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Simple 2000 Series Vol. 82: The Kung Fu (The カンフー) - PlayStation 2 (2004) |
This game isn't officially associated with Chan, but as soon as you start the game up you'll see that it might as well have been called "The Jackie Chan." D3's Simple Series is a line of budget titles released in Japan developed by small companies and released around the price range of $25 US. The Simple Series has spread across many platforms, and on the PS2 alone there are over 100 of these titles to be found. The most famous out of all those titles are The Oneechanbara and Earth Defense Force. The game revolves around the main character Chan and his kung fu teacher. You'll be running around villages, the woods of the new territories and castles as you battle multiple onscreen opponents. The entire game is modeled after Drunken Master, one of Chan's most famous movies. In fact all the art is made to look exactly like it, just look at the comparison:
Sadly, the game is plagued with horrible production values which makes it pretty dull. Enemies have virtually no intelligence and will stand still in front of you just waiting on being beaten, and the collision detection is completely broken. You got one attack button which seems to be done in slow motion and the stages are flat, uneventful and all look the same. The only real highlight is the music which is surprisingly good compared to the rest of the game. To further the Jackie Chan movie feel, all the dialogue was recorded in Cantonese and feature Japanese subtitles. Some of the Simple Series titles did get a release in the West, often in smaller European territories. This title is also listed to have been released by Italian shovelware pusher 505 Games, but outside of a few listings there aren't any evidence of it having been released anywhere outside of Japan. |
The Kung Fu (PlayStation 2)
The Kung Fu (PlayStation 2)
The Kung Fu (PlayStation 2) |
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Inspired Characters |
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A very familiar looking foe turns up in China Warrior, the TurboGrafx-16 reimagening of Kung-Fu Master. In this game you play as Wang, a warrior who has an extreme resemblence to Bruce Lee. The whole concept of the game is to walk in one direction and kick whatever comes your way. The Jackie Chan character appears multiple times as a boss. Cheng Fu from the Neo Geo version of Double Dragon is based on the Drunken Master persona, drinks sake instead of Chinese wine and has an overall goofy behavior. The Fatal Fury series also features a character with a strong resemblance by the name of Hon-Fu. Described as a Hong Kong cop, his fighting style is a blend of Jackie's acrobatic style and Bruce Lee's famous nunchuk skills. In Pokémon there is a punching type monster which goes by the name Hitmonchan. A physical fighter like Jackie, his name is a combination of the words Hit, Monster and Chan. The most famous of the Jackie Chan inspired characters however would be Tekken's Lei Wulong. Lei Wulong is a Hong Kong super cop who uses the Five Animals Style and Drunken Fist techniques. His appearance, backstory, behavior and fighting style are all heavily based on Jackie Chan, much like the Law character being based on Bruce Lee. Lei's ending sequences often include several nods to scenes from Jackie Chan movies. |
Tekken 6 (PlayStation 3) |
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China Warrior (TurboGrafx-16) |
Cheng Fu (Double Dragon) |
Hon-Fu (Fatal Fury) |
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Hitmonchan |
Lei Wulong |
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While Chan's video gameography might not be as impressive as his filmography, it's still an interesting aspect to his long career that is often overlooked. We've gone from the simplest of games on the MSX to 3D adventures that aim at giving players a chance to controlling their own Jackie Chan adventure, and sadly a few quick cash-ins without any effort put into the product. Now that we have seen games like Uncharted which combines on foot action with death defying stunts, it'll be interesting to see if anyone is brave enough to once again create a game that lives up to the quality and guts of the stuntmaster. Thanks to Bey Logan for additional information and research.
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