Kung Fu was released on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985. It is a port of the 1984 arcade game Kung Fu Master and is often considered the father of side-scrolling fighting games. You play as Thomas, a man in a martial arts uniform with slippers. Thomas's girlfriend Sylvia has been kidnapped by "Mr. X," and Tom must fight through five side-scrolling levels full of enemies to rescue her. The Nintendo Entertainment System (North America, Brazil, Europe, Asia, and Australia) The Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES, is an 8-bit video game console released by Nintendo in North America, Brazil, Europe, Asia, and Australia. ... 1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Centipede by Atari is a typical example of a 1980s era arcade game. ... This article is about the arcade game Kung Fu Master. ... Screenshot of Kung Fu Master. ...

Level details

Level 1: Right-to-left. Enemies are Grippers (men who charge Tom and grab him, draining his life bar. Usually come in large numbers) and Knife Throwers (men who throw knives high or low). The boss is Stick Fighter (His high attacks miss if Tom crouches, and all attacks miss if Tom is directly next to him.) Screenshot of Metal Gear Solid. ...

Level 2: Left-to-right. Enemies are Snakes, Dragons (kick them before they breathe fire for lots of points), and Beehives (jump attack), followed by Grippers and Knife Throwers. The boss is Boomerang Fighter (throws a boomerang, high or low).

Between levels 2 and 3, Mr. X offscreen taunts Thomas while Sylvia is tied to a chair.

Level 3: Right-to-left. Enemies consist of large numbers of Grippers, Tom Toms (small men who can surprise Thomas by jumping on his head), and Knife Throwers. The boss is Mr. Big (An orange giant).

Level 4: Left-to-right. Enemies consist of killer moths, Tom Toms, and Grippers. The boss is the Black Magician (hunchback who casts fire, summons Dragons, and cannot be hurt with shots to the head. His fire can be attacked, and only a crouch-punch hurts him).

Level 5: Right-to-left. Grippers, Tom Toms, and Knife Throwers come at Thomas in droves. The boss is Mr. X himself (a decent karate master, but a glitch forces him to walk into your crouch kicks).

Rumor and Secrecy

Fight Sylvia - False. Word was, after completing the game 50 consecutive times, a secret match against Sylvia would replace Mr. X. Some sites claim it's true, but has been verified false. TwinGalaxies article

Matrix Kick - True. Considered by some a glitch, Tom can do a reverse jump, able to kick enemies behind while evading them. Executed while moving one direction by jumping and turning around at the same time. Nearly impossible without an emulator.

Bonus Hugger - Mixed. In some places, the secret's description is to jump-kick twelve enemies in a row. The actual bonus is that every twelve enemies, the 12th will be worth a whopping 5000 pts if jump-kicked, but only if it is a hugger.

Movie Origin? - True. A game-cameo listing mentions as follows...

"The Japanese name of this game is Spartan X, and is based on a Jackie Chan film (Wheels on Meals in the U.S.) Thomas and Sylvia are characters in the film as they are in the game. (Credit: Mark Kelly) Status: TRUE: Verified by FO. Source: Nintendo Database. "

Miscellany

As Kung Fu Master this game has also been ported to the Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, BeOS x86, Commodore 64, DOS, Java, Linux, Game Boy, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and Windows. Atari 2600 (four-switch version). ... Atari 7800 System The Atari 7800 is a video game console released by Atari. ... Amstrad CPC 464, with CTM644 colour monitor The Amstrad CPC was an 8-bit home computer produced by Amstrad in the 1980s. ... The Apple II was one of the most popular personal computers of the 1980s. ... BeOS was an operating system for personal computers which began development by Be Incorporated in 1991. ... The Commodore 64 (C64, CBM 64) was a popular home computer of the 1980s. ... The acronym DOS stands for disk operating system, an operating system component for computers that provides the abstraction of a file system resident on hard disk or floppy disk secondary storage. ... Java is a reflective, object-oriented programming language developed initially by James Gosling and colleagues at Sun Microsystems. ... Unix systems filiation. ... The original Game Boys design set the standard for handheld gaming consoles. ... The Sinclair ZX Spectrum was a small home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research. ... Microsoft Windows is a range of operating environments for personal computers and servers. ...