Thursday, February 28, 2008

Hokuto no Ken [The Best] - New Import, In Stock

Originally released for the Atomiswave arcade hardware in 2005, Sega by way of Arc System Works finally unleashes Hokuto no Ken for the home console market. Set in a post-apocalyptic dystopia, the fighters in Hokuto no Ken live and die by the fist. Kenshiro Kasumi is one such fighter who struts around in leather duds with chest bared and pectorals rippling. Sharing the doomed world with him are gangs of roaming biker gangs and bandits who prey upon an unprotected populace. To get a little law and order back into the mix, Kenshiro battles thugs with his mighty Hokuto Shinken martial arts skills. Ken's encounters in the wastelands of the future invariably end in tears and gore. Lots of chunky red gore as in exploding bodies, projectile blood ejection, and severe organ damage.

Despite the fighting nature of the Hokuto no Ken manga and animation, there's been more video games based on the purely Japanese phenomenon of pachi-slot than fighting. To balance the scales a little bit, Arc System Works of Guilty Gear fame creates a fast-paced 2D fighting game which features 10 brusque and bulging bruisers from Hokuto no Ken. There's the mighty Kenshiro, the conqueror Raoh, his brother Toki, Juda, Thouther, and five more muscle-bound combatants. «Game Notes»

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