Producer: Bug-Byte
Memory Required: 48K
Retail Price: £6.95
Language: Machine code
Author: Dusko Dimitrijevic
This is probably the most unusual game to be seen on the Spectrum for a long while, perhaps ever. As its name suggests, the game is a simulation of the noble art of defence and attack. There are two modes of play for one player against the computer, or for two players against each other.
The one and two-player modes each have a different background of suitably oriental design. The playing characters are quite large, animated line drawings which faithfully follow your commands. Four movements are possible, a left arm karate chop, a step forward and block, a right foot front kick and a left foot back kick. Additionally the character may be advanced or retreated.
Below the playing area is an indicator of hits on the computer player. A successful knock out strike results in the hit character collapsing to the ground. The more successful you are on the single player mode, the tougher the computer player becomes to beat. Now everyone has the chance to become a grasshopper...
COMMENTS
Control keys: 1, 2, 3, 4 for left player for solo) 6, 7, 8, 9 for right player, with CAPS SHIFT and SYM SHIFT walk left, Z and SPACE walk right
Joystick: Kempston and Sinclair 2
Keyboard play: responsive, key positions work quite well
Use of colour: very good
Graphics: excellent animation
Sound: constant tune (could do with on/off)
Skill levels: progressive difficulty
Lives:
Screens: 2
Special features:
Kung Fu is a totally original game. The graphics are very large and allow you and a friend to beat hell out of each other. Each of the Kung Fu moves is beautifully animated. As you get better you move up belts, white to yellow etc. The sound is good with a good tune playing continuously. This is very playable and quite addictive. I don't know how long this will keep you occupied, but it's still a good game on the face of it. If you want a change from the usual type of game, this is worth it.
It must be said that this is an exceptional attempt to reproduce a very difficult sport on a computer, and it has been totally successful in achieving its ends. Characters take about half the playing area (in height) and are superbly animated. The option of playing the computer or an opponent is a great asset to this game, allowing friends to join in for a bit of variation. Obviously the person who programmed this game is into Kung Fu as each move is executed the way it should be. The only niggle I've got about the game is that there is no on/off switch for the oriental music which can drive you around the bend. I have mixed feelings about whether this game will be constantly addictive, as it does get repetitive kicking your partner's teeth in or crippling his sex life!
The first thing to strike you about Kung Fu is the lovely graphics. The backgrounds are exactly right, and manage to be quite soothing to watch as you match wits with either computer or a friend. At times the movements of the two characters can look like a piece of ballet. Kung Fu is a brave and almost entirely successful simulation. Perhaps the only complaint in the end might be that once mastered, it would be nice to have some other moves to try out. As it is, this should prove interesting, different and challenging and for its novelty value, worth the money.
Roger: Charmingly oriental graphics frame well-animated Bruce Lee clones trying to knock each other senseless in this superb example of on-Spectrum violence. Stomping, rather than getting stomped, means advance as well as retreat, and there's a choice of four classic blows in the authentic 'punch-chop-kick' martial arts tradition. Your inscrutable opponent will attempt to block all your attacks and smack you in the gob. An action replay facility allows you to study the sequence leading to each terminally-successful knuckle sandwich delivery.
Acquisition of 48K black belt status eventually leads to another screen with different background and figures - but the action stays more or less the same. This is one of few action games where cursor control can be extremely accurate, simply because of Kung Fu fighting's formalised movements. Although it initially appears simplistic, the various combinations of attack, defence and surprise can be very entertaining and it's certainly safer than the real thing! For enthusiasts of the real thing, it'll provide a chance to keep in trim while their smashed bodies heal ...3/5 HIT
Dave: Kung Fu is quite a good martial arts simulation, but I'd have liked a few more possible 'moves' and a bit less randomness. 2.5/5 MISS
Ross: A delightful program combining humour, skill, good graphics and violence. The thrill of advancing on your opponent and knocking him down with one swift blow is fun. 3.5/5 HIT
GRASSHOPPER'S LEAP
Memory: 48K
Price: £6.95
Joystick: Programmable, Cursor, Sinclair, Kempston
Become a master of the ancient oriental art of Kung-Fu without dislocating your back or having the wind knocked out of you.
Kung-Fu, from Bug-Byte, is described as a totally animated combat game for two players or one player and the computer.
Each player controls one of the Kung-Fu fighters which must approach each other in a very inscrutable way before bashing the hell out of each other. Bug-Byte may enthuse about the graphics and crow about the cleverly designed fighters but, although the display initially looks impressive, movement is jerky and action slow. The fighters move as if they are robots.
Much emphasis is put on the techniques which the fighters can use when in action. Such moves are fairly authentic but the movement between a standing pose and making contact with the other player could have been made more realistic.
If you are going to play Kung-Fu with any kind of agility then you will need a joystick. You will then at least get some enjoyment out of it and not get whitewashed by a computer Ninja.
