Previous Next

Many years ago, young Oolong salvaged the honour of his family by single-handedly taking on and beating the ten members of the evil Chop Suey gang. But one managed to escape, crawling away from the spilled blood and guts, and hiding out until Oolong had returned home. Yen Pei was the survivor's name and while he was counting how many teeth he had left in his pulped gums he vowed revenge.

Now, twenty years later, Yen Pei has assembled another motley crew of nasty oriental persons, all specialists in the art of maiming and kitting, and they're after Oolong's blood. Imagine their disappointment when they find out that Oolong is dead. Even this news doesn't quell Yen Pei's desire for revenge however, and he decides to take out his revenge on the next best thing - Oolong's son, Young Lee.

This is where you come into the story. Taking the role of Young Lee, you must do battle with all eight members of the new gang one by one. Lee's not quite as adept at martial arts as his father was, but he's young, strong and has three basic offensive moves to use on his adversaries, a low kick, a mid punch and a high kick. He can also jump about the place, useful for vacating dangerous positions quickly.

Young Lee begins the game on a screen seemingly devoid of any enemy. He can walk left onto another screen if he wants, and a display area at the bottom shows how many screens he has to walk through before he reaches the gang member he has to do battle with. After Lee has been on a screen leading to the adversary for a few seconds, midget attackers float in from either side of the screen. They come alone or in groups of three, and at three different heights. If one hits Lee, it knocks a chunk off his energy bar, shown at the top of the screen, and if this bar reaches zero he loses one of his three lives.

The midgets aren't so bad though, if Lee destroys a full group he is awarded a tea leaf. If five tea leaves are gained a teacup appears and an Oolong Tea Power bonus is given - pressing the Commodore key at any time replenishes Young Lee's energy bar. Up to three tea cups can be carried at once, so if you can dispose of the midget attackers without too much hassle it's worth hanging about to get the extra tea power.

If Lee manages to get through the required amount of screens he meets one of the deadly gang members, the first of which is Yen Pei himself. To beat one of the gang members, Lee has to reduce his opponent's energy bar by repeatedly hitting or kicking him (or her), before his opponent does the same to him. As well as having the same fighting abilities as Lee, every member of the gang has a special weapon which he or she uses in their attempt to win. Yen Pei has iron pigtails which he swings around to try and hit Lee; Lang Fang throws deadly fans; Po Chin breathes fire and so on. On later levels, Lee has also to contend with lightning bolts and bombs.

The only way Lee can defend himself against these offensive weapons is if he manages to pick up a bowl of Chow Mein noodles, which appear occasionally for a few seconds. If Lee grabs one of these he gains Chow Mein Noodle Power which gives him temporary invulnerability from enemy aggression. After a few seconds he reverts back to his normal vulnerable self and has to do battle in the usual fashion.

The game also supports simultaneous two-player action. One player taking the role of Lee while the other steps into the shoes of one of the baddieS, the two then do battle over the best of three bouts.

There is one positive thing that can be said about Yie Ar Kung-Fu II: it's better than its predecessor. That said, the gameplay is still fairly run-of-the-mill with very few moves available. Bash 'em ups are getting a little trite nowadays, with playability separating the good from the bad. Yie Ar Kung-Fu II has pretty graphics and some nice tunes, but it lacks anything else that would make it a real winner.

Ho hum, another beat-'em-up for the C64. This is no different from the rest and I soon became bored with it. The eight opponents are the toughest I've met in a computer game, and if it wasn't for Gary Sumpter finding a sort of 'cheat mode' by banging his head on the Commodore, then I doubt I would have got past the first opponent. Ho hum. If you liked Yie Ar Kung-Fu, you're going to love this - it's a lot better, but nothing special.

This is a pretty enjoyable beat-'em-up game, mainly because it's so stupid. The floating midgets on the screens leading up to the adversaries are really silly, but quite tricky to dispose of if you want to try and gain some tea bonus. The baddies themselves are funny too, the matey swinging his hair is a real laugh, and later on there's a woman in a mini skirt with high heels!

Overall, it's an enjoyable game, more difficult and challenging than the first, and well worth looking at if you liked its predecessor.

Presentation 87%
Two player option and slick in-game presentation.

Graphics 77%
Reasonable backdrops and the meanies are varied and well drawn.

Sound 86%
Plenty of oriental style ditties and a pleasant title screen tune.

Hookability 83%
Straightforward controls and simple objectives give instant enjoyment.

Lastability 72%
Eight tough opponents to keep you busy.

Value For Money 72%
A worthy purchase if like fighting games.

Overall 75%
Not bad at all.