Martial Masters (Arcade / 1999) - Red Snake [Playthrough/LongPlay] (形意拳 / シンイーケン: レッドスネーク)

#martialmasters
Platform: Arcade
Developer/Publisher: IGS
Year: 1999 (US: 2001)
Martial Masters (Chinese: 形意拳 ; Japanese name: シンイーケン) is an arcade 2D fighting game developed by IGS and released in 1999. Andamiro later released the game in the US in 2001. The setting and characters draw inspiration from Hong Kong martial arts films, specifically Once Upon a Time in China, Drunken Master and Operation Scorpio. The game is highly reminiscent of Capcom's fighting games of the mid to late 1990s for its impressive 2D visual and fluid animation with mechanics very similar to those of Street Fighter III. Martial Masters is IGS's third arcade 2D fighting game, with Alien Challenge being their first, The Killing Blade their second, and Spectral vs. Generation being their fourth (in collaboration with Idea Factory).
Red Snake (レッドスネーク) [Playthrough/LongPlay]
00:00:00 Intro
00:01:02 Title/Insert Coin
00:01:12 Character Select
00:01:22 vs Master Huang (黄親方)
00:03:17 vs Monkey Boy (モンキーボーイ)
00:04:53 vs Reika (レイカ)
00:06:49 vs Monk (モンク)
00:09:14 vs Tiger (タイガー)
00:12:25 vs Drunk Master (ドランクマスター)
00:15:51 vs Crane (クレーン)
00:18:25 vs True Lotus Master (トゥルー・ロータス・マスター)
00:22:22 Ending
00:22:52 Credits
00:25:30 Thank You For Watching!

[@flewis02]

The drunk master animations are so damn fluid he literally drips pixels from his gourd....

[@dangunheadachron1603]

This game has absolutely no right to be that obscure.

[@ShaneDouglas713]

True

[@donteo508]

RIGHT? I'm shocked that a lot of the sprite work and audio is almost up there with the pixel art era of SF. And it just kinda....floated by in the 90s? Damn man, I would've loved to play it

[@SantjagoRamirez]

This game is a MUST

[@lebird9010]

Even the stages look so good

[@ComboDamageTV]

Great game but its very par for the course.

[@tomaturtle7790]

Man, I really missed out on these cool arcade games. I've never heard of this one before. I love the animation and characters.

[@lilywong9672]

Don't worry, I grew up in the '90s and I've never seen this game in the arcades. And didn't hear about this game until about mid 2000s. It wasn't distributed widely during the arcade era.

[@bizznick444joe7]

Crane's arm movement is hypnotic

[@dangunheadachron1603]

Asia kept all the good stuff to themselves in the 90s

[@TGMShoNuff]

Because this was never released here in the US.

[@alxxz]

Yes, the animation is truly awesome, but what surprises me is that despite the large processing power of all these later & expensive Arcade PCBs, they weren't capable of true hardware transparency subroutines, a feature available on the SNES since 1990, so they resorted to mesh-grid pseudo transparencies like the Saturn.

[@Mr.Spongecake]

This game is hella obscure yet has some really REALLY good sprite-work to it. Well done, IGS.

[@paxhumana2015]

I wish that IGS would have done a beast-em-up/side-scrolling brawler based upon the engine of this game, and by that, I mean a gritty urban one that is based on a more realistic take on the genre.

[@alxxz]

What's so obscure about it?! It's on par to other fighters of its time and is on par to CAPCOM & SNK quality.

[@Mr.Spongecake]

@@alxxz Do a lot of people know about this game?

[@drugon]

Hand animation of Crane is something beyond words! It's a criminally smooth!

[@sandwichninja]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/npCnZIl8m82pqZY

[@ladyloki1921]

How have I NEVER heard of this game??!! 😱😱🤩🤩🤩🥰🥰🥰

[@SunnyTacos]

The animations are so smooth and fluid, it kinda reminds ne of SF 3rd Strike, wish this game was ported to modern hardware.

[@DrPepperFields]

This is exactly what I was thinking! Especially in the fight against Crane... The movement of her hands on 15:48 has more frames than anything I've seen on a CPS2 game.

[@stormgear896]

Even the select screen and some sound effects sounds like 3rd Strike and maybe a bit of Darkstalkers / Vampire Savior too (activation sound). @Gustavo Drunk Master has a lot of frames on his idle animation too.

