Play Kung-Fu Master online

Few arcade games pack so much energy into so little: you walk down a hallway, they swarm you from both sides, and all you've got are your fists and feet. Kung-Fu Master was the cabinet where the older kids showed off their reflexes and the younger ones learned by watching.

At UsuArcade you can climb those temple floors again right in your browser. Take a seat, drop in a coin and here they come.

History

Irem released Kung-Fu Master in 1984. In Japan it was called Spartan X and tied in with the Jackie Chan movie of the same name. It was designed by Takashi Nishiyama, who went on to work on other famous fighting games.

It's often called one of the first side-scrolling beat 'em ups: walking through a stage and taking on waves of enemies from both directions became the blueprint for an entire genre.

How to play

Thomas has to rescue Sylvia, kidnapped by Mr. X, by fighting through five floors of a temple. Grabbers latch on and drain your energy, knife throwers keep their distance, tiny tricksters leap at you and other surprises drop from the ceiling.

You can punch and kick standing, crouching or jumping. To break a grab, waggle the joystick hard left and right. A boss waits at the end of each floor, and the clock is always ticking: dawdle too long and you lose a life.

Fun facts

• In Japan the game was called Spartan X, like the Jackie Chan movie.
• Floors alternate direction: some you fight to the left, others to the right.
• Two players alternate on one cabinet.

In the arcade

Kung-Fu Master was a take-turns game, and that's how it plays on UsuArcade, just online: invite your friend to your cabinet once they're in the lobby and trade turns, each on your own phone or PC. While one plays, the other watches live.

Nothing to install: it runs in your browser, gamepad supported, and every game starts with INSERT COIN, free. Everyone else in the lobby can watch and chat, and scores go up on the arcade's high score board.

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