C&VG


The Way Of The Exploding Fist
By Melbourne House
Commodore 64

 
Published in Computer & Video Games #46

The Way Of The Exploding Fist

Forget Bruce Lee. Make room for The Way Of The Exploding Fist. It's brilliant.

Fast and furious martial arts action combined with player skill. What more could you want?

The game is set at a tournament and the aim is to improve your fighting skills and eventually obtain the position of Shaolin Monk.

The Way Of The Exploding Fist

Each animated figure - as with the various Oriental backgrounds - is a joy to see. Movement is fast, smooth and realistic.

In all, there are eighteen possible moves including punching, kicking, blocking, jumping, feinting and somersaults. The action is so realistic that you find yourself wincing as the blows find their target. The sounds of punches, kicks and groans are just like the soundtrack of old martial arts films - loud, totally over the top, but just wonderful.

Points are scored on how well each move was carried out.

The Way Of The Exploding Fist

For example, if a flurry of aggressive action fails to make contact with your opponent, no points are awarded. If the move is correctly carried out, points are awarded. If you hit your opponent but it is not a perfect blow, only a half-point is scored.

Current score is shown on screen by yin and yang symbols.

The game has one and two player modes. When playing the computer, the object is to defeat successive opponents and each one is slightly better.

In the two-player mode, the winner is determined by whoever has the highest score after four bouts. Each bout has a time limit.

If you can't make up your mind on which game to buy this month, you could do a lot worse than to splash out on The Way Of The Exploding Fist. And mind the furniture.