China Warrior (TurboGrafx-16) Playthrough
400A playthrough of NEC's 1989 beat 'em up for the TurboGrafx-16, China Warrior.
This playthrough shows all three loops (or "acts"), each with a slightly different ending.
Act 2 starts 19:15
Act 3 starts 38:59
The Hudson Soft-developed China Warrior ("The Kung Fu" in Japan) is a side-scrolling platformer/beat 'em up that takes most of its cues from Irem's Kung Fu Master.
There isn't much to the gameplay beyond walking to the right as you punch and kick everything into oblivion. The screen auto-scrolls, and groups of robed cultists regularly flood the screen as you attempt to dodge a hail of rocks, fireballs, and other random projectiles. These stages are often laid out like obstacle courses, and timing your attacks properly is key to getting through the tough bits without taking a battering.
Once you're through with your action-fighter walk, each of the twelve stages ends with a boss encounter. These guys are much beefier than the one-hit regular drones - they have their own life bars, and they can block and counter your attacks. They all follow specific attack patterns, though, so once you know how to anticipate their attacks, the battles become a fair bit easier.
China Warrior doesn't seem to have many fans, but I really like it. The simplicity of its gameplay hearkens back to the style of early 80s arcade games, and I found it pretty addictive once I got into a rhythm with it. The graphics and sound were cutting edge in their time - those sprites are massive for an 80s console game! - but perhaps they led people to expect its mechanics to match the presentation's level of sophistication. The game plays well, though. The controls are responsive and moves are easy to pull off (with the exception of the infuriatingly unreliable special attack), and there's a good amount of nuance introduced with the ability to block during the boss fights.
I wonder how Bruce Lee would've felt about China Warrior had he lived to see it.
WACHAA!
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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