[@GenMaster]

SF III has jerky animations during combat. This is better.

[@pikkon899]

@@DrPepperFields SF 3 was on CPS-3 not CPS-2. CPS-3 only had 6 games made on it, 3 of which are the the SF3 iterations.

[@QuesoGr7]

It's VERY 3rd Strike-esque

[@Loader2K1]

In my humble opinion, _Martial Masters_ is a game that should have gotten a home conversion on the sixth-gen consoles (Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, X-Box, and GameCube). I'm sure those consoles would have handled the conversion flawlessly, especially the DC. Wonderful playthough of Red Snake.

[@lycaniii1856]

Do we… do we start a petition to ask for a release of this game? Because as amazing as this gem is, I’d love to see what they do with today’s technology! 🙏🏾

[@bcm3OOO]

It's on the switch in a arcade connection

[@BeyondDaX]

Petitions don't work sadly

[@GranMaese]

What a gem!! Dude, late 90's early 00's were the days for fighting games. Also, that first guy reminds me a lot of Baki's Retsu Kaioh.

[@Lorenzo3K]

Hell yeah bruh I remember this in the Arcades then X-Men Children Of Atom, Soulblazer. Good times

[@BitOfUltraviolence]

The graphics are still fairly decent. Usually they end up looking bad. I wish they would release these on consoles. People would buy them as games such as Persona 4 ultimax is popular and has same graphics.

[@hautakleightontam771]

He's actually based on Jet Li's depiction of Wong (Huang) Fei Hung, a famous martial artist from the late Qing dynasty.

[@ragegamer1642]

Them jiggle physics tho 🥰❤️❤️

[@JoseBronxRican]

Looked more like a belligerent violation of physics

[@Tyradius]

5:55 break dancing panda in the background, life is complete.

[@ricdafric7565]

First time ever seeing this. And I grew up in that era.

[@warzoneidiot881]

When the monk change block patterns I thought was so cool!! Such detail! This game needs to be redone and back on the market! Would love to play this game!!

[@JoaoLucasK]

All the characters have different animations for high and mid blocking

[@albireotheredguard1599]

That was a Hell of an Intro!

[@arcturionblade1077]

This game looks pretty slick!

[@RikkTheGaijin]

I've NEVER seen this game before. It looks awesome!

[@clonusmaximus4600]

One my favorite fighting games ever. Used to own an IGS board and this cartridge

[@theodorehsu5023]

Yeah, Red Snake, shake your money-maker :p

[@animator1982]

Pretty cool. Lots of Street Fighter Alpha influences.

[@VOAN]

Looks like they're using the Street Fighter III engine. Odd how it never got a home port, a Dreamcast or GameCube port would had been awesome.

[@Loader2K1]

As far as I know, the CPS3, the hardware of the _Street Fighter 3_ trilogy, was never officially licensed out to other third-party companies. I do agree with you on a Dreamcast and/or GameCube port. Personally, I think the other two sixth-gen consoles, the PlayStation 2 and the original X-Box, would have handled excellent conversions of this game.

[@majorfreedom5622]

I love Red Snake!! She's an inspiration to me

[@NeoEveryhobby]

To be a creepy harasser?

[@majorfreedom5622]

No man to never give up!!!

[@zeokenx2]

@@NeoEveryhobby At least hes "straight" get lost commie go color your hair some more acting to be "two genders"

[@majorfreedom5622]

You gotta give it to Red Snake!! She never gave up!!

[@NeoEveryhobby]

@@majorfreedom5622 Yeah, you're right about that. She's still a harasser though.

[@chettonex]

Her kit and looks based on belly dancers mixed with snake-ish kung fu is just flawless. Check how she walks on the tip of her toes, the butt moving move. Its funny that she says to all males "im taking you home" and for females she says "Im sorry".

[@takaradrayton2770]

Dang, that game looks awesome, i wish I could played it.

[@lordraven]

Mame

[@guyanesehustla]

^ game emulator

[@skipfuego6339]

Fight cade 2

[@timothyh7005]

Chief programmer: Ray Programmer: Ray & Michelle Program Support: Ray I don't know who this Ray guy is, but I guess this game wouldn't have been possible without him! 😆

[@kaichokick3202]

dang, red snake got some wiggle! 🐍

[@theodorehsu5023]

The Red Snake was too cunning to let her husband go.

