Bruce Lee

aka: Lee
Moby ID: 191
Commodore 64 Specs
Conversion (unofficial) Included in See Also

Description official descriptions

The late martial arts hero features in this platform game, with the aim of reaching a wizard in an underground lair, defeat of whom can offer him untold wealth.

In each area you must collect the many strategically-placed lanterns before exiting through the newly-revealed passageway. Some rooms also have escalator-type sections to run along, and the standard (although slightly illogical in this context) ladders. There are 20 areas to be completed.

On the way, you'll fight two enemies - a ninja and a green sumo warrior named Yamo. You can defeat them by punching, kicking, dropping on their heads or luring them into hazardous terrain, or even by making them accidentally hit each other. Even after they are killed, however, they keep coming back for more after a few seconds. The game also allows a second player to take control of Yamo.

There are lots of hazards to avoid by either walking round or jumping - walls of electrical charge and exploding bushes for example.

Spellings

  • ブルース・リー - Japanese spelling

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Screenshots

Promos

Credits (Commodore 64 version)

4 People

Programming by
Graphics by
Music by
Concept by
Documentation by

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 83% (based on 20 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 121 ratings with 5 reviews)

Pretty fun kung-fu action game

The Good
What I probably remember most about this game was the music at the title screen, I really enjoyed this game as a kid growing up. Even when I finished the level and opened the gate to the next level, I'd still sit around and pound on that big fat green guy that chases you..

This game's atmosphere will surely bring you back to the 80's, I played the emulation of it recently and found myself playing it over and over again just like back in the day.... the game control was exceptionally good for its time. You could make him run real fast and do a flying kick and knock guys down :)

This game is a classic in my opinion....

The Bad
I remember in the game that you fall really slow for some reason, it was just an odd factor in the game, other than that, it was perfect for it's time!

The Bottom Line
Just an all around fun game, definitely was fun back then and surprisingly still fun today!

Commodore 64 · by OlSkool_Gamer (88) · 2004

One of the great platformers of the era

The Good
Although it's actually a very short game, beatable in well under 30 minutes of play, this works to its advantage; the frustration of losing your last life at the infamous "fireball room" (which comes up right before the final boss) is made up for by the fact that it features lots of varied environments and gets more difficult as you progress through the game at a fairly consistent pace.

Instead of having fixed enemies like in almost all platformers, the enemies(two of them) spawn at random in Bruce Lee. This is a source of much of the excitement, as many unpredictable things can happen when the AI starts chasing after you; your fighting abilities are equal, in that you can both perform punches and flying kicks, take a few hits before dying, and crush each other by falling. (The player can also go prone and become immobile but able to avoid hits, but that's his only advantage) What makes it interesting is that a lot of rooms have laser beams(or plasma or electricity or spikes or something) that require timing to get by, and they will zap you if your fall or run is disturbed by the odd punch or kick.

The Bad
The controls can be a bit unforgiving; being designed for a 1-button joystick, you had to press up or diagonals to jump. To do a flying kick instead of a punch you had to start running and then press the button. In fact, the fights are probably the poorest part of the game, although they had the satisfying aspect of being able to trick the simplistic AI into its doom in many situations.

The final boss is not even a fight - it's like a precursor to Bowser in SMB1; not bad for 1984, but dated today. You run across the room, not getting hit by the relatively slow-moving bolts he fires, pick up a torch and it's all over. It's the rooms before him, disappointingly, that are the hard part.

The Bottom Line
A short, reasonably challenging(but not insanely so if you are an experienced gamer) and satisfying adventure. Running around collecting lanterns and torches and escaping a ninja and a green fat monster doesn't have too much to do with Bruce Lee's movies, but it makes for a fun game.

Commodore 64 · by James Hofmann (12) · 2004

A Martial Arts Multi-screen Platformer.

The Good
As with many of the games of it's time there was a thrill just clearing one screen to move to the next. If you were in the mood just to do some karate you could wait for the bad guys to re-spawn and keep beating them up. The platform action was top notch. And there was just the right amount of puzzle to figure out. The controls are simple and tight and perfect for the old one button joysticks.

The Bad
After finally figuring out how to get to the boss and then figuring out how to beat him, the game just rolls back around to the first screen all over again. It doesn't get much harder just more enemies come at you. There was not much incentive to work your way back up to the boss again.

The Bottom Line
Take a karate game where you get to punch and kick your way past your enemies and set it on a platform. Time your progress to avoid things when you need precise jumps. Throw in some logic puzzles where things need done in a certain order. And there you have Bruce Lee. Want some two player fun? The second joystick controls the bad guy which makes for a very challenging game. Make sure you get all the lanterns and try touching anything that looks out of place. Practice your flying kicks grasshopper, they will serve you well.

Atari 8-bit · by gametrader (208) · 2006

[ View all 5 player reviews ]

Trivia

Awards

  • Commodore Format
    • January 1991 (Issue 4) - Listed in the 'A to Z of Classic Games' article (Great)
  • Retro Gamer
    • issue 37 – #18 in the "Top 25 Platformers of All Time" poll
  • Zzap!
    • May 1985 (Issue 1) - #15 'It's the Zzap! 64 Top 64!'

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Bruce Lee II
Released 2013 on Windows, Linux
Ultimate Bruce Lee
Released 2008 on Windows
Bruce Lee II
Released 2015 on Commodore 64
UFC: Bruce Lee - Bantamweight
Released 2014 on PlayStation 4
UFC: Bruce Lee - Featherweight
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UFC: Bruce Lee - Welterweight
Released 2014 on PlayStation 4

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  • MobyGames ID: 191
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Donny K..

Sharp X1 added by Trypticon. Commodore 64 added by Quapil. iPhone, iPad added by Sciere. Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum added by Martin Smith. Antstream added by lights out party. Atari 8-bit, Apple II, FM-7 added by Terok Nor. DOS added by gamer p. MSX added by koffiepad. PC-88 added by j.raido 【雷堂嬢太朗】. BBC Micro added by sabreman.

Additional contributors: PCGamer77, Martin Smith, lights out party, Macs Black, c64fan, Patrick Bregger, Karsa Orlong, FatherJack, ZeTomes, robMSX.

Game added August 9, 1999. Last modified March 7, 2024.