Kung-Fu Master

Kung-Fu Master from 1984, known in Japan as Spartan X, is one of the founding titles of the entire beat 'em up genre, whose basic formula it defined for years to come and which inspired countless successors. Developer Irem cast the player as the fighter Thomas, who must make his way through five floors of a pagoda full of opponents to rescue his girlfriend – a simple, straightforward story that then became a standard of the whole genre, also reflecting the influence of the martial arts action films of the time.

The gameplay is built on punch and kick attacks supplemented by a jump and a crouch, with which the player faces crowds of enemies attacking from both sides of the screen, requiring constant awareness of both directions at once and quick reactions to sudden attacks. At the end of each floor waits a more prominent opponent with their own attack pattern, which must be recognized and learned in order to be defeated, establishing the concept of the boss as the culmination of a game level, something we still encounter in the vast majority of action games across genres today.

Fast pace, clearly readable graphics, and immediate challenge made Kung-Fu Master one of the most influential arcade machines of the mid-1980s, even though its five floors may seem sparse by today's standards. A number of later beat 'em ups, from Double Dragon to Final Fight, built directly on its foundations and adopted its progression through floors and boss fights at the end of levels as a natural part of the genre.

Why play it: It is one of the original foundations of the beat 'em up genre, whose formula of progressing through floors and fighting bosses influenced dozens of later games.