[@jacksonpeds5298]

This game could be a better SFIII 1st/2nd Strike if it played its cards correctly and was more known. Also I love Red Snake's confident and sultry walk animation.

[@TetsToys]

Wow that has some nice animation going on there.

[@jsm2p12]

I never even heard of this game but I would definitely add this to my collection of arcade fighting games by emulating it.

[@EvanTomiko]

That Drunk Master is no joke 😳

[@theVersatileGamebox]

Wow, i never heard of this game. I enjoyed it very much, thank you, great cinematics and storyline.

[@jamespero6803]

beautiful pixel art

[@yoyoyonasa]

Wow never knew the existence of that game, really nice abd very well animated like garou motw or aof3...

[@humanarychaospowerb.l27]

Most impressive. Even Red Snake looks so hot.

[@ShaneDouglas713]

You're really good with Red Snake!!! 🐍

[@wimpieyuwono2550]

The sprite of this game is just like SF Alpha 2 😳

[@yagamijubei28]

I revisited this game not too long ago. I missed it. It has that street fighter 3 feel.

[@Foxstab]

Wow. This is a hidden lost gem.

[@projectTyrasa]

My Gawd These Sprites are Fecking Elegant~♡

[@shinbakihanma2749]

I'd love for Red Snake to meet my One Eyed Snake😋

[@leocampo2755]

Nice walkthrought Loading Geek,i playied this game,but i lost with the last boss,i need 2 credits for win the game...you are best than me

[@micmante]

wonderful game i just discover it the last week!! i love tha animations and the backgrounds!! great video!

[@ericsbuds]

never heard of or played this game, but it looks great. thanks for the video :)

[@nitrokid]

Can we talk about the animations though??? The spritework was amazing!

[@barrysmith4610]

Never heard about this game but it looks legit. Definitely see the 3rd Strike inspiration. Hope it gets a runback one day soon

[@jeremybaynhampd5936]

Thanks for showing me this.Been playing it on mame

[@atp_no_bot_gaming]

SO nostalgic, people went to arcade game center with pocket full with coins, unlikely now...

[@jblue88hoodgamer54]

This game reminds me of Street Fighter 3 third Strike.

[@Keinish79]

Gorgeous game.

[@sarcasticguy4311]

"Thanks a lot." Wow! What a taunt!

[@123TauruZ321]

"Home with you!" xD

[@kidwaryodproduction]

22:28 Scorpion : I have to run away. 22:45 Red Snake : *GET OVER HEREEEEE* Meanwhile Mortal Kombat Scorpion was sneezing.

[@Mavryk513]

Never heard of this game before but Red Snake is looking right :)

[@rockmanx6857]

Man,I rrrrreeeeeaaaaalllllyyyyy miss playing this classic 😭

[@deathstroketheterminator8722]

Amazing animation and graphics.

[@chengfu7063]

More better stuff from the days you've done it again keep up the good work excellent choice of character back when you could actually live keep the real gaming strong 👍👊

[@sushii00]

Monkey boy is straight up just adult Gotenks

[@giemontakahasi4076]

Beautiful game, great.

[@RichardHannay]

I’m impressed by the pixel art and animation. They obviously didn’t have much for translators and marketing for this game though.

[@artbyjuwecurfew1896]

love the artstyle.. and red snake

[@Jamil1989]

Wow! This looks pretty cool!

[@Rockysbeats]

this is actually really impressive for its time great artwork and animations especially some of the idle animations, certainly good enough to be ported to modern systems or rebooted. definitely looks like one of those hidden gem type games you hear about ;)

[@cius2112]

the arcade at my mall had this back in the day. played it alot.

[@jrich2smooth877]

I never heard of this game, but the gameplay and animation is dope🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@killersushi99]

*Drunk Master is so cool! ( O.O)*

[@AfroSnackey]

Why have I never heard of this game!? It's awesome!

[@alejandroluna1767]

The market of figthing its opacate by games how King of figthers or Street fighter It Is sad i know but this game no regret i say Is really good game

[@nowaylater6950]

Fighting games usually have the worst marketing strategy and that's why some people fail to notice some of these games.

