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After many months of delay, Imagine's conversion of
the Konami arcade game Yie Ar Kung Fu finally
makes it to the Commodore. All the features of the original
are included, with the same ten opponents, control method
and backdrops.
Like
most arcade games, the scenario is a very simple one.
Taking the role of Oolong the kung fu fighter, you have
to salvage the honour of your family by becoming a master
of the martial arts. This is achieved by taking on and
bettering ten vicious opponents who are all rather weird,
and range from a petite but very violent fan-throwing
female to a chain-wielding jellified fatty.
Oolong,
being rather good at kung fu bit, has 16 special moves
to confound, confuse and generally damage his opponents.
These are all accessible via combinations of joystick
directions and the fire button, a similar method to
that used on Way of the Exploding Fist. Some
of the moves, like roundhouse, flying kick and leg sweep,
will be pretty familiar to kung fu fans, but others
such as the flying punch, stride punch and ground kick,
open new grounds in fighting tactics. For every kick
of punch on target points are awarded, 500 points for
the most simple moves up to 2,000 points for a well
executed flying kick. Every 20,000 points a new life
is awarded.
When
a round starts, each fighter is given a certain amount
of energy, shown on-screen as a bar. When you get a
hit, an eighth of your energy is lost. After the eighth
hit, poor old Oolong loses one of his five lives and
has to face the same opponent again. The opponents'
energy bars work in the same way and if you manage to
hit them eight times then Oolong is declared the winner,
his energy level is restored, and he goes on to fight
the next, more vicious opponent.
Each
of the ten combatants has an individual fighting style
and different fighting strategies are needed in order
to win. On later levels the opponents carry weapons
-- swords, chains, clubs, fans, sticks and throwing
stars which have to be avoided, either by jumping or
ducking. All this while trying to beat off the usual
melee of kicks and punches thrown at you!
The
final opponent is a real toughie -- he's your clone,
only faster and stronger that you! If you manage to
bash him in, then Oolong finally becomes a kung fu master
and his family's honour is restored once more. Then
he has to challenge the same ten opponents, only this
time they're meaner and faster.
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