Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu (NES) Playthrough

A playthrough of Hudson Soft's 1990 license-based action game for the NES, Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu.
I may as well disclose my bias upfront: Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu is one of my favorite third-party NES games. It's funny, it looks and sounds great, and the gameplay is sharp as a tack.
It's actually the second NES game to feature the likeness of Jackie Chan's action star persona. The first was Kung Fu ( • Kung Fu (NES) Playthro... ), Nintendo's conversion of Irem's 1984 arcade game Kung Fu Master which was originally based on the movie Wheels on Meals.
Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu is a platformer dressed up as a beat 'em up. Over the course of five stages, you wander across China in search of your kidnapped sister, punching tigers and flinging Hadoukens at demon-possessed statues all the way.
It's an absolute blast to play. It feels distinctly late-gen for an NES game: the action is smooth, the controls feel fluid, the sprites are huge, and there are a lot of animated graphical flourishes that give it a level of polish that you didn't often see in 80s era Nintendo games. The gameplay is simple, but all the elements click together perfectly.
It reminds me a great deal of a couple other NES favorites of mine, Yo! Noid and Adventure Island II. The big character sprites, the level design, the sense of humor, and the feel of the controls are all quite similar. As a kid I picked up on the similarities, but I never had any idea that there was an actual link between the three. It turns out that all three were developed by Now Production, a Japanese development house that created several well-regarded titles for Capcom, Hudson, and Namco in the 8 and 16-bit eras.
The only potential problem I could see someone having with it is that it's ridiculously easy. I remember beating it the first time I played it as a kid, and all these years later, it's still a cakewalk. That hasn't ever gotten in the way of my being able to enjoy it, though.
It also got a version released for the TurboGrafx-16 ( • Jackie Chan's Action K... ). It looks and sounds far better than the NES game did, but I still prefer the NES game. I didn't like the Turbo version's revised stage designs as much.
So yeah, Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu. Two enthusiastic thumbs up!
_____________
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
NintendoComplete (www.nintendocom...) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!

[@NintendoComplete]

Jackie Chan is one of those games that just seems to get everything right. I love it.

[@rjcupid]

Thanks for making a video of this charming game. How can anyone not love Jackie Chan? This and Super Adventure Island II are my personal favorites from Hudson Soft.

[@edwardgaines6561]

Except for one problem: No dash feature.

[@aweirdredtoad3637]

You mean Kung Fu Mari?

[@rjcupid]

Jackie Chan just makes the world a better place. This game is a joy to play.

[@erikc.9167]

I love how expressive Jackie’s character Sprite is.

[@RetroPiero]

Jackie had a great animated cartoon series, now I learn he had a great nes game about him. He really struck gold.

[@knuclear200x]

no jade bad day bad day bad day one more thing

[@MatthewTheWolf2029]

Its funny how when Jackie is standing still, he has a happy smile on his face. But when he's walking or jumping, he looks fierce.

[@pex_the_unalivedrunk6785]

He doesn't like being forced by the player to go places or do things.... he's perfectly at peace with being idle. (Unlike Sonic the Hedgehog, who will literally kill himself when he gets bored of standing in one place for too long)

[@LPetal86]

Wow, I'm really impressed with this game's fluid animation and plethora of bonus games. His sprite is really cute and him getting hit on the spikes or the lava is funny to see. Hudson really did make a lot of great games, back in the day on NES.

[@rjcupid]

Great comment. This game has such amazing graphics for a NES game. Hudson Soft had such excellent sprite work and beautiful color palettes in their games. I find a lot of their NES games, especially the later ones, have a real TurboGrafx-16 "lite" feel. They had great worlds and characters too: Master Higgins, Bonk, Bomberman etc. Anyways, have a good day.

[@pex_the_unalivedrunk6785]

​@@rjcupid I just started playing this game recently on an emulator, and that's exactly what came to my mind, the graphics and sprites are more on a TurboGrafx 16 level than NES. The facial expressions on the bosses when they get hit are hilarious!

[@rjcupid]

@@pex_the_unalivedrunk6785 Nice! Have fun playing it. It’s great.

[@TeamBlueToad]

I'll never be able to look at this game without remembering that one Mario bootleg.

[@arai_san]

Hide in shame (jk, don't)

[@SparkpadArt]

Super Bros. 10 Kung Fu Mari

[@LPetal86]

Haha, same here. In fact IIRC Jackie's been in quite a few bootleg adventures!

[@poble]

@@arai_san moving on... mario 7, is this the one I played? I dunno, let's check it out.

