Yie Ar Kung-Fu (program code G) - MAME machine

Arcade Video game published 39 years ago:

Yie Ar Kung-Fu © 1985 Konami Industry Company, Limited.

Yie Ar Kung-fu is a single-player one-on-one fighting game in which the player takes on the role of 'Oolong' who must fight and defeat eleven martial arts masters. His ulimate goal is to win the title of "Grand Master" and honour the memory of his father, who was killed while fighting the current grand master.

The player faces a variety of opponents, each with a unique appearance and fighting style. Some opponents are also armed, with weapons including nunchaku, throwing stars and a club. The player can perform up to 16 different moves using a combination of buttons and joystick movements while standing, crouching or jumping. Moves are thrown at high, middle, and low levels.

Yie Ar Kung-Fu plays incredibly quickly, with the player having to be constantly on the move to avoid getting 'pegged in' by some of the game's tougher opponents. There is no time limit in which the opponent must be defeated but Oolong possesses a finite amount of health, represented by a health bar at the top of the screen. Once Oolong's health is fully depleted, the match is over.

The first five fights take place in front of an animated waterfall, while the remaining six are set in front of an oriental pagoda.

The eleven opponents Oolong must face are:

• Buchu - A sumo wrestler, strong but slow.
• Star - The first female opponent, throws shuriken for long-range attacks.
• Nuncha - Uses nunchaku for close and mid-range attacks.
• Pole - Uses a wooden staff for close and mid-range attacks.
• Feedle - Attacks with duplicates of himself.
• Chain - Uses a chain for long-range attacks.
• Club - Uses a large club for close and mid-range attacks.
• Fan - The second female opponent, throws fans for long-range attacks.
• Sword - Uses a sword for close and mid-range attacks.
• Tonfun - Uses tonfa (wooden batons) for close and mid-range attacks.
• Blues - Extremely fast and very powerful.

TECHNICAL
Yie Ar Kung-Fu machines came in two upright cabinet forms.

Game ID: GX407

Main CPU: Motorola M6809 (@ 1.152 Mhz)
Sound Chips: SN76496 (@ 1.536 Mhz), Sanyo VLM5030 (@ 3.58 Mhz)

Players: 2
Control: 8-Way Joystick
Buttons: 2
→ Punch, Kick

TRIVIA
Yie Ar Kung-Fu was released in January 1985.

The words 'Yie Ar' in the title of this game are translated from Chinese as 'One, Two'.

Antonio Colangelo holds the official record for this game with 534340 points on September 9, 1985.

SCORING
Scoring in this game is fairly complex and is dictated by what kind of punch or kick you inflict on your opponent. The more complicated the move, the more points awarded:

Flying High Punch: 500 points.
Jumping High Punch: 2000 points.
Mid-Level Punch: 500 points.
Low Punch: 700 points.
Crouching Mid-Level Punch: 900 points.
Flying High Kick: 600 points.
Jumping High Kick: 2000 points.
Mid-Level Kick: 500 points.
Low Kick: 700 points.
Lying Down High Kick: 900 points.

At the end of each stage, you will receive bonus points by adding your remaining energy x 10 to your score. If you didn't lose any energy on any of the stages one through eight, you get an additional 'Perfect' bonus of that stage number x 10000 points.

TIPS AND TRICKS
When you start the game, there will be a screen that lists the opponents for that block of fighting. The animated opponent is the one Oolong will be currently fighting. You will notice that some opponents have a '???' in a box under their name. This means in order to see this opponent, you must have defeated everyone else up to them. When you exit this screen, Oolong will start on the left and Oolong's opponent will start on the right side of the screen. Once you get through all 11 stages, the cycle begins anew.

