/vr/ - Retro Games

Released on November 24, 1984 in Japan. This game was known outside of Japan as "Kung-Fu Master".

Spartan X was the first sideways-scrolling beat-em-up. While understandably not as polished as the games it would go on to inspire, Spartan X is still regarded as an absolute classic. It is also fiendishly difficult.

The official name for the regular fighters is 'Gripper'.
The official name for green-clad boys which make their first appearance on Floor 2 is 'Tom Tom'.

This game is based on the Bruce Lee movie 'Game of Death' then changed and marketed together in 1984 with the movie 'Wheels on Meals', starring Jackie Chan (as Thomas) and Sammo Hung (who also directed). This movie is called 'Spartan X' in Japan.

In the game you have a 5-Floor Pagoda (which is Beopjusa in Chungcheongbuk-do, South-Korea) and the Giant Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. In the movie 'Bruce's Finger', you can see the kidnapping letter and a tied-up girl in a red dress. In the movie 'Goodbye Bruce Lee, his Last Game of Death' you can see the red pillars and the ceiling tape, like in the game.

Nishiyama, the designer of the game, initially believed the game did not need any music, as it was a martial arts game and he thought it would sound more impressive to just have the sound effects. Ishizaki, the composer, had a melody in mind for the game, and suggested that two versions be made, with and without the music, and see which sounds better. After hearing both versions, Nishiyama agreed that the music version sounds better and included Ishizaki's melody in the game.

A French movie, 'Le Petit Amour', by Agnes Varda, doesn't have 'Kung-Fu Master' just as the name in USA but also has an intro with a scroll-lateral reference to the game and a lot of scenes of the game itself too! One thing that can cause some strangeness is the fact that the movie is a romance and not a fighting/action movie as the US name can propose.

>>10437856
Recall. The Atari also had superior sound to the C64. Furthermore, you would have had dial-up capability compared to the NES. Gaming consoles were for little kids. Teenagers still high from watching War Games wanted to actually do something online.