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Jackie Chan in The Protector - MSX (1985)
European MSX Cover |
Title Screen |
Jackie Chan in The Protector (MSX) |
For the US audience, this was probably the most forgetable movie Chan had ever made until the release of Spy Next Door proved us all wrong. Chan plays police officer Billy Wong who works in New York, swears all the time and shoots thugs without any remorse. It's maybe strange to think they choose this of all movies to make a game out of, but after its disasterous release in the US, Jackie reshot alot of the scenes for this movie, including the last fight, and released his version in Asia to avoid damage to his image. The movie was quite a success in Asia, and so Pony Canyon decided to make a game out of it on the MSX. This title differs from the 2 previous MSX releases. The graphics has a more defined style, with the sprite looking like Jackie. The game itself can be described as a cross between Mario Bros and Yie Ar Kung Fu. You jump onto platforms with the help of trampolines, and fight the different bad guys. Each stage has a different layout, and all the enemies are clearly defined and colorful. The scenery changes at times too, as you fight in warehouses and factories. It is a much more enjoyable game than the Karateka like fighters before it, and can actually be quite enjoyable. Some years later, a company called Brother Industries released a reskinned version of this game called Legend of Takeru on the MSX. Again, there's little memorable music to be heard, and the cover art is quite confusing, as it shows a blonde protagonist, dark haired female and a floating burning head. Yeah. |
 Jackie Chan in The Protector (MSX)
Legend of Takeru (MSX)
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Jackie Chan in The Police Story - MSX (1985)
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MSX Cover |
Title Screen |
Jackie Chan in The POLICE STORY (MSX) |
Police Story is another big fan favorite, and in Japan especially, this movie made quite an impact. The movie revolves around Chan Ka-Kui, a police officer determined to bust the crime lord Chu Tao. After successfully doing so, he is shown as a model police officer in the media, and Chu Tao vows revenge on him, going after his family and pride.
The game uses the same sprites and style as The Protector, released a few month prior to this game. In this game you control Jackie going through a large building beating up baddies and snakes. The goal is to walk around, finding items to unlock doors, and finding the boss. As you go on, the buildings get bigger and the game drags on. Most the rooms look largely the same apart from a few color changes and decorations, and the enemies you face are loose snakes, punk thugs and bald musclemen. After a few minutes, the game gets extremely repetetive, and you'll find yourself pretty confused over the items and the shoddy colission detection. While it uses the same style, The Protector was a much more enjoyable game, as it had a much more simple approach, and this game tries to be more complicated for no other reason than to differ from the other releases.
For a movie with so many legendary key scenes, it's clear that this game is wasted potential.
Jackie Chan in The POLICE STORY (MSX)
Jackie Chan in The POLICE STORY (MSX)
MSX Cover |
Title Screen |
Project A 2 (MSX) |
Pony Canyon's last effort on the MSX was the 1987 release of Project A 2. This game is based on the movie Project A Part 2, which was filmed with Japan in mind. According to popular legend, the emperor of Japan was such a big fan of Project A, that he sent word that he wanted to see a sequel, and so Jackie decided to do so. The movie picks up right after the end of Project A, as the pirates are defeated and the few remaining survivors take a blood oath to seek revenge for their fallen brothers. Ma is transferred to work as a police officer to figure out if the allegations of corrupt police men is indeed true.
This game is a clear departure from the other much more simple designed games on the MSX. This time you control Ma in an open end adventure, similar to Zelda 2: Adventures of Link. The graphics has gotten a huge boost from the MSX2, and look quite defined and appropriate, with Ma wearing the iconic sailor suit, though in the movie, he is mostly seen in civilian clothes and police uniforms. You walk around the streets of Hong Kong, collecting clues about the pirates, and engage in fights against foes of all kinds. There is plenty of dialogue in this game, and while the story doesn't exactly follow the movie, it does a good enough job representing the feel of Project A as a whole. As you walk around buildings, you'll find random thugs for a quick fight, and also different bosses, including a sumo wrestler and a police officer which seems to be based on Yuen Biao's character in the first film. Ma has a small range of attacks, with a punch, high kick and low kick. He can also block incoming attacks and perform a long range back flip to escape quickly. As you stand by the walls, you can also perform a kick from bouncing off the wall. The music is also much more catchy, and the stroll music is quite enjoyable. This game is by far the best of the MSX Jackie Chan outings, and quite a good game when it's all said and done. It's a title that would be fun to have fan translated one day so that fans can enjoy this quite elaborate MSX adventurer. The game is reasonably hard unless you can read Japanese because of the clues, but the action makes it an enjoyable play through nontheless.