GREVIOUS BODILY NIRVANA
MAKER: Bug-Byte Software
FORMAT: cassette
PRICE: £6.95
For aspiring Shao-lin monks Bug-Byte have knocked out this simulator that takes you through the moves without all those nasty bruises. Truly, seeking enlightenment on a Spectrum is like riding an ox to go see an ox.
You can play the machine as opponent, or you can play another human (if you can both get your hands on the keys). Either way, you are rewarded with a view of a Chinese interior, with a sort of willow-pattern background. Two animated figures represent the players. They can move backwards or forwards, or you can select, using the numeric keys, from a repertoire of blows. Two punches and two kicks are available, and it takes concentration to find your opponents moment of vulnerability.
The animation is convincing, but I didn't find the game spectacular enough to sustain my interest. Perhaps the answer if to Become One With The Machine (smear super-glue on the keys?).
MACHINE: Spectrum 48K
CONTROL: Keys, Kemp, Sinc
FROM: Bug-Byte, £6.95
Let me take you now to the land of the East where everybody makes fortunes out of hi-technology and can knock you dead with one strike of their little finger.
Kung Fu places you in the Orient facing a lethal opponent whom you must defeat only to be confronted by another kamikaze fighter bent on your annihilation.
The four strokes at your disposal are a chop, punch, front kick and side kick, These are used to hit your adversary or to parry his attacks but can only be done one at a time.
You have three lives which are shown by clenched fists in the bottom left of the screen. Your strength is indicated by one of the fists which runs through the colours of the spectrum as you gradually weaken under the hail of blows. Your opponent also has an indicator which decreases but, like you, he can be felled by one undefended hit.
If you can survive enough bouts and score highly enough you move on to more skilled men and eventually to more than one opponent. This is far from easy since even at the first stage outwitting your enemy appears to depend a lot on luck.
Each movement is animated in great detail and the end of each fight can be replayed in a fantastic slow-motion sequence. Oriental music accompanies the action and the demo screen of three fighters practicing their moves.
You can play against either the computer or another person. The latter option provides more satisfaction, as you'd expect.
The game loses some of its addictiveness through its sheer difficulty but the excellent graphics and sound are some compensation. It may not be an all-time hit but you'll certainly get a kick out of it!
I don't usually approve of violence in computer games, but this was a pretty enjoyable rumble. The figures were very well animated, and even though you're limited to four vicious movements it looked very good on screen.
I did start to get a little bored, though, when I realised I had a good chance of success if I just stood there and repeated the same movements. However, it's not so easy on higher levels.
The sound was pleasantly oriental, but terribly repetitive.
PETER CONNOR
The sound and animation are superb. The way the characters kick, chop and punch each other to death, while a tuneful Japanese song rolls on in the background, is quite enthralling.
Despit this, I found my Kung Fu expert (or should I say amateur) failing to do his bit for mankind. This was mainly due to the fact that the keys were somewhat oddly placed (and not definable), while the joystick made things quite impossible.
All in all success seemed to depend rather more on luck than skill.
SAMANTHA HEMENS
PRICE: £6.95
GAME TYPE: Simulation
There are clear signs that software manufacturers are beginning to move away from characters made up of user-defined graphics to larger scale, more sophisticated character. Bug Byte have followed this route with their new program Kung Fu.
The title screen shows a dainty, willow-pattern plate design, while the playing sequence shows two large-size kung-fu experts. There are options to play the computer or to play against another human. Moving your character left or right results in a graceful walk, accompanied by some very Oriental-sounding music.
Two sorts of kicks and two sorts of punch are available to you. The computer plays very well, and is unlikely to provide you with any easy opening.
Bug-byte have produced a very elegant simulation game. However the lack of variety in either screen picture or background noise may mean that it palls more quickly than other detailed simulations.
Produced for the 48K Spectrum by Bug-Byte Limited, Mulberry House, Canning Place, Liverpool.
Bug-Byte
98-100 The Albany
Old Hall Street
Liverpool
PRICE: TBA
I cannot say a lot about this Kung-Fu game from Bug-Byte software, as the idea is very simple. You are a Kung-Fooist and have to fight your opponent until he drops down (dead? I don't know) for you to win.
Please forgive the lack of technical terms, but there are four moves at your fingertips, the left chop, the forward punch, the right kick and the left kick with forward and backward movement. The keys used are 1, 2, 3, 4, break and sym shift respectively for player one with the opposite keys for player 2. There is joystick compatibility Kempston, but the moves are quite easy to master on a keyboard.
The scenario is obviously Chinese style, with Orientated music, which can be very annoying, so I was grateful for the music on/off facility.
There are two different options to play either against the Spectrum or another player. For some reason, if you fought against the Spectrum, 3 rounds were attempted inside a Chinese Style house, but if against another player, only one round outside was played.
The replay function is quite a good idea, enabling you to watch the tense action all over again and for the enthusiast, a ranking is given telling you the colour of your belt.
A novel game of skill, including excellent animated graphic sequences (nulli secundus). A bit of a no-goer for me, as there is not a lot of action.
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