[@pex_the_unalivedrunk6785]

​@@poble I've got this NES emulator i bought on eBay, it comes with like 800 roms, but some are repeats, anyhow... there's a bunch of bootleg Mario roms in it, including a teletubby one and a Pikachu Mario... I'm embarrassed for even playing them. Fortunately, there's enough high quality games on the thing to be worth the $15... including this Jackie Chan game.

[@_WOR]

One of my first intros to lifelong Jackie Chan fandom. Can we all appreciate the determination in his character sprite’s run cycle? 😂

[@pex_the_unalivedrunk6785]

Jackie Chan? More like, Jackie *Chad!*

[@_WOR]

@@pex_the_unalivedrunk6785 Alright, I like you!

[@MarshallFlores]

One of my most wanted NES carts. Great game!

[@erickmaia]

The first game I've ever completed in my life. 2006, I was 8 yo and had just hurt my leg falling from the stairs. The pain distracted me from feeling anxious in each new scenario or enemy, and I finally did it. This is my favorite game from my childhood.

😏 Wow you played this in 2006?! 👍🏾 Good shit! I had this game, Little Nemo the Dream Master, Bubble Bobble, T&C Surf Designs, Robocop, NARC, Rush-N-Attack, Contra, Shadow of the Ninja, Little Ninja Brothers, Battle Toads, Super Mario Bros. 1-3, Double Dragon 1 & 2, and Duck Tales back in '90 to '92 and played these games non-stop until I got my Sega Genesis. 😌 Fun times.

[@dwinandanugroho9645]

I must thank both youtube and the uploader. What a priceless childhood memory. Although nothing can turn back time, at least I can get rest for a while.

[@SuperKokuJin916]

This was an incredible game!! I remember renting it back in 1990. Me and my brothers had a blast with this one! I actually prefer this version to the PC Engine version! The OST is so much fun to play on the piano!! One of Hudson Soft's best!

[@jamesconnolly1201]

Just look at that face he's a happy little guy.😊😊😊

[@messerspiel]

Oh boy, had this game and beated it. For me being child that was quite an accomplishment)

[@wisnusanjaya6948]

Its been more than 20 years since i saw this game for the last time. I cannot remember the name of this games, maybe because i played the japanese title. Suddenly this playthrough bring back so many memories. I remember the animations, the musics, the enemy, the moves. This is fun game. Cannot remember i’ve finished it or not. But this game is JOY!

[@Ging_Freecss700]

This game got great soundtracks

[@lovemadeinjapan]

Try Final Soldier for the PC Engine, and it will remind you very much of this OST. I think it has the best shmup OST ever made. Same composer. Some boss battles sound very similar to Jackie Chan!

[@royalkumar795]

Super Mario Bros 10 ,(bootleg mod version) my favourite childhood game

[@rougethebatlover9952]

Hide in shame.

[@vgaoct91]

Looks like a game I could play just for relaxing leisure.

[@Zaxares]

I absolutely loved this NES game as a kid. As you said, it's simple, but very very well polished and a joy to play. :) Note that for the 2nd boss, it wasn't necessary to waste your fireballs on him like that. The trick is that you're only hurt if you're struck by the ends of his dumbbell staff; you can actually jump through the middle portion without taking any damage.

[@yugiohwarduelist999]

This was one of my all time favorite NES Games when I was growing up. I look at it now and think how cool it is with that Dragon Ball Goku feel it has.

[@primovictoria9936]

Timeless Classic of The Turbografx-16 and NES

[@19sunbeamalpine67]

What a good hack of Barve Boy Kung Fu Pokechu.

[@grayfox7108]

KUNG FU MARI!!!!! infancia total con ese cartucho

[@TRJ2241987]

I've always wondered, how famous was Jackie Chan in America by this time? I never knew of him until Rush Hour era. But to have his own game I must assume he was pretty well known for movies I'm not aware of

[@yugiohwarduelist999]

I haven't played this game in decades. This was a fun game. Riding on that cloud reminded me of Goku on Nimbus.

[@gingersonnyboy]

One of my fav games as a kid!

[@Dystnine]

The first stage is catchy as hell.

[@andrewmauney3082]

Use to own this game when I was little. Could never beat it but always enjoyed playing nonetheless

[@ryansmith1090]

Love this game, its awesome and so is Jackie Chan 🕹 😃 👍

[@edwardgaines6561]

Very polished NES game from the arcade original! They even 3-4 different bonus stages!

