Way better than it should be as the first beat 'em up with belt scrolling.
I liked the graphics - all the characters and stages look cool, and those little cutscenes where Kunio's friend Hiroshi gets beaten up is the cherry on top.
The combat does feel a little stiff, but the moveset is great: you have combo punches, back kicks, jump kicks, dash and dash punches. You can grab stunned opponents and knee-bash them or throw over the shoulder. You can finish fallen guys with punches and even get grabbed from behind and break free. Also buttons define the direction of your attacks rather than the type, which I find really intuitive.
As for the challenge - it's hard as hell, especially the last stage with one-hitting yakuza guys. After numerous tries I barely managed to finish the first loop, and then found out I was playing on Normal.
Might be not the best beat 'em up to get into today, but impressive for 1986.
I liked the graphics - all the characters and stages look cool, and those little cutscenes where Kunio's friend Hiroshi gets beaten up is the cherry on top.
The combat does feel a little stiff, but the moveset is great: you have combo punches, back kicks, jump kicks, dash and dash punches. You can grab stunned opponents and knee-bash them or throw over the shoulder. You can finish fallen guys with punches and even get grabbed from behind and break free. Also buttons define the direction of your attacks rather than the type, which I find really intuitive.
As for the challenge - it's hard as hell, especially the last stage with one-hitting yakuza guys. After numerous tries I barely managed to finish the first loop, and then found out I was playing on Normal.
Might be not the best beat 'em up to get into today, but impressive for 1986.