Yie Ar Kung-Fu

Yie Ar Kung-Fu
Promotional sales flyer
Developer(s)Konami
Publisher(s)Konami
Imagine (computers)
Composer(s)Miki Higashino
Platform(s)Arcade, MSX, Famicom/NES, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, Acorn Electron
ReleaseArcade
  • JP: October 25, 1984[2]
  • WW: March 1985[1]
MSX
Famicom
ZX Spectrum
Commodore 64
Genre(s)Fighting
Mode(s)One or two players (alternating turns)

Yie Ar Kung-Fu[a] (Chinese: 一二功夫; pinyin: yī èr gōngfū; lit. 'One Two Kung-Fu') is an arcade fighting game developed and published by Konami. It first had a limited Japanese release in October 1984,[2] before having a wide release nationwide in January 1985 and then internationally in March.[1] Along with Karate Champ (1984), which influenced Yie-Ar Kung Fu, it is one of the games that established the basis for modern fighting games.[8]

The game was inspired by Bruce Lee's Hong Kong martial arts films, with the main player character Oolong modelled after Lee (like Bruceploitation films). In contrast to the grounded realism of Karate Champ, Yie Ar Kung-Fu moved the genre towards more fantastical, fast-paced action, with various different characters having a variety of special moves and high jumps, establishing the template for subsequent fighting games.[9] It also introduced the health meter system to the genre, in contrast to the point-scoring system of Karate Champ.[10]

The game was a commercial success in arcades, becoming the highest-grossing arcade conversion kit of 1985 in the United States while also being successful in Japan and Europe. It was ported to various home systems, including home computer conversions which were critically and commercially successful, becoming the best-selling home video game of 1986 in the United Kingdom.

  1. ^ a b Akagi, Masumi (13 October 2006). アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005) [Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971-2005)] (in Japanese). Japan: Amusement News Agency. pp. 121–2. ISBN 978-4990251215.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference CVG43 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Yie Ar Kung-Fu". Generation-MSX. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  4. ^ "イー・アル・カンフー (FC)" [Yie Ar Kung-Fu]. Famitsu (in Japanese). Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  5. ^ "Sinclair Programs".
  6. ^ "Availability Update" (PDF). Computer Entertainer. February 1987. p. 14.
  7. ^ GameCenter CX - 1st Season, Episode 09. Retrieved on 2009-09-19
  8. ^ Carroll, Martyn (16 May 2019). "The History Of: Yie Ar Kung-fu". Retro Gamer. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Polygon was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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