When the PC-Engine (known as the Turbografx-16 in English speaking countries) was released in Japan one of its most publicized releases was a title called The Kung Fu. It came at a time when huge character sprites were what gamers desired, and it took advantage of this fact in spades. This game was released as China Warrior throughout the rest of the world. Unfortunately this was two years later, and the title lost a lot of its appeal. Because the system on which it released was relatively obscure in North America most gamers missed the chance to play it. It wasn’t until the title was re-released on the Wii’s digital download service that everyone got to see what all the fuss was about. This led to a flurry of negative press. Glancing at the screenshots it’s not hard to see why. China Warrior is clearly a product of its time, but today I gave it a shot to see if all the hate was warranted. Unfortunately the critics were right; this game seriously stinks.
There’s no story here as far as I can tell. You’re playing as a Bruce Lee wannabe kung fu master whose only goal is to punch, kick and jump your way through three stages neatly divided into separate areas. The game is played entirely on a 2D plane. You have a side view of the action, and your character walks automatically. You can push left or right to adjust his position on the screen, but the only useful location in basic gameplay is to the far left so that you have a longer window to react to incoming hazards. Basic enemies include cloaked fighters who act differently depending on their color, incoming bees, and more. For the most part you’ll be dodging projectiles like fireballs, arrows, and even plates that fall from the sky and shatter on the ground. Your character can kick and punch, but these target approximately the same height. Thankfully if you duck by holding the down button you can still punch to hit many of the hazards that are usually too low. Sometimes you simply need to wait for hazards to pass over you, and pushing either of the attack buttons or jumping will stop the screen from scrolling. This can be used to your advantage.
Unfortunately this game is just one sloppy mess. Your character animates poorly, and the hit detection is downright unfair. Enemies that you should have avoided often chip away at your health, and I found a lot of my kicks just barely missed their mark. What really hinders this experience is it’s intense difficulty. I made the mistake of assuming the game would be easy, I mean, you can defeat most opponents with just one hit. Unfortunately the developers missed the memo about how huge character sprites make easy targets because the incoming hazards are relentless. The cloaked foes are easy enough to deal with as they’re the only targets as big as your character. Projectiles however come at you from varying heights, and there’s usually more than one. This is where things get tricky. Usually you don’t have time to figure out if you can take all of them out with a few well timed punches or kicks. There’s a lot of guesswork involved.
The level design in China Warrior is beyond dull. You’re stuck in constant motion and there’s little need in most cases to be at the front section of the screen. There’s absolutely no platforming, and this game requires zero thought. It’s just punching, kicking, and jumping. Sure you need to figure out how to dodge attacks in different situations, but that’s it for strategy. The boss encounters are poorly planned and are my least favorite part of the game. These baddies tend to block most attacks you throw at them, and I was only able to beat the later ones with pure luck. Early on they’re pretty easy and require you to walk forward and constantly punch. It’s a very mind numbing affair. In the latter half of China Warrior I resorted to simple button mashing to defeat these foes. Like the rest of the package the developers didn’t plan this out very well. The only change in pace is a small mini-game you play in between each level wherein you must time a button press with a filling meter. Even this is painstakingly dull. China Warrior is just all around boring.
China Warrior is a pretty decent game. That is, when it’s not in motion. The sprite work is really well done on the main character, but the enemies tend to be a bit drab in comparison. One touch that I rather liked is that as you take damage it’s directly reflected on the protagonist. After a few hits he starts bleeding from his mouth, and as the life bar is drained he looks even more beat up. Unfortunately the animations are horrendous. Every mobile object features several different frames, but the developers didn’t even bother trying to make it look smooth. It’s like the game is constantly stuttering. This wouldn’t be so bad except for the fact that it can actually mess with the timing of your attacks. The soundtrack doesn’t fare much better, but at least it isn’t broken. The music fits the kung fu motif well and makes decent use of the hardware. Unfortunately it’s just not all that memorable. I guess it’s poetic justice for such a forgettable game.
This game is best considered the Altered Beast of the Turbografx hardware. Sure, some people may have nostalgia for it and pretend it’s a decent title, but it doesn’t take long to discover that simply isn’t true. The large scale graphics make it look decidedly dated. The choppy animation really makes me wish that the developers had opted for normal sized sprites because this seems to be an issue with pushing the hardware too hard. Had it not been re-released in modern times this game would be long forgotten.
