You were shocked? You read that right. Arc System Works were mostly known for the Guilty Gear and BlazBlue fighting game series, but their take on a Dragon Ball fighting game, Dragon Ball FighterZ, has caught massive attention.
But back in 2005, the developers gave a similar treatment to another well-known manga/anime series, Hokuto No Ken (Fist Of The North Star). The arcade title, simply titled Hokuto No Ken, was a 2D fighting game with faithfully recreated sprites based on the anime. Most of the voice cast from the anime retain their roles.
Hokuto No Ken is known for its over-the-top fisticuffs, and the game captured that essence perfectly. Maybe too perfectly, as players have found various infinite combos and overpowered moves. This recent twitter post captures that issue perfectly.
good grief !
(make sure you watch til end)#北斗の拳 pic.twitter.com/Z0uFXcBjhV
— cass (@kitsunecass) December 1, 2017
It does make for crazy comebacks, so it’s not all bad.
A PS2 port of the arcade game was released in 2007, but only in Japan. Here’s a one-hour video of gameplay of that version, titled “Hokuto no Ken: Shinpan no Sōsōsei Kengō Retsuden” by Super Best Friends Play.
This goes to show that Arc System Works has the pedigree to handle competent anime fighters, they’ve been doing such things for years now.
Arc System Work’s next game, Dragon Ball FighterZ, will be out on 26th January for the rest of the world (except Japan). The Hokuto No Ken license will see a another video game adaptation soon, this time by the team behind Yakuza series titled Hokuto Ga Gotoku, that should be out in Japan on 22nd February.