Get the girl!
The original Kung-Fu Master is notable as one of the earliest scrolling fighting games, and stands alongside Karateka and Renegade as an important game in the history of the genre's development. However, nowadays, it is definitely showing its age and looks more than a little crude, making it one for nostalgia freaks only. This remake offers a potentially interesting update to the original but sadly it too is little more than an exercise in nostalgia and isn't really worth spending much time on. There's some vague storyline about a vicious gangster who's kidnapped your girl, so now you're on a path to vengeance to get her back. This involves making your way through several levels of a mysterious temple, which is packed with the bad guy's minions and who need to be beaten down with extreme prejudice if you're going to get the girl back. There's little to the action other than stabbing wildly at the punch and kick buttons, jumping around a bit and moving left and right, making this a game which lacks somewhat in depth. The original version is certainly important in the history of gaming, but unfortunately this update reminds us why some games should be left in the past. The visuals are okay, with some nice chunky sprites, while the animation is less than impressive. The sound too is minimal, consisting of little more than bleeps, so you're likely to reach for the sound control pretty quickly. The gameplay is mildly diverting for a few minutes, but you soon realize that you've seen everything the game has to offer, so this isn't one that's going to keep you going for any length of time.
