Yie Ar Kung Fu

To be completely frank, fighting games aren't really my thing, so my interest in Yie Ar Kung Fu was almost purely for its historical value. Although not the first game in its genre, it was the progenitor of the health bar that would soon become a staple in series like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. The feature is pretty simplistic in its debut here, broken into eight equal segments that detract one by one with a hit of any kind, but as an early title, I wasn't expecting something super advanced. That mindset was good to have going into this, as the rest of the game matches the health bar in complexity.

In Yie Ar Kung Fu, you can jump, crouch, and walk as you would expect from a fighting game, but your actual combat potential is pretty limited. You can punch and kick, but the segmented health bars mean the only difference between the two is where they hit. There's no risk-reward balance for heavy and light attacks, there are no combos, and there are no other playable characters to mix things up. This relative simplicity makes Yie Ar Kung Fu far more accessible, but also a lot less interesting. The inability to play as any of the other fighters, who can actually be pretty cool, also makes this game feel a little archaic.

I love playing old games, and I especially love when they still hold up today. Unfortunately, Yie Ar Kung Fu isn't quite so magical anymore compared to some other games from its time. I can appreciate the groundwork it laid for the genre, and I'm probably a bit biased as I've never loved traditional fighting games, but it's hard for me to want to keep playing this one. My goal of gleaning historical value from the game was a success, so I'm glad I played it. However, I don't think I'll be playing it again.

The game is available for PS4 and PS5 here (as of 7/20/21): https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP0571-CUSA16526_00-HAMPRDC000000001
The game is available for Switch here (as of 7/20/21): https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/arcade-archives-yie-ar-kung-fu-switch/

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