[@CarlosEduStorm]

hudson in the 90s was a God

[@lovemadeinjapan]

Yes, Bomberman 94, Final Soldier, Neutopia II, all best in class.

[@pochengueTV]

This games Soundtrack hits me really hard in the nostalgia

[@danielosegueda3238]

Gosh.. I remember playing this game lots of times. It was great then and still is now! 👏👏

[@jonathanturbide2232]

Cool! I remember Jackie having a really fun beat-em-up game on Playstation 1, anyone remember it too?

[@thecowboy2]

Jackie Chan Stuntmaster.

[@firstclass2222]

I spent hours with this game, it was so amazing. The other day, the memory hit me but I could not remember the name of this game. Thank you for uploading this one!

[@rockymitsu]

I quite like the change of pixels you made, I only like the bilinear in a crt because it gives more life to the eye

[@blackenedheart9592]

I've never played or even seen the real original version of this game anywhere and I'm 41! But I have played the boot leg KungFu Mari which is the exact same game only with a really huge headed Mario instead of Jackie Chan.

[@Loader2K1]

_Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu_ was a game I played in my youth, but I've never finished it. If I remember correctly, the instruction manual gave away a cheat for 99 credits. You should also try out the Japanese-exclusive PC-Engine version in the near future. Wonderful playthrough.

[@marrainemamounette4901]

Just very fun 👍😊 Wonderful Game ❤️All is good in this video 😍Thank you for old games. I love it! See ya...

[@cratedivizion]

great game!

[@melissaleoncreolenola]

It's something how Jackie Chan was a big star in China in the early 90's.. then of course Rush Hour in '98 make him a success in the US of A

[@rjcupid]

The first Jackie Chan movie I saw in the theater was Rumble in the Bronx. My grandmother, of all people, asked me to take her to see it and she loved all the fight scenes... So hilarious. She was literally cheering during the movie. She always loved Jackie Chan after seeing that film. That was a pretty big hit over here before Rush Hour, but of course the Rush Hour movies were massively successful, and rightly so.

[@SuperKokuJin916]

The first time I saw Jackie Chan in a movie was in the 80s in the Cannonball Run films with Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise! I was just a kid but loved those! His works with his "brothers" Samo Hung & Yuen Biao are incredible, as well!

[@yashovardhananand2383]

Tx for uploading remembered my good ol days

[@spoonshiro]

Very underrated game!

[@Alucard24601]

I never realized how many hidden special stages there are in this game

[@josh924]

Not too long ago, I played and beat a newer indie game called Aggelos (I think it's on all modern platforms). All the way through, I couldn't shake the feeling that I've played a game exactly like it before. And yesterday, I remembered this game existed. I think it was this game that was in the back of my mind as I was playing Aggelos

[@hfric]

Jackie Chan , the comet of the media industry ...

[@garyp911]

Masterpiece!

[@Dorian_Scott]

It looks like that cyclops from "Ninja Kid" (NES).

[@GangstaSpongebobSuperFan420]

Barve Boy?!? *[Hysterical laughter]*

[@jorgecuelar3391]

Love this channel for the uploads thanks👍👍 Pd there is also a pc engine ver but i always liked this ver better dont know why Greetings from Mexico

[@NintendoComplete]

Thanks! I agree, I like this one better too.

[@TheDerpyDolphin]

I’ve only ever played the bootleg copies of this (Kung Fu Mari, Barve Boy: Kungfu Pokechu, etc) but the original actually looks pretty good. I’m going to have to check it out myself

[@SNARC15]

"Hide in shame"

[@pex_the_unalivedrunk6785]

​@@SNARC15 LoL, I played those, as well as Teletubbies Mario and Pikachu Mario. I can't clean their stench off of me, I should just just find a hole and crawl in it and die 🤣💀

[@beerbante77]

Amazing OST

[@fargeeks]

Nevermind i just realized you played this game 5 years ago

[@user-fo1qb2xr6r]

мужик,ты вернул меня в детство...прямо сейчас,скачаю эмулятор и погрязну в этой теме...)

[@carlosbarragan2396]

Jackie Chan is the best actor. 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

[@user-vx2mv7tj7q]

Когда то много лет назад я прошла эту игру! Спасибо за видео❤

[@fargeeks]

You should play the turbo grafix 16 version You can hear Jackie go Gyah!!! And the music is better

[@NintendoComplete]

I like that one a lot. It does look and sound a lot better, but I don't like its levels as much as the ones in this game.

[@colochobardales1935]

Que salvajada de juego ,recordando mi infancia, saludos desde honduras.