There were 2 versions released of this game. One officially by Pony Canyon, and an unofficial copy by the Korean group ZEMINA. There's no real difference between the 2 versions other than a slight variation on the title screen.
Project A 2 (MSX)
Project A 2 Zemina (MSX)
Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu - NES / Famicom / TurboGrafx 16 / PC Engine (1990)
US NES Cover
NES European Cover
TurboGrafx 16 Cover
By the end of the 80's, there was one undisputed king in the world of video games, and that was Nintendo. With the Famicom, they had taken the world by storm, and it seems only natural that Asia's biggest superstar and Japan's favorite good guy would eventually land his own title on the console. In 1990, Hudson Soft picked up the licence to his likeness, and they set out to create a Jackie Chan worthy game on the system. Unlike all the other games, this was not based on any movie, but took inspiration from different ones.
In the game you control Jackie, as he sets out to save his twin sister Josephine from the Prince of Sorcerers who kidnaps her at the beginning of the game. As you begin, you get the blessing of the abbott and run into the danger. The graphics are highly styilized, with a distinct anime look and clear Jackie features, like his bangy hair and comical stances and facial expressions. His sprite is based on his appareance as Wong Fei Hung in Drunken Master. In the game you have a wide arrange of attacks. You got the standard punch and kicks, you can charge fireballs and shoot long distance, and you can pick up special moves by punching frogs which spits out orbs containing a special move, mostly variations of spin kicks.
The enemies include Project A looking pirates, flying nunchucks, wild tigers, angry birds and
pitchfork wielding maniacs. There are 5 stages, and as you begin the game a Chinese scroll rolls open and shows you the map and location. The game takes you through the new territories of Hong Kong, from the waterfalls fighting tigers, to the skies on rocket turtle shells and to the fortress to fight evil. The fortress is especially interesting, as it draws more inspiration from Japanese anime with its technology based design. You'll find elevators, conveyor belts and electro fields. I guess it's a bit of stretch that there would be a castle like this in China during the Qing dynasty, but it does add a unique and playful nature to the overall setting of the game. Graphically it's one of the nicest looking games in the NES library, with tons of style, fluid animation, big detailed sprites and colorful vibrant backgrounds. The chibi style art lends itself well to the comedy of Jackie, and the game feels very rich and thourough. The controls are quite responsive and it never feels delayed or akward, and the lightness of Jackie can feel reminiscent of Adventure Island. At times however it does suffer from some severe sprite flickering, especially on the last boss, and at times the bosses will be virtually invisible for exteneded periods of time due to this, leading to some fustrating battles. The special moves as mentioned earlier is picked up by hitting the frogs that you will find jumping around on different parts of the levels. When you hit them, a small orb will fly out of their mouths and will disappear after a short period of time if you miss it. The orbs have different symbols which indicates what move you will obtain.
The music was composed by Masakatsu Maekawa, who was also responsible for the music in Adventure Island 2, 3 and Final Soldier. The score remains strong all the way through the game, with a trademark Hudson Soft catchyness to the melodies and has an especially awesome credits theme. Hudson later re-released this title in a slightly updated form on the TurboGrafx 16 and PC Engine in 1991. This version of the game features quite different graphics, opting for more of a realistic characture of Jackie and more faded colors. The stage layout and item distrubution has also been changed. This version is also significally harder than the NES as some enemies take more hits and have much more reach, and they added a few more bosses to the stages. The music remains mostly the same, though higher quality thanks to the more advanced sound of the system. Jackie also has a voice in this game and will cry out as he attacks. The levels run for much longer on this version, and almost all of the levels have been overhauled completely from its NES counterpart. Overall this hurts the game as the stage design is not as interesting, and feels much more flat and repetetive. At times you will find sections repeating during the earlier levels, and the colors aren't as vibrant, making it a less appealing as a platformer. The only real advantage this version has over the NES is the music, which like most TG16 games sounds awesome.
NES - Level 1
Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu (NES)
Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu (NES)
Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu (NES)
Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu (NES)
Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu (NES)
Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu (NES)
Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu (NES)
Comparison Screenshots
Turbografx-16 - Level 1
NES - Credits
TurboGrafx 16 - Credits
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Boss Comparisons
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Ending - NES
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Ending - Turbografx 16
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