Yie Ar Kung-Fu is an arcade fighting game developed and published by Konami. It first had a limited Japanese release in October 1984, before having a wide release nationwide in January 1985 and then internationally in March. Along with Karate Champ (1984), which influenced Yie-Ar Kung Fu, it is one of the games that established the basis for modern fighting games.
Yie Ar Kung-Fu (NES)
The game was inspired by Bruce Lee's Hong Kong martial arts films, with the main player character Oolong modelled after Lee (like Bruceploitation films). In contrast to the grounded realism of Karate Champ, Yie Ar Kung-Fu moved the genre towards more fantastical, fast-paced action, with various different characters having a variety of special moves and high jumps, establishing the template for subsequent fighting games. It also introduced the health meter system to the genre, in contrast to the point-scoring system of Karate Champ.
The game was a commercial success in arcades, becoming the highest-grossing arcade conversion kit of 1985 in the United States while also being successful in Japan and Europe. It was ported to various home systems, including home computer conversions which were critically and commercially successful, becoming the best-selling home video game of 1986 in the United Kingdom.
Oolong (or Lee in the MSX and Famicom versions) must fight all the martial arts masters given by the game (eleven in the arcade version; five to thirteen in the home ports).
The player faces a variety of opponents, each with a unique appearance and fighting style. 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. Regardless of the move that defeated them, male characters (save Feedle) always fall unconscious lying on their backs with their legs apart (Oolong flails his legs), and female characters always fall lying on their sides. Feedle disappears. When a player gains an extra life, the word 'xiè xiè' (Mandarin for 'thank you') is heard.
Instead of a point-scoring system like Karate Champ (1984), Yie Ar Kung-Fu instead introduces a health meter system. Each fighter has a health meter, which depletes as they take hits. Once a fighter's health meter is fully depleted, it leads to a knockout.
A sequel, Yie Ar Kung-Fu II, was released a year later. The sequel was released only for home computers and was never ported to the arcades.
More details about this game can be found on
Wikipedia.org.
Find digital download of this game on
GOG
or
Steam.
Game controls:
The NES version of Yie Ar Kung-Fu was originally controlled via the NES controller with a cross-shaped joypad and two action buttons. The basic description of game controls is summarized in the table below. Detailed description of how to play this game can be found a in the attached game manual. Please note that individual
gamepad buttons are emulated by different keys on your PC keyboard depending on the settings of your online emulator (see the table next to the game).
Use D-pad to control Lee's movement. Press up to jump and down to crouch. You may jump in any direction regardless of your position. If you jump into the wall you will simply bounce off of it.
Press A button alone to perform a basic punch attack. By combining the A button with the arrow keys, Lee can perform a variety of different punches.
Press B button alone to perform a basic kick attack. By combining the B button with the arrow keys, Lee can perform a variety of different kicks.
Press Select on the title screen menu to select between a one or two player game.
Press Start to begin a new game or to pause the action mid-game.
Videogame Console:
This version of Yie Ar Kung-Fu was designed for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), which was an eight-bit video game console manufactured
by Nintendo in the years 1983 - 2003. In that time, it was the best-selling video game console for which more than 700 licensed games and a number of non-licensed
games were created. Worldwide, approximately 62 million units of this console were sold at approximately price $ 100 per unit. More information about the
NES console can be found here.
Recommended Game Controllers:
You can control this game easily by using the keyboard of your PC (see the table next to the game). However, for maximum gaming enjoyment, we strongly recommend using a USB gamepad that you simply plug into the USB port of your computer. If you do not have a gamepad, buy a suitable USB controller on Amazon or AliExpress or in some of your favorite online stores.
Available online emulators:
6 different online emulators are available for Yie Ar Kung-Fu. These emulators differ not only in the technology they use to emulate old games, but also in support of various game controllers, multiplayer mode, mobile phone touchscreen, emulation speed, absence or presence of embedded ads and in many other parameters. For
maximum gaming enjoyment, it's important to choose the right emulator, because on each PC and in different Internet browsers, the individual emulators behave differently. The basic
features of each emulator available for this game Yie Ar Kung-Fu are summarized in the following table:
If you like Yie Ar Kung-Fu you'll probably like also some of the similar games in the overview below. The games you see here
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This version of Yie Ar Kung-Fu was designed for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), which was an eight-bit video game console manufactured
by Nintendo in the years 1983 - 2003. In that time, it was the best-selling video game console for which more than 700 licensed games and a number of non-licensed
games were created. Worldwide, approximately 62 million units of this console were sold at approximately price $ 100 per unit. More information about the
NES console can be found 