[@frederick3534]

El buen Kung fu Mario

[@michaelthelucario]

Hey, it’s mari 10 (or something like that)

[@NewGameMage]

Good, I like this game

[@vampylitemonstergirl]

I just found this, after 20 years 😂

[@amyrosearchiesonicplaypoem8760]

Great video.

[@hotcheetos9168]

Sweet vid thanks

[@h.mmurdock5378]

Wonderful!!!!

[@Avrelivs_Gold]

25:15 Pink and one-eyed, but not a snake

[@britneyspearsvillarosa]

I love Jackie Chan since Rumble In The Bronx (1996) I was 11 years old

[@boiiii4257]

Considering other NES games, this one was fairly easy, however, that doesn't make it less enjoyable.

[@cyrahomega]

Hidden Gem

[@carlosrodriguez-di3bs]

I didn't even know this game existed! I enjoyed the PS1 game Jackie Chan stuntmaster. The Jackie Chan arcade games are fun too! They have Mortal Kombat like graphics.

[@superpan218]

This game was also released on the TurboGrafx-16. Since it's a Hudson Soft game and they co-develop the TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine, why not?

[@jorgezarco9269]

Jackie Chan had his own 8 bit Nintendo game? Neat.

[@joebet237]

6:00 this song is fantastic

[@WavePrism]

That was Mappy.

[@jaxysky]

Так вот откуда взялась эта игра про "грузинского" Марио!

[@krishanwijesinghe5383]

I miss NES games

[@SG-cm7zq]

Welcome special stage.

[@lovemadeinjapan]

It is great to see the NES can pull this off. But the PC Engine version is the one to have. The music comes much more to life with 6 channels and true stereo, the game has a good challenge (NES version is too easy) and best of all Jackie Chan has a nicer cartoonesque look, on the NES he looks a bit too much like a generic action-boy. Fun detail: if you win you wait 3 nights for your sister to come with you. On the PC Engine you wait a full year with 4 seasons!

[@kyojin2389]

Classic

[@zeldagameryt4018]

I know a lot of people like this game, but let’s be honest we all know it from a different title

[@firstclass2222]

what is the original title, please?

[@zeldagameryt4018]

@@firstclass2222 Well this is the original game, but it was actually turned into a ridiculous bootleg called (an I’m not making this up) Super Bros 8: Kung Fu Mari.

[@firstclass2222]

@@zeldagameryt4018 ah, okay, thank you

[@mixwidman5458]

“Hide in shame…”

[@royalkumar795]

You mean, Mario

[@mgabiel]

5:06 Krilin nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

[@korekashioken2396]

25:19 Unzan is that you ?

[@AnnaOlivia24]

Muito bom 😊

[@ashleytempleman5242]

Up up, down down, up, down, B A B

[@urielmartz6870]

jackie chan vs it pennywise the clow spider final

[@pflav1924]

Lo conozco como un hack de Mario

[@yugiohwarduelist999]

Jackie Chan = The Original Goku! lol.

[@user-cs9et3vy3m]

Jackie Chan Classic Nes

[@shkodranshkodran5784]

The game is not complete Is missing the begining whe you have to kill 2 tigers

[@NintendoComplete]

Are you thinking of the TurboGrafx version? They look similar, but the levels are different.

[@shkodranshkodran5784]

@@NintendoComplete yeah I mean the game start in a green field when two tigers come to you jumping and you have to kill them

[@osakatales9228]

Did you watch the video? There were literally two tigers in the beginning.

[@shkodranshkodran5784]

@@osakatales9228 my bad I played this game in my childhood and I was pretty sure the tigers was in the beginning but I saw it was my mistake

[@ruzkbthenon-sider2834]

KUNG FU MARI

[@IAmToDd6691]

Lots of Mario and Sonic type elements to it.

[@conta7619]

Sonic é que tem elementos dele

[@miguelyantaschanca1947]

13:21 Que es lo que el jefe tiene en la mano derecha??

[@Huy]

Nice (*&

[@user-pl6rf5oz9u]

There is a game like this, but the character is Mario

[@borderlinesunshine9630]

Super bros 6 probably

[@dannivalens7241]

13:32 krillin mamado😂

[@rougethebatlover9952]

Hide in shame. Alright, moving on.

@23:25 to 23:27 Me: 🙄🤦🏾‍♂️😑: Why TF did they do that?

[@NintendoComplete]

To get the bonus stage 🙄

[@scrapersabyss2275]

Wait i thought it was a Mario game

[@edrikcrazy2969]

Super bros 8