Fist of the North Star (Arcade/PS2 game)

Fist of the North Star
Japanese Name	北斗の拳
Romaji Name	Hokuto no Ken
Publishers	Sega
Developer	Arc System Works
Platforms(s)	Arcade (Atomiswave); PlayStation 2
Genre(s)	2D Fighting game
Release Date	December 2005 (Arcade); March 29, 2007 (PS2)
Age Rating(s)	CERO - B

“ Where Hokuto appears, chaos follows. ”
—The game's intro

Fist of the North Star (北斗の拳, Hokuto no Ken) is a 2005 2D head-to-head arcade fighting game made by Arc System Works and produced by Sega based on Fist of the North Star.

A port for the PlayStation 2 titled Fist of the North Star: The Twin Blue Stars of Judgment - History of Great Fighters (北斗の拳審判の双蒼星拳豪列伝, Hokuto no Ken: Shinpan no Sōsōsei - Kengō Retsuden) was released in 2007 featuring a promotional bonus DVD containing the Starter's Guide and a documentary covering previous Fist of the North Star video games and a new Training Mode was also added to the game.

Gameplay[edit]

A normal battle depicting Ken fighting Shin at Rin's Village

Like many other fighting games two characters selected by the player(s) to fight against one another with a goal of depleting your opponent's health, usually lasting two or three rounds.

Seven Stars of Hokuto[edit]

Below each character's life bar there are seven stars arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper, successfully performing special moves and commands will stop varying amounts of the stars from shining. Once all the stars are depleted Shichosei the Death Omen Star will light up and the player can perform a "Fatal K.O." that will kill their opponent regardless of how much life they have left. Player's start will all of the stars lit up and regain two stars at the beginning of each subsequent round. Failing to perform a Fatal K.O. will regain one star. If a round ends with a Fatal K.O. the player who performed it will start the next round will all seven stars lit again.

Boost[edit]

One of the meters at the bottom of the screen is the Boost Meter, divided into three parts. Using a Boost allows a player to cancel any attacks after it hits and shoots the character forward, preventing any potential counterattacks. It can also be used to make a character travers the stage more quickly. They can be used to perform combos that otherwise would not be possible.

Aura[edit]

The other meters at the bottom of the screen is the Aura Meter. Filling up the Aura Meters allows players to perform Special Moves and Gaurd Cancels. By default, the meters is blue and can be depleted for filled up with another gold meter. When the meter has at least the blue meter filled up the text "GOD FIST BLOW" will appear next to it. If the player's opponent has lost all of their Seven Stars of Hokuto stars, it will read "DEADLY FIST BLOW."

Game Modes[edit]

Versus Mode: Players can fight against CPUs or other players locally.
Arcade Mode: Players select a character and fight through predetermined battles against CPUs that vaguely represent the story of the original manga.
Training Mode: Exclusive to the PS2 version, players can learn the games controls/moves by fighting against an idle CPU.

Characters[edit]

Playable Characters[edit]

Kenshiro

Raoh

Toki

Jagi

Shin

Rei

Yuda

Souther

Heart

Mamiya

Non-Playable Characters[edit]

Yuria appears during the game's intro as well as in Shin's victory animation and the background of the "Southern Cross" stage
Rin and Bat appear during Kenshiro's victory animation
Zeed and his gang appears in the background of the "Rin's Village" stage
Spade, Club, and Diamond appear as a part of Heart's Fatal K.O.
Kokuoh appears in Raoh's intro and victory animation
Dagar and Komaku appear as parts of Yuda's moveset
Shu appears in the background of the "Pyramid" stage
Ohgai appears during Souther's victory animation on the "Pyramid" stage