Kaiser Knuckle

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Kaiser Knuckle

Japanese arcade flyer of Kaiser Knuckle.
Developer(s) Taito
Publisher(s) Taito
Designer(s) Takeshi Kobori (project leader[1])
Hiroshi Aoki (main programmer[1])
Nobuteru Yuki (image illustrator[1])
Composer(s) Yasuhisa Watanabe
Platform(s) Arcade
Release date(s) July 1994
Genre(s) Fighting game
Mode(s) Up to 2 players simultaneously
Arcade system Taito F3 System hardware

Kaiser Knuckle (カイザーナックル), sometimes known outside of Japan as Global Champion, is a 1994 fighting game released for the arcades by Taito. Kaiser Knuckle was released during the fighting game trend of the 1990s that began with Capcom's Street Fighter II.

Gameplay

Kaiser Knuckle follows the same fighting game conventions established by Street Fighter II. The player's character fights against his or her opponent in best two-out-of-three matches in a single player tournament mode with the computer or against another human player. The player has a character roster of nine fighters to choose from, and three bosses, each with their own unique fighting style and special techniques. The control layout is set to the six-button standard (a la most Capcom fighting games), but it can be switched to a five-button layout via dip settings. One unique feature is that Kaiser Knuckle was the first and only fighting game that has five strengths of basic attacks.

Another unique feature is that it introduced the power zones, which can be utilized via a successful hit of a special move when a player's "Crush Meter" is full. The power zones (either fire or electric) can affect the certain special move a character has. Backgrounds can be destructible when players get hit to charge up, and when those meters are full, the next special move that a player connects with his/her opponent will destroy the background's properties at will (other parts of stages, such as floors and walls are also destructible).

Characters

There are nine playable characters, and three unplayable bosses.

  • JapanKazuya (和也（かずや）) - The protagonist of the game, who is a karateka from Japan. Kazuya seeks to win the tournament so that he can not only gain the prize money, but also to impress some women as well. (voice actor: Kazuki Yao[1])
  • TaiwanLihua (梨花（リーファ）) - A swordswoman from Taiwan. Lihua seeks to win the tournament in the hopes of locating her missing mother and father. (voice actor: Saeko Shimazu[1])
  • United StatesBarts (バーツ) - A mixed martial arts-skilled biker from USA. Barts is determined to win the tournament's prize money so that he can help fund a medical operation for his girlfriend Sarah, who was injured in a past motorcycle accident. (voice actor: Ryōtarō Okiayu[1])
  • ChinaWulong (武龍（ウーロン）) - A kung fu detective from China. Wulong enters the tournament so that he can attempt to win the prize money and use it to pay a debt to a Chinese criminal group that he knows very well. (voice actor: Yasushi Horibata[1])
  • BrazilLiza (ライザ) - An Amazon from Brazil. Liza heads to the tournament in the hopes of winning the prize money so that she can buy a new exotic costume for the Rio Carnival. (voice actor: Aya Hisakawa[1])
  • United StatesBoggy (ボギー) - A breakdancing master from USA. Boggy is determined to win the tournament so that he can advance his own dancing career. (voice actor: Andrew Holms[1])
  • JapanGekkou (月光（げっこう）) - A ninja from Japan. Gekkou seeks to win the tournament so that he can gain the secrets of his ninjutsu style from his master. (voice actor: Hideo Ishikawa[1])
  • United StatesJ.McCoy (J・マッコイ) - A boxer from USA. J.McCoy seeks to win the tournament so that he can use the prize money to help gain him a title shot against the current boxing heavyweight champion. (voice actor: Kazunari Tanaka[1])
  • GermanyMarco (マルコ) - A mutated human from Germany. Marco heads to the tournament in the hopes of winning the prize money so that he can help fund a science research that could enable him to become a normal human. (voice actor: Hisayoshi Ogura[1])
Bosses
  • RussiaGonzales (ゴンザレス) - A judoka from Russia. Gonzales participates in the tournament so that he can attempt to locate his missing fiancee Tanya, who was separated from him after a civil war in their hometown. (voice actor: Hisao Egawa[1])
  • MexicoAzteca (アステカ) - An Aztec warrior from Mexico. Azteca participates in the tournament so that he can attempt to regain his own lost memories. (voice actor: Ryu Kuzu[1])
  •  General (ジェネラル) - The final boss of the game, who is the commander of a space station in orbit. General is the sponsor of "The Kaiser Knuckle" tournament, but his reasons for holding the competition in the first place is shrouded in mystery. (voice actor: Steve Yamashita[1])
Other
  • Announcer (voice actor: Randy Sexton[1])

Other versions

Global Champion

Global Champion is a modified international version of Kaiser Knuckle, the Japanese version. Global Champion has the "Winners Don't Use Drugs" screen, the "super moves" were cut, and the portraits of Kazuya, Liza and Lihua were re-drawn. After players choose their characters and their first opponents, first to begin their first fight, players and viewers can see a little sequence that shows the prologue of their chosen character's story. The title screen is also different, but strangely, the letter "K" from both words in the Kaiser Knuckle logo can still be seen in some of Global Champion's backgrounds.

Dan-Ku-Ga

An updated version of Kaiser Knuckle was planned to be released in December 1994 as Dan-Ku-Ga (断仇牙), but it discontinued; however, the prototype was dumped onto the Internet as a ROM. This version allows the first two bosses, Gonzales and Azteca to become playable characters. You can no longer choose your first opponent in a one-player game, except on the Training difficulty level.

Other differences are the CPU AI being altered. Players choose the difficulty levels Normal, Professional, or Training before their game. Players also can backdash with all characters. Gonzales becomes the 5th opponent, Azteca becomes the 9th opponent and the doppelgänger of the player's chosen character becomes the 10th opponent. Kazuya, Lihua and Liza has been redesigned on the character select screen, and all characters each have a third costume color. Also, some of the basic attacks that are executed with two punch or kick buttons are taken out, but the rest are still present and now executed with a single button plus a joystick direction. The third boss, General, can now be fought against without meeting certain conditions.

Apart from this, Kaiser Knuckle 2 (カイザーナックル2) was also planned as a sequel to the arcade board used in making the transition to 3D, but the planning board canceled. Later, it was retitled as Psychic Force, which replaced old models with new ones.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 Closing credits of Kaiser Knuckle. Retrieved on 09-07-2009.

External links

Kaiser Knuckle
Global Champion / Dan-Ku-Ga
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