair between a 40 year-old woman and a fourteen year-old boy obsessed with the game. When he finally beats it after 6 months, he asks a bartender to give the older woman a call to let her know. The bartender is initially a bit dismissive but still picks up the phone. However, she cannot get the message because she is not home, and the bartender reaches her daughter who is too young to be a messenger. The film was retitled Le Petit Amour for U.S. release so it would not be perceived as a martial arts film.
Special Note
Many of the same exact move sets from this game can be found totally and blatently ripped off by Zelda II for NES to include even the sound effect of hit damage.External links
}- Kung-Fu Master at arcade-history
- Spartan X at arcade-history
- Windows remake of Kung-Fu Master
- Kung Fu Master (Flash Game version)
- Santa Fu - a Christmas-themed remake Kung-Fu Master at I-MockeryI-MockeryI-Mockery is a pop culture humor site owned and operated by Roger Barr that has existed online in various forms since 1996. Before then, it was a printed periodical called Visionary Darkness. Free copies of Visionary Darkness were distributed in local high schools and record shops...
- Kung Fu (NES) at NinDB