Yie Ar Kung-Fu Trial Impressions

The classic game Yie Ar Kung-Fu is now available for download from Xbox Live Arcade for 400 Microsoft Points. You play the character "Oolong" and it's a traditional fighting game in which you square off against 11 increasingly difficult martial arts masters in one-on-one combat in a quest to become the ultimate martial arts champion. Each of your opponents has a preferred martial arts style, for example, "Star", your second opponent has a tendency to use Shuriken.

The gameplay is pretty simplistic, and as you'd expect from a game that was first released in the arcade in 1985 your character only has a limited number of moves at your disposal. This release provides both the authentic arcade mode and is enhanced for Xbox Live.

It's amazing how time clouds your judgment of a game. Through my "rose tinted spectacles" of nostalgia I remember playing this game on the ZX Spectrum many years ago and liking it. Unfortunately the same can't be said today as the gameplay is too limited to stand the test of time for a fighting game. Some "Classic" games seem to age far better than others, and in my opinion this is a game that's best fondly remembered rather than dusted off and re-sold.