First, let me just say that I really did not anticipate any negative energy when I started this thread.
May I suggest everyone take a deep breath, exhale, and sip some oolong tea?
That's better.
China Warrior, like many games, has an incredibly simple concept. I think it does a mediocre job with this simple concept--and, still, amazingly, this mediocrity can be fun! I don't fault Beer Tapper for not allowing me to level up my speed and dexterity, D&D RPG-style.
Black Tiger, a few years back, told us about
Gladiator, which I had never played before. I was delighted! I had forgotten about Gladiator until reading B_T's post earlier in this thread.
. IIRC, B_T used "litterbug" to describe this genre of game? Ahh, my memory fails me, but I want to play that game again!
China Warrior is a RHYTHM GAME, but better (IMO), because I like PUNCHING TWIGS (the sound effect for that is great!).
Plus, when our hero is injured, the corner of his lip gets bloody! And his abdomen! How could you not like this?
I got this game when it first came out, and, quite honestly, I didn't think it was anything special. I thought the boss fights were the weakest part of the game, and, not surprisingly, I still feel the same way. Our hero, and the monks, are especially stiff in appearance. I wanted more depth.
Despite all of these things, China Warrior can be a lot of fun, if you accept it for what it is.
In fact, I'll go further: the gameplay during the stages is almost divine, and transcends the "stiffness" to a zen-like state where the game requires a nuanced, subtle hand. You literally become "one with the game" and it flows.
SINSTRON gets it
I don't know about this "you gotta be hardcore to like China Warrior" nonsense- especially coming from Zeta who loves shit games like Burning Angels. I really enjoy China Warrior- and I don't consider myself gung-ho hardcore. Plenty of turbo games I can't stand- Samurai Ghost being one of them- Burning Angels another- the list is pretty big- but for some standard big dude kicking and punching with some appropriate theme music humming along- China Warrior does the trick... yeah- it's jerky- but you just need to adjust your rhythm- and yeah the enemies get monotonous- but it's all worth it to duke it out with the old drunken master at the end- and few hits in videogames are as satisfying as China Warrior's ludicrous giant fist punch. It's crap- yeah- but it's GOOD crap. There is such a thing.
Yup. It is good crap
. The "fists of fury" is also pretty damn satisfying.
And, I'm no misogynist (far from it), but punching the bosses in their faces (including the lady!) was satisfying. I just wish the boss fights weren't broken (using turbo+cornering the boss+crouching/standing up/down rapidly). Hudson should have refined the boss fights... so that you couldn't exploit anything and were forced to devise different strategies.
I just played "The Kung Fu" last night and got 138,000 points. Got to level 4-1.
The game is great fun in 15-minute increments once a month. I had no desire to repeat the game, or play again.
I always wanted to get to the next stage in China Warror.
But, I agree that it is therapeutic. There is something therapeutic about China Warrior. Maybe the oolong tea has something to do with it.
FOR THE RECORD: Keith Courage had potential to be awesome, but it gets tedious/repetitive quickly. It is very playable, though. The transition from overworld-->underworld is nice, because you really feel like a badasss in the Nova Suit. Jumping in the Nova Suit, swinging the sword--it feels great, and the sfx when you land are great. Too bad all of this was squandered by boring overworld level designs (there should have been puzzles/variety--how lame is it to simply buy a new sword and a handful of bombs?), a severely lacking cast of enemies, etc.. Similarly, Altered Beast had potential to be awesome, but stinky controls (among other things) sabotaged it. Both games deserved more tenderness and love in development.
