Hokuto no Ken: Violence Gekiga Adventure (北斗の拳 バイオレンス劇画アドベンチャー)

Gameplay

Rather than an action game, Enix opted for a command-selection adventure using the numeric keypad. The player controls Kenshiro and has Bat carry out his actions, following the same principle as the character Yasu in The Portopia Serial Murder Case, another title from the studio. By exploring villages, the player gathers clues from the inhabitants that will lead him to Southern Cross.

Battles rely on a “pressure point system”: the player must first stop an oscillating bar, then move a fist-shaped cursor to the correct vital pressure point on the opponent, based on clues collected during the adventure. Targeting the wrong point will not defeat the enemy. The decisive blow in this phase is the Hokuto Dankotsukin, a technique that appears in volume 3 of the manga. It should be noted that the locations of the vital points intentionally differ from those in the manga, so that knowledge of the source material alone is not enough to win the battles. On the PC-8801/mkII/SR versions, Kenshiro’s battle cry is reproduced through sound beeps, and the image display features animation effects in certain places.

Of note

The first Hokuto no Ken game ever released, Violence Gekiga Adventure preceded the earliest console adaptations by a few months: the Sega game on Mark III in July 1986, followed by the Toei game on Famicom in August 1986. The credits include Orimo Kenji (programming, graphics) as well as Hidaka Tōru and Takeishi Masamichi (scenario).

The scenario was designed to remain accessible even to players unfamiliar with the manga. The four versions are nearly identical, with only the sound output varying from one machine to another. The PC-8801 version was sold for 6,800 yen, on two 5-inch floppy disks. The cover illustration was drawn by Hiroi Tetsuo.