Yie Ar Kung-Fu
Let me start with a picture.....
I pestered my parents for this cassette , I mean really pestered. As in most annoying child ever pestering! What I really , really wanted was Hypersports, but as you can tell from the title of this blog my infatuation with Hyper Bill was to be very short lived. I discovered Oolong (no, not the tea) .
Now regular readers may be surprised that I did actually like this game , after being so unimpressed with Rocco . But this was a different kind of fighting, this was the ancient art of kung fu ( and I had watched far too many movies and cartoons !) Your job is to guide Oolong in his attempt to become Grandmaster , help him knock out and out-wit his opponents using his many moves ( I think about 14) , all nicely detailed in the cassette inlay.
Now , dear reader, by the time I had obtained this game our joystick had already suffered Daley Thompson. It wasn't quite deceased, but my father had performed lifesaving surgery on it and it now resembled some ancient Egyptian mummy, held together by electrical installation tape and the odd piece of sellotape. Looking at the amount of moves that was offered to the player in this game I was slightly concerned for the poor old thing .
Now, as you might already know I do struggle with games with lots of keys and moves, so why did I fall in love with this game? Firstly just take a look at that game screen , it has a beautiful backdrop on the first levels. The cyan and blue works so well together, it may be a fighting game but the background is really peaceful and relaxing. Secondly , for the first few levels there is a knack, you may have 14 moves at your disposal but you really only do need a couple. ( Spoilers....nope not telling you which ones!) Thirdly , in my family only I knew about the second one!
Now, as you might already know I do struggle with games with lots of keys and moves, so why did I fall in love with this game? Firstly just take a look at that game screen , it has a beautiful backdrop on the first levels. The cyan and blue works so well together, it may be a fighting game but the background is really peaceful and relaxing. Secondly , for the first few levels there is a knack, you may have 14 moves at your disposal but you really only do need a couple. ( Spoilers....nope not telling you which ones!) Thirdly , in my family only I knew about the second one!
As was so often the case in my Spectrum gaming life, my father would usually have a go at most of the games. It didn't take long before that little piece of music attracted his attention. I gleefully showed him all the moves he could do on the ailing joystick and he performed an entry in a break-dancing competition before Buchu quickly and efficiently floored him. Several dance competition entries later and the air was turning the same colour as the background screen. He admitted defeat and deemed the game 'unplayable'. I waited till the door closed and then using my two move trick punched Buchu firmly to the floor , leaving his little chubby legs wobbling in the air.
To this day there is still something incredibly satisfying about this game , perhaps it's that nice Spectrum punching/hitting noise , or that peaceful blue background on the early levels weaving it's magic. Or perhaps it was the satisfaction of having a 'beat em up' game that I could play but my father couldn't!
As the levels progressed my little trick stopped working and I did have to use all the moves. But I have to admit my way of playing was far more random than actually picking a set move and using it , it was far more me circling the joystick and hitting fire.
As the levels progressed my little trick stopped working and I did have to use all the moves. But I have to admit my way of playing was far more random than actually picking a set move and using it , it was far more me circling the joystick and hitting fire.
I was amazed to find that when I revisited this to start writing about this game how much I still loved this game. How much the backgrounds still seemed beautiful ( and I'm ashamed to say, how much I still enjoyed the knocking the other person out.)
Eventually I did show my father how to get through the earlier levels of this game, unfortunately it was too late to save the dignity of our ageing joystick , which after Oolong's quest developed the embarrassing problem of stopping working in mid game until it was thumped back into life.
Eventually I did show my father how to get through the earlier levels of this game, unfortunately it was too late to save the dignity of our ageing joystick , which after Oolong's quest developed the embarrassing problem of stopping working in mid game until it was thumped back into life.
My own personal Oolong never made it to Grandmaster , but his quest for enlightenment did teach me a few things.
Don't be put off of a game because it looks too complicated and always , always look at the backgrounds in a game.
There are some hidden works of art in plain sight, if you just take the time to look!
Don't be put off of a game because it looks too complicated and always , always look at the backgrounds in a game.
There are some hidden works of art in plain sight, if you just take the time to look!