• Since there is no time limit on the matches, patience is a must. Latter opponents will take advantage of every mistake made and will 'pin' the player to inflict repeated blows on Oolong.
• Every opponent has some kind of weakness to exploit. Once you learn these weaknesses, they will be much easier to defeat.
• Take advantage of Oolong's mobility. In other words; don't just stand in one place, and never allow Oolong to get trapped on the sides of the screen as this can spell instant defeat in many cases.
• Speaking of mobility, jump around the screen if you don't have a clear opening to strike your opponent. Learn to time and aim your jumps to where you believe your opponent's position will be at. Get in a quick strike and jump away before a counterstrike hits Oolong.
• Your goal on all of the fights is to avoid getting hit. In addition to prevention of energy loss, you can earn bonus points which will eventually add up to an extra life.
• When you get a hit on an opponent, you will see a red marker. If your opponents get a hit, the marker will be either black or yellow.
• Keep in mind that all your opponents know kung-fu. Just because they are wielding a weapon doesn't mean they won't take a punch or kick at Oolong if the opportunity presents itself.
• Below are listed the strategies for defeating your 11 opponents:

STAGE 1: BUCHU:
This is a good introductory fight. Buchu isn't too tough of an opponent and you should be able to take him down without breaking too much of a sweat.

1) Buchu will start the round by flying over to Oolong. When he lands, give him a couple of low sweeping kicks.

2) After taking a couple of hits, Buchu will fly off again in the opposite direction. Just have Oolong jump next to him to deliver either punches or kicks. Buchu will take off again.

3) Follow the above and you should have Buchu crying "Uncle" in no time.

4) Big thing to watch out for is if you stay around him too long, he will deliver a flurry of kicks that will pin Oolong down and eventually take him out.

STAGE 2: STAR:
Your first fight with a weapon wielding opponent. Star likes to throw shurikens either high, mid-level, or low. They are pretty easy to avoid but do make it a challenge trying to close in on Star.

1) Right after Star throws a shuriken, jump toward him. If you did it right, you should be right next to him to deliver a punch or kick.

2) Quickly jump away and prepare for the next shuriken to be thrown. Again, as above, jump over to Star to deliver some more punishment.

3) Star may jump out of the way but this happens rarely.

4) If you happen to land short, just jump back out of the way since Star will take the advantage and deliver a few kicks Oolong's way.

STAGE 4: NUNCHA:
Now it starts to get interesting. The first opponent that can deliver two to three quick blows when opportunity presents itself. Nuncha is quite effective with his nun-chucks and does some serious damage if you're not ready.

1) Watch for when Nuncha starts to spin his nun-chucks. This means he is preparing to take a shot. Back up and let him advance and then jump over him.

2) He will then take his shot. Be careful in watching where he aims at because he can go high, mid-level, or low. Once he takes his shot, quickly jump over to him to get in a punch or kick. Be aware, he may block a couple of your moves with his nun-chucks.

3) Jump away quickly since he will again start spinning his nun-chucks. If you stay to long next to him, he will deliver two or three shots to pin down Oolong before Oolong can escape.

4) Continue moving around and soon Nuncha will be history.

STAGE 4: POLE:
Pole is another one of those opponents who can put a major hurting on your character real quick if you're not careful. He also tends to move around a lot making it more difficult to hit him.

1) He will start off by spinning the pole above his head. If Oolong gets too close, Pole will take a couple of shots at him. The best offensive is to jump to a position you believe Pole will be at since he moves around a lot.

2) You won't have time to dally once you are next to Pole. Get in a low shot and jump out of there quickly or Oolong will meet the business end of the pole real quickly. Pole will then again spin the pole above his head and advance on Oolong. Jump over and try to hit Pole from the backside.

3) Continue to jump over Pole and get in low shots. You should have him begging for mercy in no time.

STAGE 5: FEEDLE:
This is actually a series of the same opponent instead of one. This is kind of your breather before entering the second part of the tournament.

1) Feedle(s) will enter from both the left and right side of the screen. Your character will be in the middle. They only do basic moves of mid-level kicks and punches.

