The Year of Kung-Fu

Quite some time before the well-known fighting games Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat were even conceived, a ground breaking one-on-one fighting game called “Yie Ar Kung-Fu” was introduced to the arcades in 1985. It leaded the way in many of the features that became the standard for most of the fighting games developed years later. These included a health bar, a distinctive cast of opponents each with different skill sets, and different combination of moves distinguished by a punch and a kick button.

A tremendous popular arcade game at the time, Yie Ar Kung-Fu follows the main character, named Oolong, as he fights a wide range of martial arts masters –eleven in the arcade version and five to thirteen in the home ports- in his quest to become a Kung-Fu “Grand Master” himself, and to honour the memory of his father.

The game involves fighting some tough antagonists -the initial five by a cascading waterfall, and the final six in a Chinese court yard- in a traditional one-on-one 2D environment. Oolong has a variety of moves he can use to lower his opponent's life bar, including traditional punching and kicking attacks that depend on the direction of the joystick and which of the buttons is pressed. He also has a jumping ability that is unmatched by the rest of the game’s fighters. On the other hand, they do are well armed and have unique weapons and attacks, so it won't be a walk in the park.

If you pay attention, you’ll notice that in spite of the move that defeated them, male characters always fall unconscious lying on their backs with their legs apart, and female characters always fall lying on their sides. Each fighter has ten hit points, and only one battle decides the winner. If you lose the fight, you’ll lose one of your lives and will have to face the same foe again. You must make sure that Oolong defeats every opponent in order to get the opportunity to face the current champion, Blues.

Should you feel the need of taking your mind to a trip down memory lane, make sure to drop by this link and take a look at the Yier Ar Kung-Fu Online game you can play there. Also, the guide that can be found at the Strategy Wiki is worth reading and the article about the game at World of Spectrum brings tears to my eyes (because it sucked!!). If you want to check out other great games that were released this same year, you should definitely give a try to classics like Gradius (Nemesis in some countries), Gauntlet and Space Harrier.