Hello friends. Dan Ryan here, you… there. Thank you so much for checking in and if you like what you see please comment and share. A long time ago on a website far, far away, Geekade if you’re curious, I wrote a column during the summer months called Kung-Fu Fridays. The goal with those posts was to highlight a martial arts, read Kung-Fu/Ninja/Karate/etc., movie, video game, or sometimes both at the same time. My love for martial arts media is endless. It has been a major part of my pop-culture identity since I was a little kid and now, as an adult, it has only grown. So it is in that spirit that I bring this new version to you, the reader. Submitted for your approval this is Kung-Fu Fridays: Kabuki Quantum Fighter. As with all reviews here on the blog I will be using the wholly original, not copied at all from any defunct gaming magazine, patent pending SAG Pod Ranking System, which is explained below…

Developed by Human Entertainment and published by HAL Laboratories for the NES in January 1991, Kabuki Quantum Fighter is a slightly retooled version of the Famicom game Jigoku Gokurakumaru released one month earlier in December 1990. The only reason to bring that up is to explain the slightly bonkers story of the NES version. In the Famicom version 15 year old Bobby Yano transforms into a samurai ancestor and goes into a computer on a space station to fight viruses that could potentially end the world. It was developed as a tie-in to the tokusatsu film Zipang, which did not release in NA. As such, the story was changed to that of 25 year old Colonel Scott O’Connor who transforms his brain into binary code and goes into a computer, though not on a space station, to fight viruses that could potentially end the world. When Scott O’Connor enters the computer he transforms into the image of his great, great grandfather who was, naturally, a kabuki actor for… reasons. (see, totally makes sense now) Goofy story aside, Kabuki Quantum Fighter is awesome! It’s one of those games that sat on shelves a bit due to the, admittedly, absurd title and confusing box. Those who did play it though got a really well made action title that was a little bit kung-fu, a little bit sci-fi, a little bit Sunsoft’s Batman, and a lotta bit cool. What Kabuki Quantum Fighter has working for it in spades is “cool”. (your kids call it vibes or aura now btw, which will of course be dated in a few years but I digress) This game just has that cool factor throughout. Design, moves, enemies, everything about this game is just cool. It’s a great little game that can be beaten in an hour or two and is relatively on the easier side of NES games. And when you do play through I recommend using a JAB controller which you can get right here on the Stone Age Gamer.

JAB Controller for NES, PC, and Mac - Retro Fighters

$24.99

JAB Next-Gen Nintendo NES, PC & Mac Controller - Retro Fighters Not compatible with the NES Classic Edition – (NES Pro Adapter required) NTSC region...… read more

Graphics: 4 Kabuki Quantum Fighter is a very good looking game. There is a bit of flicker and a bit of slowdown, and the walk animation needed another frame or two to not look so silly. Other than those issues though the rest is pretty great. Most animations look natural and animate well. The backgrounds are detailed and varied enough. The enemies are a bit generic but still look like they belong. Hazards are clearly visible. Everything works together.

Sound: 3.5 The music in Kabuki Quantum Fighter is good. All of the tracks fit the theme of the game and never overstay their welcome. The only real downside to them is that there just isn’t very much here. The entire game is 6 levels long with the final level being a boss fight. Sound effects are minimal and work for what they are.

Control: 4.5 Maybe a controversial opinion but I love the way this game controls. Much like Sunsoft’s Batman, you need to really “get” this game before it becomes great. The controls are very deliberate, especially the jumping. Jumping factors into the level design quite heavily with little platforms used by Scott to get over various sections of the level. The length of your button press determines the height of your jump and it needs to be exact. There is trial and error for sure but once it clicks it feels great to play. Attacks are done with one button. Your standard hair whip can be switched to a projectile by pressing select. Switching back is as simple as cycling through with the select button. The overall feeling is very tight which is exactly what I want in a platformer.

Fun Factor: 4 I really like this game. It is a blast to play through once you feel comfortable with the controls and learn the levels. There is definitely some frustration as you get your feet wet but the difficulty never ramps too quickly, the levels never get cheap, and the overall experience never overstays its welcome. I would love to see a full on remake of this one day as I think there is something really special here.

But I want to know what you think. Join the Stone Age Gamer discord, or you can find me on Bluesky to let me know your thoughts. In the immortal words of Billy Joel, “Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes: I'm afraid it's time for goodbye again.” See you soon.