2) They will continue to enter from either side of the screen so you may need to move back and forth to be able to turn around rapidly to deal with the threat from both sides. Low kicks will suffice to eliminate Feedle.

3) You have to eliminate eight Feedle(s) in order to win the match. Feedle(s) will keep feeding onto the screen until you achieve that objective.

4) Do not jump on this stage or you may get yourself into trouble since there isn't much space in the line of Feedle(s) coming after your character.

STAGE 6: CHAIN:
Chain is a difficult opponent unless you can move around quickly.

1) Chain starts this off by slinging his chain at Oolong. It has a limited range and it can be aimed high, mid-level, or low. The bad part about this is that even when the chain is going back to Chain, Oolong can still take a hit.

2) Once Chain fires his chain, you need to make sure that you aim Oolong to jump over Chain and get real close. If you don't, Chain turns very quickly and will launch another attack if you aren't close enough to attack him. Only do low hits to minimize your chances of getting hit by his chain. Once you get in a hit, jump back to get out of range of his chain.

3) You will also have to watch out for his low kicks if you are too far away and he doesn't use his chain.

4) Continue to jump around and get in hits and eventually you will delink him.

STAGE 7: CLUB:
Club likes to act aggressive and so will advance on Oolong immediately. This is his downfall.

1) Let Club advance on Oolong. When he gets close to his striking distance, jump over him to land next to him on the other side. Deliver a couple of low kicks or punches. You may have to jump up to avoid his club.

2) Jump to the other side of the screen and let him advance on Oolong again. This time, after you jump, watch his movements. He may back up onto the side. If this happens, just jump back away and let him advance again. To really mess with him, do a small jump away from him then immediately jump to his other side.

3) Do the above a few times and club will be no more.

STAGE 8: FAN:
As the opponents name implies, Fan likes to throw razor-sharp fans at Oolong.

1) She will start this stage by launching three fans at Oolong. They start high and have an uncanny ability to track Oolong (to a degree). This is also one of the few weapons that Oolong can actually counter with punches or kicks (it is hard though to get lined up).

2) Once she launches her fans, wait until the last fan gets low enough to jump over. Then jump next to her to deliver some punches and kicks. You should be able to get in two hits before you have to bounce out again. Watch out if you aren't close enough since she likes to deliver a few kicks of her own.

3) Continue to maneuver around her. You may not get in a shot after every jump but she does leave openings that can be easily exploited.

4) You will eventually send her crashing down like her fans.

STAGE 9: SWORD:
This actually is one of the easier opponents to deal with. All he does is slide along the ground waiting to put a sword through Oolong.

1) Sword actually is one of the quicker opponents. He has a tendency to hit and run. Basically, if he hits Oolong, he quickly goes the opposite direction. Much quicker then Oolong can jump after him. This means you have to keep him on the defensive.

2) Get into position and jump so you are next to Sword. Do a quick low punch or kick. Sword will rapidly retreat, then advance. When he is within striking distance, hit or punch again. Sword will again retreat. This cycle should continue until Sword is skewered.

3) You may have to jump out of Sword's range if you mess up the cycle. Just repeat the above steps to get back into a rhythm again.

STAGE 10: TONFUN:
Your next two opponents will test your skills to the utmost.

1) Tonfun has it all: Speed, quick attack, and aggressiveness. This means you will be moving around a whole lot to avoid his hits.

2) First of all, avoid the sides of the screen. Tonfun likes to crowd the sides and pin Oolong down. This means you will be doing a lot of jumping around. In addition, he has the nasty habit of blocking a lot of your attacks.

3) Hit and run is the name of the game here. This means you will have to jump over him, spin around, get in a low attack, and jump back before he counter-attacks very quickly. If you hesitate on any of these, Tonfun will have fun giving Oolong a couple of shots which knock down the energy bar significantly.

4) You may have to do a lot of jumps before you can even get in a hit on Tonfun. Expect this to be a long fight.

