Overview
Fist II: The Legend Continues is a kung fu-themed side-scroller by Melbourne House, released in 1986 for the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spectrum. It is a sequel to 1985's The Way of the Exploding Fist, which featured similar proto-fighting game combat, but Fist II dispenses with the original one-vs-one fights. In structure, the game bears more resemblance to the original Metroid: the player character is dropped in the middle of a large, somewhat dark world without explanation, armed only with his fists and feet.
The game world extends through jungles, dojos, waterfalls, caves, dungeons and mountains, as the player faces off against evil henchmen, dogs and some sinister puzzles revolving around collecting scrolls and praying at shrines to increase the hero's health.
The second side of the tape on the C64 contained a separate program, referred to as a "Combat Practice Program." This is a more traditional, one-on-one fighting game that plays similarly to the previous game while serving as a sort of training mode for the "Adventure" side of the tape. Rather than grading hits on a half-point/full point system, though, the practice program gives players a set amount of health that is depleted as hits land, like the Fist II adventure mode.
Critics were not too happy about the game after its 2-year development cycle, but Fist II and its predecessor would gain a cult following, and like their contemporaries Karateka and Yie Ar Kung-Fu, they influenced the one-on-one fighting genre that would later emerge in Street Fighter.
Log in to comment