Hokuto no Ken (Famicom): Difference between revisions

|media = [[wikipedia:Cartridge (electronics)|Cartridge]]

The [[Wikipedia:Nintendo Entertainment System|Family Computer]] video game version of {{nihongo|Hokuto no Ken|北斗の拳}} is a 2D side-scrolling action game published by Toei Animation and developed by Toei Systems. It was released exclusively in Japan on August 10, 1986 in Japan and was the first of four ''Hokuto no Ken'' video games released for the Famicom. While it features gameplay similar to Sega's earlier [[Hokuto no Ken (Sega Mark III)|Mark III version]] of ''Hokuto no Ken'', it is a completely different game made by a separate team.

In the year 199X, the world was covered by nuclear flames... The road to challenge Ken-oh, the Conqueror of Century's End, will a long one. Standing before [[Kenshiro]]'s path are [[Heart]], the homicidal maniac; [[Shin]], the man of [[Nanto Sei Ken]]; [[Jagi]], Kenshiro's evil stepbrother; and [[Souther]], the strongest warrior within Nanto Sei Ken. To defeat the Ken-oh, [[Raoh]], Kenshiro attain the secret principles of [[Hokuto Shinken]].

* '''Power-up''' - When you defeat the red-colored enemies with punches, the word "あべし" (abeshi) will appear floating above him. Pick it up to increase your power level, which will be indicated by the number of stars next to your hit counter. You can increase your power up to seven stars.

* '''Hit''' - Indicate the number of enemies defeated. You will gain an extra life if you beat enemies consistently.

The player can perform various finishing moves against the bosses that allows them to finish the battle quicker than usual.

;{{nihongo|''[[Hokuto Jūha Zan]]''|北斗柔破斬|The North Star Softness Ripping Slash}}

:Perform ten kicks on Heart and then finish him off with a punch when his stomach is open.

;{{nihongo|''[[Hokuto Hyakuretsu Ken]]''|北斗百裂拳|The North Star Hundred Crack Fist}}

;{{nihongo|''[[Hokuto Senjukai Ken]]''|北斗千手壊拳|The North Star Thousand Hands of Destruction}}

;{{nihongo|''[[Seieikō]]''|醒鋭孔|Nerve Awakening Hole}}

;{{nihongo|''[[Ujō Mōshō Ha]]''|北斗有情猛翔破|The North Star Sentient Fierce Flying Smash}}

The Big Dipper will appear on the background of certain locations if the 1000th digit of the player's score is an number. Excluding on the final stage (which appears during the final battle and cannot be retrieved), there are four Big Dippers in the game, one for each stage. They must be picked up sequentially for each one to appear and if the one from the first stage isn't picked first, then the rest won't appear. To pick up the Big Dipper, the player must punch or kick it while jumping next to it, meaning that a power level of more than one star is required to pick them.  

Here are the locations of four Big Dippers in order of appearance.

* Stage 1 - At the very first area to the right of a building before the eighth passage.

* Stage 2 - On the second level, before the fourth passage.

* Stage 3- On the final level before the battle with Jagi, after passing by the third passage.

* Stage 4 - Above the third pyramid.

==Anecdotes from the programmers==

The information in this section is taken from the official strategy of the game.

* The voice of Kenshiro when he strikes an enemy's vital points is actually the voice of Toei Animation's producer, which was digitized and programmed into the game.

* The player was originally supposed to gain extra points for defeating bosses with special techniques (this feature was later added in ''Hokuto no Ken 2'' for the Famicom).

* Stage 5 is the only stage in the game without a Big Dipper power-up. One was supposed to be added, but was removed to a huge bug (the one that actually appears in the game during the final battle is just background decoration).

* The instruction manual claims that the player can gain 100 points each time they intercept one of the vacuum wave attacks launched by Shin or Souther, but this cannot be done in the final game.

* The names of each boss' special technique was planned to be displayed whenever the player is defeated by one of them. The kanji for each enemy's technique was actually programmed into the game, but they went unused (this feature was later added in the second Famicom game as well).

* During the final phases of the game's development, the programmers were undecided to whether include [[Uighur]] instead of Mr. Heart as the boss of Stage 1.

* A title screen theme was composed, but went unused due to the fact that the cartridge's memory was almost full.

*{{nihongo|''High-Tech Hokuto no Ken Hiōgi no Sho''|ハイテク 北斗の拳 秘奥義の書}}, Shueisha, August 1986, ISBN 4-8342-1052-9