Kick Master
Encyclopedia
Kick Master is a side-scrolling action
video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System
that was released in 1992
by Taito
. The game has some role-playing game
elements, such as leveling up.
described Belzed as a male wizard,). In the attack, the King and the Queen are slain and their only child, Princess Silphee, is kidnapped. The king's guards were all killed, except for the knight Macren. He and his younger brother, Thonolan, an aspiring martial artist
, take off on a long journey to free the princess. As the fight against the wicked Belzed's minions commences, Macren is mortally wounded by a skeleton
. With his dying breath, he pleads his brother to use his "great kicking skills" to avenge him and Thonolan swears to make Belzed pay for this.
Thonolan's quest will take him into the following levels:
If the player manages to complete the game, Thonolan kicks the evil Belzed to death and rescues the princess Silphee. He then torches down Belzed's tower and disappears, never to be heard from again. (The player is then given an opportunity to try to beat the game again on the higher difficulty level.)
Enemies are defeated by using various martial arts kick
s and magic spell
s. In this fashion, the player is a spellcaster
/monk
. Defeated enemies drop three items that will either help or hurt Thoalan. When Thoalan gains a level, his maximum MP is increased and new moves are learned.
reviewer in 2005 as "a game so full of martial arts knowledge that I have already achieved olive belt status, something I made up just right now".
Action game
Action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games, which are widely considered the most important action games, though some...
video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
that was released in 1992
1992 in video gaming
-Events:-Notable releases:* Gremlin Graphics releases Zool, Amiga's answer to Mario and Sonic. It goes on to become the best selling Commodore Amiga game, boosting the already popular computer to be the leading gaming machine in Europe....
by Taito
Taito Corporation
The is a Japanese publisher of video game software and arcade hardware wholly owned by publisher Square Enix. Taito has their headquarters in the Shinjuku Bunka Quint Building in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo, sharing the facility with its parent company....
. The game has some role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
elements, such as leveling up.
Plot
The kingdom of Lowrel is attacked and burned by monsters sent by the evil sorceress Belzed (curiously, some sources such as Nintendo PowerNintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
described Belzed as a male wizard,). In the attack, the King and the Queen are slain and their only child, Princess Silphee, is kidnapped. The king's guards were all killed, except for the knight Macren. He and his younger brother, Thonolan, an aspiring martial artist
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
, take off on a long journey to free the princess. As the fight against the wicked Belzed's minions commences, Macren is mortally wounded by a skeleton
Skeleton
The skeleton is the body part that forms the supporting structure of an organism. There are two different skeletal types: the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, and the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside the body.In a figurative sense, skeleton can...
. With his dying breath, he pleads his brother to use his "great kicking skills" to avenge him and Thonolan swears to make Belzed pay for this.
Thonolan's quest will take him into the following levels:
- The Witches' Forest (boss: a skeleton witch)
- The Caverns of No Return (boss: a woman with wolvesScyllaIn Greek mythology, Scylla was a monster that lived on one side of a narrow channel of water, opposite its counterpart Charybdis. The two sides of the strait were within an arrow's range of each other—so close that sailors attempting to avoid Charybdis would pass too close to Scylla and vice...
) - Belzed's First Stronghold (boss: a gargoyleGargoyleIn architecture, a gargoyle is a carved stone grotesque, usually made of granite, with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between...
) - Bottomless Crevasse (boss: A chimeraChimera (mythology)The Chimera or Chimaera was, according to Greek mythology, a monstrous fire-breathing female creature of Lycia in Asia Minor, composed of the parts of multiple animals: upon the body of a lioness with a tail that ended in a snake's head, the head of a goat arose on her back at the center of her...
) - Aboard the Ship of Strife (boss: a giant octopus)
- Across the Swamps (bosses: two harpiesHarpyIn Greek mythology, a harpy was one of the winged spirits best known for constantly stealing all food from Phineas...
) - A Long Way From Home (boss: a giant spider)
- Belzed's Haunted Tower (bosses: four doppelgängerDoppelgängerIn fiction and folklore, a doppelgänger is a paranormal double of a living person, typically representing evil or misfortune...
guardians of the throne room and finally Belzed herself).
If the player manages to complete the game, Thonolan kicks the evil Belzed to death and rescues the princess Silphee. He then torches down Belzed's tower and disappears, never to be heard from again. (The player is then given an opportunity to try to beat the game again on the higher difficulty level.)
Gameplay
Kick
In combat sports and hand-to-hand combat, a kick is a physical strike using the foot, leg, or knee . This type of attack is used frequently, especially in stand-up fighting...
s and magic spell
Magic (gaming)
Some role-playing games or game systems can include a set of rules that are used to portray magic in the paranormal sense. These rules simulate the effects that magic would have within the game context, according to how the game designer intended the magic to be portrayed...
s. In this fashion, the player is a spellcaster
Spellcaster
A spellcaster in role-playing games refers to a creature capable of casting magic spells.See also:*Mage *Magician , a practitioner of magic as portrayed in works of fiction...
/monk
Monk (character class)
The monk is a character class in a number of table-top role-playing and computer games. In those games which follow the Dungeons & Dragons traditions, monks are characters with martial arts skills and have very powerful strategies....
. Defeated enemies drop three items that will either help or hurt Thoalan. When Thoalan gains a level, his maximum MP is increased and new moves are learned.
Reception
Kick Master did not became very well known when it was first released. The game was mocked by a Something AwfulSomething Awful
Something Awful, often abbreviated to SA, is a comedy website housing a variety of content, including blog entries, forums, feature articles, digitally edited pictures, and humorous media reviews. It was created by Richard "Lowtax" Kyanka in 1999 as a largely personal website, but as it grew, so...
reviewer in 2005 as "a game so full of martial arts knowledge that I have already achieved olive belt status, something I made up just right now".
External links
- Kick Master at GameFAQsGameFAQsGameFAQs is a website that hosts FAQs and walkthroughs for video games. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff "CJayC" Veasey and was bought by CNET Networks in May 2003. It is currently owned by CBS Interactive. The site has a database of video game information, cheat codes, reviews, game saves,...