''Black Belt'' is a side-scrolling single-player

beat 'em up The beat 'em up (also known as brawler and, in some markets, beat 'em all) is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in scrolling, two-dimensional (2D) levels, ...

game released for the

Master System The is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series of consoles, which was released in Japan in 1985 and ...

in 1986. It is a localization of the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese Mark III game, , based on the

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

and

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

series ''

Fist of the North Star is a Japanese manga series written by Buronson and illustrated by Tetsuo Hara. It was serialized in Shueisha's Shōnen manga, ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' for 245 issues published from 1983 to 1988 and initially colle ...

'' (known as ''Hokuto no Ken'' in Japan). The export version was released without the ''Hokuto no Ken'' license, forcing graphic alterations to the game. ''Black Belt'' was one of programmer

Yuji Naka , credited in some games as YU2, is a Japanese video game programmer, video game designer, designer and video game producer, producer. He is the former head of the Sega studio Sonic Team, where he was the lead programmer of the original ''Sonic t ...

's early games prior to his involvement in ''

Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...

''.

Plot and gameplay

The player takes control of a martial artist named Riki (

Kenshiro is a fictional character and the protagonist of the ''Fist of the North Star'' manga series created by Tetsuo Hara and Buronson. According to Hara and Buronson, Kenshiro's character design was primarily based on the martial artist and actor ...

in the original release), who sets out to rescue his girlfriend Kyoko (

Yuria YURIA (born October 10, 1967) is a musician and voice actress from Osaka Prefecture, Japan. She was the lead vocalist and guitarist for Honey Bee, currently she is the lead vocalist and bassist for the Japanese punk rock band Pinky Doodle ...

) from his rival, Wang (

Raoh is a fictional character in the ''Fist of the North Star'' manga franchise by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara. He is the eldest of four honorary brothers (including the protagonist Kenshiro) who trained in the ancient assassination art of Hokuto Shink ...

). The game is composed of six left-to-right side-scrolling stages in which Riki faces different types of underlings (depending on the stage), facing the occasional sub-boss at midpoints of certain stages. Keeping true to the original source material ''Hokuto no Ken'', underlings violently explode upon being punched or kicked. At the end of each stage, Riki must confront the stage's boss, each being susceptible to only one type of attack. The player must exploit their opponent's weakness and use it to finish the boss off.

Release

''Black Belt'' was originally a ''

Hokuto no Ken is a Japanese manga series written by Buronson and illustrated by Tetsuo Hara. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' for 245 issues published from 1983 to 1988 and initially collected in 27 '' ...

'' game in Japan. The character and backgrounds were changed during localization to remove all ties to the property. The game's third boss, which was originally a battle with a much larger opponent, was also changed to a normal boss battle in ''Black Belt''. However, the game mechanics are still the same and even the lesser enemies die by exploding into bits, which caused the game to be banned from sale to those under age 18 in Germany until 2012. A sequel was released for the

Mega Drive The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master System. Sega released it in 1988 in Japan a ...

in Japan, which was released internationally as '' Last Battle'', once again stripped of the ''Hokuto no Ken'' license. In Japan, a remake of ''Hokuto no Ken'' featuring 3D polygonal graphics was released for the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

on March 25, 2004 as the 11th entry in Sega's '' Sega Ages 2500'' line, with an emulation of the original version included as a bonus. The original Master System version was digitally re-released in Japan for the

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...

via the

Virtual Console A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Unix ...

service on February 26, 2008. The game can also be unlocked for play in the 2018 title '' Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise''. The western release of ''Lost Paradise'' retains the original Japanese release of ''Hokuto no Ken'' rather than its western ''Black Belt'' counterpart.

Reception

Computer and Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website ...

'' reviewed ''Black Belt'' in 1989 and gave it an 80% score. They said the "graphics are neat, and there's loads of kicking and punching action to keep you happy." ''Computer and Video Games'' reviewed the game again in 1990, giving it an 81% score and calling it "definitely one of the better Sega beat 'em ups" around. ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...

'' called ''Black Belt'' a "straight ahead imitator" of ''

Kung Fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common ...

'', and mocked the

Engrish ''Engrish'' is a slang term for the inaccurate, nonsensical or ungrammatical use of the English language by native speakers of Japanese, as well as Chinese and other Asian languages. The word itself relates to Japanese speakers' tendency to s ...

documentation that stated that the player would fight "Black Women" and "Wang".

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Black Belt (Video Game) 1986 video games Fist of the North Star video games Master System games Sega video games Post-apocalyptic video games Virtual Console games Video games developed in Japan

Plot and gameplay

Release

Reception

See also

References

External links