Anyone here play the original Spartan X? Well I’m not one of them. You might also know it under its US name where they called it Kung Fu. It was one of those early black box games. I’m not sure why I’ve never touched it but I just haven’t. Spartan X 2 is a weird sequel as it doesn’t really have anything to do with the story of Spartan X which was based off a Jackie Chan movie called Wheels on Meals. It’s apparently unknown if this game was even legally produced due to it not crediting the original production team. This game was developed by Tamtex which you probably know for making Metal Storm. Is the game any good? Well yes but it’s far from perfect.
This game has 6 stages and you’ll be punching and kicking through each one and has a boss at the end of each stage. If you’ve played the original well not much has changed as it’s a single plane beat 'em up where enemies keep coming from both sides ready to attack you with some harder or unique enemies for each stage that won’t be as easy to conquer. Stages are now given some unique environments and even gimmicks like being underwater, or being on top of a plane, or even being on a moving platform. Your character named Johnny Thomas can punch and kick but can also do them via crouching and the air. You can hold down to charge up this uppercut move but it’s sadly lacking in range and you lose health for using it.
Honestly there isn’t much to say about Spartan X 2, what you heard is basically the whole game and that’s honestly OK with me. What it does well in is perfectly fine. The enemy variety and set pieces are nice but there’s one possible issue, It’s incredibly easy. Now it is very possible to die but I not only never got a game over but it took me less than 30 minutes to beat the game. You can even refill your health if one of the stronger enemies drops a bottle that restores a lot of health. The only section in this game that provides any sort of challenge is the final level where you’re on this moving platform and while for the most part it’s manageable, near the end you have enemies constantly drop on you and it’s really easy to just get knocked off the platform. That’s really the only hard part. I should also point out that you don’t get fully healed when you win a stage, you only get healed by the amount of what your bonus points were at the end. If for some reason you really need it, you can play on an easy mode though I played on the normal mode for this review so I can’t tell you how much easier it is.
Bosses in Spartan X 2 are kind of a joke. I feel like they are meant to have some strategy but most of them were just spamming jump kicks and you win. The only memorable boss is the one that constricts you with rings or the one that sends a gorilla at you and then tries to kill you after you defeat it. Too bad he forgot to actually be able to hit you up close, dummy. Even the final boss is easy like I can’t tell if they were intending you to easily win these fights. The first boss is also a joke where you just corner him and spam your crouch attack and he’s done. There’s just not much to say here.
Graphically it looks nice, not the most amazing thing ever for the year 1991 but I like it. All the environments stand out and while I wouldn’t say they are the most interesting setpieces, they work for the kind of game it is. The framerate is pretty good and I only noticed one area where it lagged but it was only for a second. The game does have cutscenes but they’re basically just a single screen of pictures or just radio chatting with someone. The music is decent but I can’t really remember much of it or really thought of it when playing the game, maybe others will find it catchier than I thought it was.
Apologies for not really having much to say about this one, it’s just a very simple game and won’t last you long. Despite its easy difficulty, I’d argue it’s still a good game and will probably please people who liked the original game. I just wish it had a hard mode or something because the journey barely lasts. The game is a little pricey nowadays but nowhere near as bad as other 1991 games like Hebereke or Metal Slader Glory. It’s surprising that something this simple came out in 1991 though it was one of the many games of that year that took an older Famicom game and gave it a sequel. It’s worth a playthrough if you’re curious especially since it won’t take you long to beat it.
This game has 6 stages and you’ll be punching and kicking through each one and has a boss at the end of each stage. If you’ve played the original well not much has changed as it’s a single plane beat 'em up where enemies keep coming from both sides ready to attack you with some harder or unique enemies for each stage that won’t be as easy to conquer. Stages are now given some unique environments and even gimmicks like being underwater, or being on top of a plane, or even being on a moving platform. Your character named Johnny Thomas can punch and kick but can also do them via crouching and the air. You can hold down to charge up this uppercut move but it’s sadly lacking in range and you lose health for using it.
Honestly there isn’t much to say about Spartan X 2, what you heard is basically the whole game and that’s honestly OK with me. What it does well in is perfectly fine. The enemy variety and set pieces are nice but there’s one possible issue, It’s incredibly easy. Now it is very possible to die but I not only never got a game over but it took me less than 30 minutes to beat the game. You can even refill your health if one of the stronger enemies drops a bottle that restores a lot of health. The only section in this game that provides any sort of challenge is the final level where you’re on this moving platform and while for the most part it’s manageable, near the end you have enemies constantly drop on you and it’s really easy to just get knocked off the platform. That’s really the only hard part. I should also point out that you don’t get fully healed when you win a stage, you only get healed by the amount of what your bonus points were at the end. If for some reason you really need it, you can play on an easy mode though I played on the normal mode for this review so I can’t tell you how much easier it is.
Bosses in Spartan X 2 are kind of a joke. I feel like they are meant to have some strategy but most of them were just spamming jump kicks and you win. The only memorable boss is the one that constricts you with rings or the one that sends a gorilla at you and then tries to kill you after you defeat it. Too bad he forgot to actually be able to hit you up close, dummy. Even the final boss is easy like I can’t tell if they were intending you to easily win these fights. The first boss is also a joke where you just corner him and spam your crouch attack and he’s done. There’s just not much to say here.
Graphically it looks nice, not the most amazing thing ever for the year 1991 but I like it. All the environments stand out and while I wouldn’t say they are the most interesting setpieces, they work for the kind of game it is. The framerate is pretty good and I only noticed one area where it lagged but it was only for a second. The game does have cutscenes but they’re basically just a single screen of pictures or just radio chatting with someone. The music is decent but I can’t really remember much of it or really thought of it when playing the game, maybe others will find it catchier than I thought it was.
Apologies for not really having much to say about this one, it’s just a very simple game and won’t last you long. Despite its easy difficulty, I’d argue it’s still a good game and will probably please people who liked the original game. I just wish it had a hard mode or something because the journey barely lasts. The game is a little pricey nowadays but nowhere near as bad as other 1991 games like Hebereke or Metal Slader Glory. It’s surprising that something this simple came out in 1991 though it was one of the many games of that year that took an older Famicom game and gave it a sequel. It’s worth a playthrough if you’re curious especially since it won’t take you long to beat it.