JACKIE CHAN IN FISTS OF FIRE
Original Release: Kaneko, 1995, Arcade
Apparently part of a deal to help finance the movie Thunderbolt, this obscure arcade title is most noteworthy for having done its own mocap of Jackie and several other stars
Jackie Chan in Fists of Fire (Arcade, Kaneko, 1995)
Where to Buy: eBay
How to Emulate: Arcade Emulation Guide
Review by: C. M0use
Kaneko never dabbled in fighting games again after this release, a fact that will probably not surprise you if you play it. It's a subpar, somewhat slapped together digitized fighter in the key of Mortal Kombat. There is a surprising amount of (very poorly animated) blood considering Jackie Chan's usual family-friendly nature, and every non-Jackie character both has fatalities and can have fatalities done to them. Jackie just falls on his ass then gives you a thumbs up when you beat him.
The roster is actually somewhat interesting for Hong Kong kung fu cinema buffs, though clearly the budget was thin here as it only contains six fighters plus three iterations of Jackie wearing different outfits and with different move sets. Yeung Ching-Ching is actually a staple of Shaw Brothers movies, starring in some of their biggest hits including Eight Diagram Pole Fighter. Sam and Lau appeared in a number of Chan's movies and should be instantly familiar to genre fans. The other three are just rando one-offs from certain movies of his, apparently.
All of the fighters including Jackie were apparently directly motion-captured, which is really the most interesting thing about the game. Otherwise it's a bog-standard MK clone and not a particularly technically sound one. The gameplay isn't terrible, but there's also nothing particularly fun or satisfying about it, and it's horribly unbalanced as all the Jackie clones are way more powerful than every other character.
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