Remakes
Information
- Author: Jim Bagley
Pros
- Wildly playable
- Amusing sound effects
Cons
- No on-screen score
- Music slowdown
Links
Bruce Lee
This original version of this Bruce Lee game comes from a time when complexity was not an option for fighting games. Indeed, the ZX Spectrum original predates Melbourne House's Way of the Exploding Fist by a couple of years. But what it lacks in the way of moves (you can punch, kick, run away, and that's it), it makes up for in terms of frenetic gameplay.
You, the player, take on the role of Bruce Lee, who travels around the landscape, leaping from platform to platform, collecting hanging lanterns and either fighting or avoiding the ninja and Yamo. Take too many hits and you lose a life; lose too many lives and it's game over.
The map itself is fairly large, and upon collecting all lanterns from a section, hidden doorways tend to open up. The entire map from the original seems to be included, although some concessions have been made, notably due to the GBA's screen size. Rather than an entire screen being displayed at once, the screen scrolls with Bruce's movements, which sometimes makes it hard to judge jumps or to know whether all the lanterns from a particular screen have been collected. The lack of screen space perhaps also explains the lack of an on-screen score panel, although the lack of a life counter is an odd and irritating omission.
Despite its quirks and faults, this remake remains a highly playable game, and it also uses the GBA's added oomph over the Spectrum to add some amusing sound effects and a jaunty tune, which unfortunately has the odd bit of slowdown now and again, unlike Bruce himself—at least if you're playing the game right!
CG
