Kung-Fu: The Way of the Exploding Fist (ZX Spectrum)

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Description

This menacingly-titled beat 'em up was the first in many martial arts titles from Australia's Melbourne House. Sixteen different moves are on offer, ranging from standard kicks to jumps, somersaults and roundhouse kicks.

The move executed each time is defined based on the character's direction, the joystick/keyboard positioning, and on whether the fire button is depressed, in a system which became standard on single-button control systems.

To win each bout you must score 2 Yin-Yangs - a perfectly executed kick/punch scores a full one, whereas a less forceful contact offers half a point - the best moves also offer more points. In the one-player game, you advance through a Dan by winning two successive bouts, and a single win for the opponent means game over. The champion in a two-player duel is decided by points after 4 rounds.

Screenshots

Promo Images

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Alternate Titles

• "Way of the Exploding Fist" -- UK (Ricochet release) title
• "The Way of the Exploding Fist" -- UK title
• "Exploding Fist" -- NES title

Part of the Following Group

• Exploding Fist lineage

User Reviews

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Critic Reviews

Sinclair User	Oct, 1985		100
Crash!	Oct, 1985	92 out of 100	92
Tilt	Dec, 1985		83
Retro Archives	Mar 31, 2022	13 out of 20	65

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Trivia

Sales

According to the magazine Retro Gamer (issue #1), the game was Mastertronic's #19 best selling game (182.407 copies).

Awards

• ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment)
  • March 1991 (issue #42) - Included in the list Greatest Games of all Time in category Sports Simulations (editorial staff choice)
• Computer Gamer
  • February 1986 (issue #17) - Included in the list Spectrum Collection (the best Spectrum ZX games since 1985 by editorial staff choice)
• Happy Computer
  • Issue 02/1986 - #3 Best Game in 1985 (Readers' Vote)

Related Web Sites

• Commodore Plus/4 World (for Commodore 16, Plus/4: downloadable releases; artwork; additional material)
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• Game Base 64 (for C64: Downloadable links, Database, Music, Emulation, Frontends, Reviews and Articles)
• Internet Archive (ZX Spectrum) (for ZX Spectrum: downloadable release; online emulation of game; additional material)
• Lemon 64 (for C64: games, reviews and music)
• Qaop/JS – ZX Spectrum emulator (for ZX Spectrum: online emulation of game written in JavaScript)
• The BBC Games Archive (for BBC Micro: downloadable release; additional material)
• Wikipedia (combined platform entry)
• World of Spectrum (for ZX Spectrum: downloadable releases; additional material; remakes links; player reviews; magazine references; magazine adverts)