STAGE 11: BLUES:
Blues is a worthy opponent for the final match. He is very quick and can put Oolong down in just a few hits. Plus, he likes to jump around the screen. This is the ultimate test of skill.

1) Blues will immediately jump over to Oolong to deliver a few hits. This means you need to be constantly jumping around and looking for an opening. Unfortunately, Blues leaves very few openings to exploit.

2) Do not, under any circumstance, have Oolong hang out at the sides. Blues will trap Oolong and deliver enough punches and kicks to keep Oolong pinned down so you can't even jump. A quick way to end a stage with a defeat.

3) Also, don't even attempt to go "toe-to-toe" with Blues since he is much quicker then Oolong in the delivery of attacks. Use the tried-and-tested method of hit and run. This time, you have to be sure of your shot. If you miss, or if Blues blocks Oolongs attack, be prepared for a major counter-attack if you don't move out of the way in time. This means you need to basically attack and jump back at the same practical moment.

4) Blues also will jump around the screen when Oolong does. This makes it very difficult to pinpoint a position that Blues may be in. In addition, Blues can quickly move out of Oolong's attack range if Oolong isn't quick enough, or get behind Oolong to deliver a few blows of his own.

5) This battle will last a while Oolong and Blues jockey for position to deliver their hits. Unfortunately, skill and luck both are factors in this battle. Just do the above steps to tip the balance in your favor.

After defeating Blues, the game will start again at the first stage.

SERIES

• Yie Ar Kung-Fu [Model GX407] (1985)
• Yie Ar Kung-Fu II - Yie-Gah Koutei no Gyakushuu [Model RC737] (1985, MSX)

STAFF
Staff: S. Tsuda, Y. Sugimoto, A. Inoue, H. Hori, Mitsuo Takemoto, Nishimura, S. Iwamoto, Shikama, Hasegawa, Yoshiaki Hatano

PORTS

• CONSOLES:

[JP] Nintendo Famicom (apr.22, 1985) "Yie Ar Kung-Fu [Model RC802]"
[JP] Sony PlayStation (may.13, 1999) "Konami 80's Arcade Gallery [Model SLPM-86228]"
[US] Sony PlayStation (nov.30, 1999) "Konami Arcade Classics [Model SLUS-00945]"
[JP] Sony PS2 (oct.27, 2005) "Yie Ar Kung-Fu [Oretachi Geasen Zoku] [Model SLPM-62696]"
[US] [EU] [JP] Microsoft XBOX 360 [XBLA] (jul.18, 2007)

• HANDHELDS:

[US] Nintendo GBA (mar.21, 2002) "Konami Collector's Series - Arcade Advanced [Model AGB-AKCE-USA]"
[JP] Nintendo GBA (may.2, 2002) "Konami Arcade Game Collection [Model AGB-AKCJ-JPN]"
[EU] Nintendo GBA (june.21, 2002) "Konami Collector's Series - Arcade Classics [Model AGB-AKCP-EUR]"
[JP] Nintendo DS (mar.15, 2007) "Konami Arcade Collection [Model NTR-A5KJ-JPN]"
[US] Nintendo DS (mar.27, 2007) "Konami Classic Series - Arcade Hits [Model NTR-ACXE-USA]"
[EU] Nintendo DS (oct.26, 2007) "Konami Arcade Classics [Model NTR-ACXP-EUR]"
[AU] Nintendo DS (oct.29, 2007) "Konami Arcade Classics"

• COMPUTERS:

[US] Commodore C64 [EU] (1985)
[EU] BBC Micro (1985)
[JP] [EU] MSX (jan.1985) [Model RC725]
[EU] Amstrad CPC (1985)
[EU] Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1985)
[EU] Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1986) "Konami Coin-Op Hits"
[EU] Commodore 16 (1986)
[EU] Acorn Electron
[US] Spectravideo

• OTHERS:

[US] Windows Mobile Phones (dec.13, 2007)

CONTRIBUTE
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