Previous Next

Oriental fighting games have finally made it onto the C16 with this and Anco's Thai Boxing, but can you expect a decent Fist equivalent?

Emperor To Ming has banished you to the eighth skill level. Exactly why he has done this terrible thing is not altogether clear, but according to Gremlin it has been brought on by your own folly. That will teach you to fool around with the Emperor's daughter.

To get back to where you came from, you must fight your way past eight different kinds of opposition, starting with the Emperor's minions.

You, The Kid, are standing in the middle of the screen dressed in what looks like a Windscale worker's overalls, but is I guess supposed to be a pair of kung fu pyjamas.

The minions attack from either side, but there are usually more coming from one side than the other. You have four options:

1. Stand your ground and let the minions bump into you. This is not recommended. As well as being quite boring, it will deplete your energy reserves very quickly.
2. Run away. Equally ineffective. Either the minions catch up with you, or you bump into those coming in the opposite direction.
3. Jump over them. This is OK for single, isolated minions. But if there are several you'll get caught on the way down.
4. Punch them. In 99% of cases the most effective way to deal with minions and, of course, the only way to score points. Timing is critical, mistime it and the minion will bump into you, further depleting your energy reserves.

Of course, the most successful method is a combination of all four of these. When you've punched sufficient minions on the nose (indicated on the minion meter) you get to have a bash at the next bunch.

Future opponents could include various oriental nasties from any one of sharigans (what's a shargian?), dagger, swords or magical pots.

To tell the truth I don't know which, I got pretty fed up after half an hour or so of minion munching. The game just doesn't have enough variety or incentive to hold your attention for long enough to accomplish anything.

If you're looking for a C16 version of The Way Of Exploding Fist, you'll be disappointed with this.