Hokuto no Ken for the Sega Master System, known as ‘’Black Belt’’ in the western countries is a classic beat ‘em up game from the 1980s. This game in based on the manga and anime series “Fist of the North Star”, but it’s a localized version of the game for the West. In the game’s structure, the protagonist is Kenshiro, and the players control his actions as they fight hordes of foes using hand-to-hand combat moves, that are characteristic for the series. The game has an old-school feel as it balances between easy-play side scroller, but at the same time is still challenging and nearly impossible to complete like many of the arcades of the 80s.
The graphics are seemingly rather plain but resemble directly the spirit of the anime as for the combat which is brutal and highly dynamic. Although restricted by the hardware of the Master System, the sprite animations express a good feeling of impact at each hit. The music’s drawback is the fact that the tracks are rather generic and repetitious; however, it fit the game’s themes and intensity of combat rather well.
As a feature of “Hokuto no Ken,” the bosses or enemies in the game are involved in boss battles where the players in the game have to devise tactics, and timing in order to eliminate the bosses. The bosses are different and have different patterns as well as different weaknesses, which makes the game not linear at all. Even after all these years the game is still a favorite for anyone who likes to play older games and eastern based fighting games with a capital ‘F’ in them.
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