Fist of the North Star (arcade)/Gameplay

Notations

http://orochikof97.free.fr/images/bouton_A.png - Weak Punch
http://orochikof97.free.fr/images/bouton_B.png - Weak Kick
http://orochikof97.free.fr/images/bouton_C.png - Fierce Punch
http://orochikof97.free.fr/images/bouton_D.png - Fierce Kick
http://orochikof97.free.fr/images/bouton_E.png - Boost

Screen HUD

http://orochikof97.free.fr/images/Ecran_Jeu.jpg

There's lot of stuff displayed on screen, so let's go deeper to understand what does what.

Aura bar

http://orochikof97.free.fr/images/Bouton_Aura.jpg Your regular super meter found in every 2D fighting game nowadays.
There are two levels : first one is blue, second one is yellow. Once you reach a level, the words "God Fist Blow" appear next to the bar. As you may have guessed, the main use of aura is to perform supers, but it has other uses you will find later in the FAQ and is also used by few character-specific moves.

Boost bar

http://orochikof97.free.fr/images/Bouton_Boost.jpg The (long) Boost bar. This bar is linked to the http://orochikof97.free.fr/images/bouton_E.png button and has 3 levels : purple, yellow and green. Using Boost results in making the character perform a fast dash towards him ; that dash is cancelable with any move.
The main use of the Boost is to link or cancel moves you cannot normally cancel, resulting in a wide variety of pokes and combos. Bar fills as you hit opponent or get hit, just like Aura. Notice that when you deplete a boost stock, you will have to wait few seconds before you can stock boost again in the bar (same goes for Aura).

Hokutosei (Great Dipper) Bar

http://orochikof97.free.fr/images/Bouton_Hokuto.jpg Also called the Star Bar

This bar is filled with seven little dots representing the number of stars featured in the Great Dipper. Here are the rules applied to it as it's a bit complex to understand at first glance.

• At The Time Of Retribution, both players receive a full star bar.
• Characters recover one extra star each round within the limit of the star bar capacity.
• Stars can be removed by performing moves in defined conditions.
  1. Any special move after a Grave Shoot
  2. Most special moves and few basic moves on counter hit
  3. Every time for super moves requiring Aura
• When all stars are removed, the Death Star (Shichousei in japanese) appears under the Great Dipper, and a portrait of the character seeing it displayed in the background for a short time. At that moment, opponent can perform the Deadly Fist Blow (named Fatal Strike in the U.S version), commonly called Fatal KO. This ultimate move removes 100% of the enemy's life.
• The character who has been beaten by the opponent's Deadly Fist Blow recovers a full star bar on next round.
• For balance purposes, you can not remove more than three stars in a single combo. However, a way to override this limit has been found by the japanese community, under defined conditions. This is covered later in the FAQ.

Guard Bar

http://orochikof97.free.fr/images/Bouton_Garde.jpg Guard behaviour in Hokuto No Ken is quite different compared to other fighting games.

1. When the guard gets crushed, the character enters a stagger animation.
2. The game uses a ranking of three guard levels to define which character will receive a guard bar.

• Fierce Guard : Shin / Mr. Heart
• Normal Guard : Kenshiro / Raoh / Toki / Jagi / Rei / Juda
• Weak Guard : Mamiya / Thouther

What does all of this mean if Player1 faces Player2 (Player1 vs. Player2) ?

• Fierce Guard vs. Fierce Guard : both receive guard bars.
• Fierce Guard vs. Normal/Weak Guard : Player1 has no guard bar, Player2 gets one.
• Normal Guard vs. Normal Guard : none of the players have a guard bar
• Normal Guard vs. Weak Guard : Player2 receives a guard bar

Following those rules, Shin & Mr. Heart will always give guard bars to their opponents meanwhile Mamiya & Thouther will always receive guard bars. For Normal Guard characters, it all depends of the opponent.