Yie Ar Kung-Fu
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The Magnificent Seven
(1987)
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Yie Ar Kung-Fu
(1985 on
MSX,
NES, 2008 on
Wii...)
Description official descriptions
Yie Ar Kung-Fu follows the quest of a martial artist named Oolong to become the Grand Master of Kung-Fu, honoring the memory of his illustrious father. To do that, Oolong will have to face some of the most skillful martial artists in one-on-one battles. The battles take place on side-view screens. The hero has two moves at his disposal: punching and kicking. These moves must be executed by pressing a corresponding button together with a directional button or arrow key. Oolong also has the advantage of being able to jump higher than most of his opponents. The latter utilize unique moves to stop the hero, including sumo-style leaping motions, shuriken-throwing, nunchaku-swinging, etc.
Spellings
- イー・アル・カンフー - Japanese spelling
Groups +
Screenshots
Promos
Credits (ZX Spectrum version)
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Reviews
Critics
Average score: 72% (based on 24 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.1 out of 5 (based on 45 ratings with 1 reviews)
One of the best fighting games of the 8-bit era.
The Good
- Colorful graphics.
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Wide variety of attacks.
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Very different opponents.
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Great music.
The Bad
- You only can play as Oolong. -
There are no special attacks or combos to speak of.
The Bottom Line
This game is the direct ancestor of one on one fighting games like "Street Fighter" or "Mortal Kombat". You play as Oolong, a young warrior who tests his skills against a series of opponents.
Every opponent is a master on a particular technique or weapon, and you must change your strategy accordingly.
The variety of attacks is surprisingly wide, the graphics basic but detailed and colorful, and the gameplay fast and furious.
This is easily the best fighting game I've ever played on a 8 bit computer.
Amstrad CPC · by Neville (3559) · 2007
Trivia
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.
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Related Sites +
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X360A achievement guide
X360A's achievement guide for Yie Ar Kung-Fu.
Identifiers +
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Terrence Bosky.
Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 added by Rik Hideto. Arcade added by FatherJack. Electron added by Sciere. Windows added by Alaka. Commodore 16, Plus/4, Xbox 360 added by Kabushi. ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC added by Martin Smith. Windows Mobile added by Deleted. BBC Micro added by Terok Nor.
Additional contributors: Unicorn Lynx, Martin Smith, Freeman, Neville, mailmanppa, Starbuck the Third, FatherJack.
Game added June 21, 2004. Last modified June 11, 2024.