[@gogoarcade]

happy to be able to play it on my retropie

[@Guthem]

first video that appeared, from channel I am from Brazil this master Huang is Rekka Lee (I imagine)... new follower! I saw the videos, I loved the channel! and I will share

[@SonRay420]

Never main her like that( the monkey one iz my guy) but u did teach me something with her i thought she couldn't do which is the double uppercut finish great playthrough LG

[@joehunter7936]

Man I would love the opportunity to play this!!

[@pigboykool]

This game has some of coolest characters design and martial arts style. We need this on PSN or Switch.

[@tzera_rhuon]

It is on Switch

[@jingbot1071]

Man, these guys look like masters. Masters of martial arts, even.

[@unusualvideos8269]

This is the first time I'm watching the gameplay I'm in love 😘

[@kingdomkey92]

Oh my goodness what is this! This looks pretty sick.

[@kumaSOevl]

This game looks amazing.

[@TheSupersaiyan20]

Kinda has an SF3 vibe glad I found out bout this game in this video

[@alexmendez3681]

I hope they bring this game to the Nintendo Switch.

[@funnyvalentine7788]

Mejor para ps4

[@alexmendez3681]

@@funnyvalentine7788 No. Nintendo Switch. :)

[@deathstroketheterminator8722]

@@alexmendez3681 👎👎👎👎

[@alexmendez3681]

@@deathstroketheterminator8722 👍👍👍👍

[@deathstroketheterminator8722]

@@alexmendez3681 No!!!!

[@shinhiryozenchikiza6540]

Good Video

[@DctrBread]

New 90s fighting game dropped

[@gary9346]

Nice. So very nice

[@M613M]

Damn, this is the first time I've seen the game emulated with the music properly running and not at like 300% speed!

[@louregal99]

Excellent graphics and game concept . The moment is extremely stiff though.

[@DeVstatrOmga]

LMAO, I have this game. Just stumbled on to this video and caught my eye. Didn't think people knew about this gem. 😂

[@TChighbury]

Red Snake certainly has magnificent swinging...attacks

[@redbutterflyprincessgeanne4620]

Incredible game, please put on the switch. Oh that's right, they won't. Never mind.

[@VOAN]

The company doesn't exist anymore and the arcade machine is only released in Taiwan. You could just play it on MAME.

[@redbutterflyprincessgeanne4620]

Yeah, you're right.

[@cowerkerdouch505]

@@VOAN correction, IGS is still around they already have a website.

[@tzera_rhuon]

This aged well lol

[@bethrobert9878]

Nice

[@mgamesme]

Damn thats a great game

[@namenlosNamenlos]

This retro Fighting game looks age well after all those years.

[@unusualvideos8269]

Look at Cranes hand movements surprise

[@darker4509]

What a beautiful arcade pearl

[@laron.henderson]

Never heard of this! Looks like fun though!

[@99nessuno99]

Nice game. Never seen before

[@priesttd]

This has to be the same Team that did Capcom's SF 3 Third Strike.

[@Leynx-Et-Fenrir]

The OST for Huang's stage is a remix of the theme of: Once Upon in China

[@dng2usb]

Wong Fei Hung!

[@4h0w1e6]

Yeah, first time I have seen this too. Some of these IGS games (along with Metal Slug and others) were really the apex of pixel art games.

[@komati0206]

初めて見た！こんなゲームあったなんて知らなかった。

[@ShaneDouglas713]

Master Huang = Wong Fei Hung Ghost Kick = Thunderfoot (Once Upon A Time In China 3 reference)

[@arcturionblade1077]

Huang's theme music definitely gave me a lot of memories of watching period Hong Kong martial arts films back in the day.

[@VOAN]

Also Monkey Boy is a reference to Dragon Ball and Sun Wukong (the Monkey King).

[@ShaneDouglas713]

@@VOAN Also true

[@fransuke12]

Scorpion = Sunny the Scorpion ( Operation Scorpio )

[@kidwaryodproduction]

I think Red Snake own theme (At the Credits) was very catchy :)

[@arcademode2055]

Amazing game! Skilled player!

[@LoadingGeek]

Thank you 😎👍

[@leorogstad6930]

Had no idea this fighting game existed,but it looks incredible.What's more incredible is that it never was released to any video game system ? Where can you buy it now ? They should've made a sequel with more than 1 boss.I gotta track this game down !!!