Yie Ar Kung-Fu

1001 Video Games

The Arcade version of Yie Ar Kung-Fu appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

C64 early version

Brian Beuken, who was tasked with the 8-bit conversions brought in an unknown programmer to do the C64 version but he struggled with the sprite multiplexing. Although Brian contributed sprites based on the Amstrad version, Ocean stepped in and gave the job to in-house programmer David Collier.

Spectrum version compatibility

An enhanced 128K version was developed by Brian Beuken, who had a hand in the sprites and AI in the original 48K release. It adds music and has more enemies, but has more colour clash and is considered easier than the original release. It also includes a three-on-one fight halfway through the game. Interestingly, it does not run on the +2A and +3 Spectrums, whereas the 48K version does. An unofficial patch is available on the internet however. Having been intended to be bundled with the 128K machine's release, it was ultimately only on the obscure Stars on the 128 compilation.

Title translation

Yie Ar Kung-Fu is a Mandarin Chinese phrase (simplified Chinese: 一二功夫, standard romanization Yi Er Gongfu) meaning "One, two, kung-fu!".

Version differences

The Amstrad CPC disk version contains an extra scenario, a temple. It appears after defeating Pole, the fourth opponent.