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Silverback Reviews
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7800 Rank: Unranked
Genre: Beat 'em Up
Awards: None
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Who Left The Windows Open Again? There's Bugs Everywhere!!! |
Pros:
Features Five Levels Per Palace and Five Boss Fights
Cons:
Bad Graphics and Loose Gameplay Make This Inferior to the 2600 Version |
Hey Kid... Do You Know Where I Can Find the Number 9 Bus? |
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Overview: I was very excited when I heard Kung-Fu Master was available for the Atari 7800. Kung-Fu on the NES was one of my favorite black box games, and the Atari 7800 needed quality action games
like that on the system. For those that don't know, Kung-Fu Master and Kung-Fu are the same game. It's a simple arcade beat em up where you fight a few different types of enemies on 5 different stories of a Japanese Palace...err house...err building. Each floor is guarded by a different boss and at the end of the fifth story you rescue your girlfriend........ then immediately do it all over again. I like to think that this guy has many girlfriends who are constantly getting kidnapped and he just saves them one after another. Otherwise, this one chick needs to invest in a security system or a team of body guards. This version struggles to be as good as the arcade and NES versions. It even struggles to be as fun as the Atari 2600 version (which for the record, is really impressive)!
Graphics: Kung-Fu Master looks similar to the arcade game and its easily recognizable, but it feels like everything could have been improved on. A lot of the enemies look dopey to me and are anything but threatening. Your characters moves animate well but the enemies have little in way of attacks outside of the bosses. Most of them just kind of walk towards you and try to hug you. This game looks more like a daycare center after a national tragedy than a kung fu movie. It's like that in other versions, but its still silly. Other sprites are decent: giants wasps, dragons, boss sprites, and even the ole ball n chain, but compared to other versions the 7800 KFM appears rudimentary.
Sound: This game uses the TIA chip for sound, but I don't really mind it here. The familiar Kung Fu theme sounds okay and the sound effects are serviceable. The biggest issue comes if your familiar with other versions. The sound is clearly gimped in comparison, but it's not so bad that I felt like reaching for the mute button.
Gameplay: Kung-Fu Master is as simple as a side scrolling beat em up can get. Most enemies are defeated in one or two punches, so expect them to come in groups or have annoying evasive patterns. You'll encounter henchman that run at you in groups of 1, 2 or more commonly, 3. Knife throwers will attempt to throw knives at you from the edge of the screen (but are much more dangerous up close), snakes, dragons and bombs will fall from the ceiling, little people (or kids) will flip towards your head and moths will fly at you in simple patterns. The knife throwers are by far the most dangerous, as they sometimes hit you with 3 or 4 knives in quick succession and will kill you. If a human enemy grabs you he will drain your life fast, and instinctively you'll have to push left and right on the joystick repeatedly to break free. Mashing buttons doesn't count. I'm sorry but this is awful. In every other version I've played it doesn't matter what you hit as long as your mashing those buttons, but not here. Most of the 5 bosses offer an increased challenge and have their own patterns you need to recognize. I do like these bosses except for stage fours wizard. I got to this guy, and no matter what I threw at him nothing seemed to hurt. He lobs lightning bolts at you until you die and you
can't seem to lay a single hit. After a few days of trying I finally cheated and looked up what to do, and it turns out you have to duck down and speed bag punch his ball sack! There is nothing that indicates that his lower half is his weak spot, and whats worse only punches work! But I guess now, if I ever meet a wizard in real life and he started shooting lightning at me, I would drop down and punch him in his babalones. Who says video games aren't educational? Either way, the gameplay sounds fun when I describe it but it is disappointing, and it ruins what should have been a great game.
Interpretation: Kung Fu Master looks similar to the arcade and NES versions... but just a tad uglier. It's like the homelier identical twin. You know her name. Don't pretend you don't. It even sounds fairly close to the other versions, which is impressive given that it's using essentially 2600 sound. But the gameplay just doesn't feel right, especially when an enemy grabs you and you just can't shake him off. It plays like a lesser version of the other games, and since it's more expensive than most, it's hard to say that this version is worth it for anybody but hardcore collectors.
Value: I did get a good amount of gameplay out of this one, as it took me a lot of play to be able to make it through one pass of the temple. So there could be a lot of game here for the money, but its not one that I want to keep playing and I doubt most people will.
Overall: Kung-Fu Master should have been an easy win for the Atari 7800. The console desperately needed games like this but the developers missed the mark on gameplay. Weak visuals only compound the problem. If you really want to play Kung-Fu Master on an Atari 7800, then go buy the 2600 version. Or better yet, just play the far superior NES version. I love my 7800 and try to give the games the benefit of the doubt, but this one is a disappointment.
Other Reviews of Kung Fu Master for the Atari 7800:
CV's Atari 7800 Panoramic Froo-Froo: 3.0 out of 5.0 (Fair)
The Atari Times: 4 out of 10
Additional Info:
This review was graciously written by Atari 7800 Forever contributor Silverback.
I would like to thank Atari Age for the use of their screenshots in my reviews.
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