Knuckle Joe

When reading Knuckle Joe,  did anyone say “Fist of the North Star”?

Yes, I heard it and you are probably right: the manga by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara was probably an insipiration for this beat’em up, ancestor of Double Dragon, Golden Axe, Final Fight…

This 1985 game by developed by Seibu Kaihatsu (best known for the Raiden franchise) and published by Taito (just spoiled for choice about titles, to name a few Bubble Bobble, Arkanoid, Space Invaders…) was, indeed, one of the first arcade of this kind available at that time.

And this is proved by the simplicity of its gameplay: you take control of Joe, the main charachter, a martial arts warrior that, in a dystopian future, has the target to clean the city marred by raging criminals.

Each city consists of 12 horizontal-scrolling stages in which Joe should defeat all the enemies before a timer expires. Every series of three stages is closed by a special villain, well-intentioned to give Joe an hard time. If you manage to beat the big boss, Joe will ride his motorcycle for a bonus stage in which the more enemies will be destroyed, the more points will be earned.

Joe can kick and punch: sometimes an enemy will be so nice to lend Joe a kind of machine-gun. And don’t forget the special power-up that makes Joe capable of killing an enemy with a single hit.

Enemies are not helpless: they can hit Joe in different ways, making him to lose a bit of his energy and, when there’s no more, one of his lives.

It’s easy to be intrigued by Knuckle Joe, since gameplay is immediate, but the game is somehow hampered by the really challenging toughness, that can discourage weak players. If you keep striving, however, you can actually enjoy Knuckle Joe, learning a trick or two that can simplify things (hint: slide and punch, do not let them put you in the corner), so I suggest you give Joe a chance if you are a tough boy.

How is Knuckle Joe aged?

Graphic: nice charachters, they seem to be inspired by “Fist of the North Star”: probably the less pointed one is Joe himself. Few animation frames for all of them.
Sound: not received, I remember only the jingle before each stage.
Playability: easy to start, hard to master before discovering how to effectively play.
Signs of the time: this ancestor of the most known horizontal scrolling beat’em up is still a game that I enjoyed playing again. Strenghten your joystick and complete all the 12 stages. Once done, the game will restart from scratch in a differently named city, but with the same scheme: it is not worth continuing, but I assure you that it will take you time.
Overall: nice-to-play again.