THE KUNG FU
( China Warrior )
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THE 功夫
©1987 Hudson Soft / Vol.1
Release : 1987-11-21 (¥4500)
HuCard (2 Mbits) HC62001
Action / Fighting game
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Released in America as
CHINA WARRIOR
( TGX020008 )
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The Kung Fu is a side scrolling beat'm up by Hudson Soft
and was one of the first game released for the PC Engine system.
The player takes control of a martial art and topless fighter,
who curiously resembles Bruce Lee, and the goal of the game is
to walk through four areas (each divided into three sub-stages) and to
strike armies of monks and flying ghosts. The screen automatically
moves to the right and the player must constantly work his
way forward. The meat of the game are the obvious large sprites
featured throughout the stages and allowing, for instance, injuries to be
clearly visible on the fighter's face as the game progresses.
The fighting system is limited but our hero can perform a fair amount
of close-combat moves - from
low/high punches to lo/high and swipe kicks.
The fighter also has the ability to block attacks and flying objects,
and can unleash stupendous special moves such as a devastating
rapid-punch attack. Finally, special bonus stages usually await
the player between levels where a large vase must be broken in pieces
with the help of a Nunchaku. Interestingly, the fighter can
achieve the ultimate humiliation by hitting himself with his own
Nunchaku...
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Interestingly, The Kung Fu was a sort of launching
title for Hudson Soft. We must keep in mind that, back
in 1987, Hudson Soft was behind the PC Engine
project and was still looking for a manufacturer for his
new console. A yellow HuCard with an early version of
The Kung Fu exists and was probably created to demonstrate
the technical capabilities of Hudson Soft's console.
This HuCard, often called the 'Sample HuCard', is
obviously extremely rare and priceless...
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LK
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Add your Pov here !
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P
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The Kung Fu has aged a lot... the game still (somehow) stands out
but I find the control system and the overall gameplay really
limited and awkward.
Only a handful of games have tried to venture in the
forsaken land of the 'gigantor sprite technical achievement'.
And, I must say, what a brilliant success that was for an 8-bit
system released back in 1987! I have personally had a bitter
experience with games such as Sword Of Sodan and
The Kung Fu's control system is a lot less rigid.
But the game is horribly repetitive, the same handful of
robed monks are recycled throughout the game and boss
encounters are often plain random and a matter of luck. But we should
keep in mind that Hudson Soft had to squeeze the
whole game inside a tiny 2Mbits ROM....
All in all, The Kung Fu is more than decent, but feels
more like a technical demo than a game, in my opinion.
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