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Yie Ar Kung-Fu

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Yie Ar Kung-Fu (Chinese: 一二功夫; pinyin: yī èr gōng fū; literally "One Two Kung Fu"; "Yie Ar" is pronounced "ee-ar") features the hero, Oolong (written 烏龍 Wūlóng, and ウーロン Ūron in Japanese), controlled by the player. Oolong must fight all the martial arts masters given by the game (11 in the arcade...

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Developer
Konami

Released on
1984

Size
1–2 Players

Version
Arcade

Requirements
Arcade

Downloads
Fighting

ESRB Rating
Not Rated

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Description

Yie Ar Kung-Fu (Chinese: 一二功夫; pinyin: yī èr gōng fū; literally “One Two Kung Fu”; “Yie Ar” is pronounced “ee-ar”) features the hero, Oolong (written 烏龍 Wūlóng, and ウーロン Ūron in Japanese), controlled by the player. Oolong must fight all the martial arts masters given by the game (11 in the arcade version; five to 13 in the home ports) unarmed to win the title of “Grand Master” and honor the memory of his father. On his side is a variety of punch and kick blows reachable by combining the joystick with one of the buttons (punch or kick). He also has the greatest jumping ability of all the game’s fighters, with the exception of “Blues”.
The player faces a variety of opponents, each with a unique appearance and fighting style. The player can perform up to 16 different moves, using a combination of buttons and joystick movements while standing, crouching or jumping. Moves are thrown at high, middle, and low levels. Regardless of the move that defeated them, male characters (save Feedle) always fall unconscious lying on their backs with their legs apart (players flail their feet), and female characters always fall demurely lying on their sides. Feedle disappears. There are only two female fighters, and the rest are male. When a player gains an extra life, the word “xiè xiè” (Mandarin Chinese for “thank you”) is heard.

Yie Ar Kung-Fu

Overview & History

Released by Konami in 1985, Yie Ar Kung-Fu is widely heralded as the primordial architect of the modern one-on-one fighting game genre, predating Capcom's Street Fighter by two years. Created by legendary designer Takashi Nishiyama, the arcade original breaks away from the sprawling platformers of its era, instead locking two martial artists into a single-screen arena. The rudimentary storyline casts players as Oolong, a selfless master of martial arts on a righteous quest to defeat a council of vicious grandmasters and avenge his father's honor. Operating on Konami’s custom hardware, the game introduced distinct character archetypes, a sequential boss-rush progression, and digitized voice samples that dramatically heightened the arcade tension. Its monumental success paved the way for the competitive fighting boom that would dominate the late 1980s and 1990s.

Gameplay Features & Mechanics

Unlike contemporary brawlers, Yie Ar Kung-Fu demands tactical precision across eleven unique, screen-spanning bouts against increasingly bizarre opponents. Oolong fights entirely solo against a gauntlet of specialists—from the staff-wielding Chain and the flying-kick expert Star, to the fire-breathing Daoist wizard Buchu. The core innovation lies in the directional attack system: combining the joystick with punch and kick buttons yields up to 16 distinct offensive maneuvers, ranging from low sweeping kicks and flying aerial drop-kicks to high jabs. Opponents possess dedicated attack patterns and specific weaknesses, forcing players to master distance management, ducking projectile weapons like throwing stars, and capitalizing on narrow recovery frames. Scoring points unlocks bonus stages focused on catching falling objects or smashing falling boulders, adding nostalgic arcade flavor between the grueling martial arts duels.