Hokuto no Ken 3 : Shin Seiki Sōzō Seiken Retsuden (北斗の拳3 新世紀創造 凄拳列伝)

Gameplay

The third Famicom game in the series, it is the first to adopt the RPG format, in the wake of Dragon Quest’s success. It features the hallmarks of the genre: exploration, leveling up, inns for recovery, shops and taverns for equipping and gathering information. Spells and items are replaced by vital pressure points (hikō) and Hokuto Shinken techniques. Boss fights take place as duels, and the game showcases large animated character portraits during battles, a polished graphical achievement for the console. To defeat the final boss Kaioh, certain techniques must be used in a specific order, otherwise victory is impossible.

Of note

Still developed by Shouei System for Toei Animation, this installment is generally considered the most faithful to the manga among the four Famicom games, although its reputation remains mixed due to what is seen as rough balancing. It uses a battery-backed save built into the cartridge. It is one of only two Famicom games in the series (along with the very first) to have been included on the Nintendo Classic Mini released in 2018 for the fiftieth anniversary of Weekly Shōnen Jump, which required a special legal process, as the developer Shouei System had gone bankrupt in 1999.