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{{marquee|Kung-Fu Master marquee.png}}
{{marquee|Kung-Fu Master marquee.png}}


'''Kung-Fu Master''' is the undisputed grandfather of the [[Beat 'em up]] genre.  It was the earliest game to feature a lone martial artist who must go up against a massive army of less capable fighters, as well as bosses that require special strategies to defeat.  The main player does not die from one hit.  Instead, it has a life bar that decreases every time the player fails to dodge an attack.  The player could choose between punches or kicks, high or low attacks, and jumping or crouching.
'''Kung-Fu Master''' is the undisputed grandfather of the [[Beat 'em up]] genre.  It was the earliest game to feature a lone martial artist who must go up against a massive army of less capable fighters, as well as bosses that require special strategies to defeat.  The main player does not die from one hit.  Instead, he has a life bar that decreases every time the player fails to dodge an attack.  The player may choose between punches or kicks, high or low attacks, and jumping or crouching.


Known as '''Spartan X''' in Japan, the game was actually based upon a [[Wikipedia:Wheels on Meals|movie of the same name]] which starred Jackie Chan.  More of a comedy than an action title, the game's story is taken directly from the movie, but the content differs quite a bit.  Some of the content is actually taken from several Bruce Lee movies.  The 5-Floor Pagoda and the third boss which mimics the giant Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is taken from "Game of Death".  The shot of a kidnapping letter and a tied-up girl in a red dress is taken from "Bruce's Finger".  And the red pillars and ceiling tape were inspired from "Goodbye Bruce Lee, his Last Game of Death".
Known as '''Spartan X''' in Japan, the game was actually based upon a [[Wikipedia:Wheels on Meals|movie of the same name]] which starred Jackie Chan.  More of a comedy than an action title, the game's story is taken directly from the movie, but the content differs quite a bit.  Some of the content is actually inspired by several Bruce Lee movies.  The 5-Floor Pagoda as well as the third boss who mimics the giant Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is taken from "Game of Death".  The shot of a kidnapping letter and a tied-up girl in a red dress is taken from "Bruce's Finger".  And the red pillars and ceiling tape were inspired by "Goodbye Bruce Lee, his Last Game of Death".


Because the success of the game roughly coincided with the launch of the Famicom in Japan, [[Nintendo]] saw the game as a must-have title for their system.  So they licensed the game from [[Irem]] and published it themselves.  It was the third best selling Famicom game released in 1985, selling approximately 1,420,000 copies in its lifetime.  When they brought the game to America, they shortened the title to ''Kung Fu'', perhaps to avoid legal problems with [[Data East]] who held the rights to the game in America.  Data East licensed the game to popular European home computer systems, while [[Activision]] (later, Absolute) provided ports to popular [[Atari]] systems available at the time.
Because the success of the game roughly coincided with the launch of the Famicom in Japan, [[Nintendo]] saw the game as a must-have title for their system.  So they licensed the game from [[Irem]] and published it themselves.  It was the third best selling Famicom game released in 1985, selling approximately 1,420,000 copies in its lifetime.  When they brought the game to America, they shortened the title to ''Kung Fu'', perhaps to avoid legal problems with [[Data East]] who held the rights to the game in America.  Data East licensed the game to popular European home computer systems, while [[Activision]] (later, Absolute) provided ports to popular [[Atari]] systems available at the time.
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