Forgotten Games: Taekwon-Do - SNESdrunk

[@powerrangerfan121]

Coolest thing this game does is that the final boss knocks out the ref and the points indicator in the hud becomes a life bar

[@hyrum1306]

What no way that's incredible

[@sebasrez]

Disappointed the video didnt go into it.

[@Kwincy5]

@@sebasrez Justin Wong played this game on his channel a few months back and it shows the fights leading up to this. It's so awesome!

[@B.-T.]

​@@sebasrezprobably didn't want to spoil the surprise.

[@jw9737]

I practiced Taekwondo for years. The game actually follows the tournament point structure. They also nailed the motions. I wish this had come to the US!

[@Gatorade69]

I bet it would have sold. So many kids (including me) took either karate or taekwondo while growing up.

[@jw9737]

@@Gatorade69 exactly! Plus the game looks great and it seems to have had good gameplay too. Seems like a wasted opportunity

[@erugurara8235]

@@jw9737 all in all, not many figthing games that ttry to emulate the need of real figthing.

[@stanleynichols7300]

Yeah I agree, one of the more realistic fighting games I've ever seen. With accurate techniques and all

[@nickfifteen]

As a Korean, I'm absolutely surprised to see a Japanese-developed game about my country's sport like this!

[@daywalker3735]

This game actually looks really cool

[@leov3569]

Yup.

[@aidan6471]

You’re not wrong

[@Laneous14]

That sprite animation for the spinning kicks is fantastic.

[@SeanTrn]

Yeah I hope someone cranks out an English patch

[@chevyrellstraightdropracin0603]

I agree

[@idonothing7557]

I should start this writing with the fact that I have just realized that this game is made by a Japanese video game producer. So far I assumed that it is delivered by a South Korean company, the country where this martial art is originated. I was a middle schooler when this game came out, we know it is middle of 90s, and out of all those Japanese made masterpieces I was proud of having a game, then I thoughted was made by Korean company, ported in my loving console. South Korea and Japan share a complicated chapter in 20th century, and by the end of the same century Koreans had a sense of being dragged by the Japanese culture. We, now you know where I am from, were (and probably are) mad about what Japanese did on our soil, then the scale of the economy as well as the cultural abundance was a far distance between those two. We were just happy to see our martial art was able to build a single cartridge of enjoyment. And about 25 year have passed since then, now things are not on the same picture. Japanese culture has been loosing its influence over the years whilst Korean culture such as music, movie, food and etc. has been dramatically risen over the globe. Now realizing that this game was not actually created a Korean studio hurts me a bit yet I am so proud of how my country has paved its presence in the world so far. We have so much more to speak than this single game(which I loved). But don't get me wrong. I have great Japanese friends of mine and I know there are thousands things to learn from them. I just wanted to tell you that this video just gave me some deep thoughts about me and my country of 25 years ago and how I appreciate the on going of us now. Thanks mate and please know that you got a royal fan in the heart of South Korea, Seoul 🌟

[@jw9737]

Gan sam ni da! I practiced Taekwondo for several years in America. I would love to visit South Korea.

[@CamerasWATCHme]

Thanks for sharing that. Truly.

[@valdirsalgueiro9087]

I dont think there are many official south korean snes games? I dont know any at least

[@Diggy22]

I love this game. I downloaded the ROM 15 years ago, and I learned how to power through the tournament mode through trial and error. Yagami is my go-to fighter, and he's great for scoring points and getting knockdowns. Fair warning to those playing tournament mode for the first time: The final boss, Yuh, is a monster of a fighter. He kicks the referee, and the fight is strictly survival of the fittest. No more points, knockdowns or time limits; last man standing wins. Taekwon-Do is a very technical game compared to a lot of other fighters I've played, and I love it. They even got actual WTF consultants to ensure a certain degree of realism in the fights and techniques in the game. A very obscure gem worth checking out.

[@buffalotroll2358]

Idk how you don’t have way more subscribers you put me on to so many games that I emulated...keep up the good work

[@SeanTrn]

I know right?!? Same for me. I Love our Drunk buddy

[@buffalotroll2358]

SeanTr0n5000 so true in my opinion he has the best snes gems content out by far hands down!

[@SeanTrn]

@@buffalotroll2358 I agree. And what is weird to me is that with the length of time he's been around and with the amount of content he's brought us, one would think he'd be super popular. In my experience, he actually IS a well known (and liked) channel/guy.. so I'm not sure why his subscriber count isn't higher. By that I mean, I seem to run into a butt-load if old-school gaming fans who know about him and watch him, but for whatever reason it don't seem to correlate with the numbers 😕

[@SeanTrn]

@@buffalotroll2358 lol sometimes I wish the vids were longer, but at the same time I think he found his niche with how he does it now and it's perfect. I just enjoy him so much I wish it was longer 😊

[@buffalotroll2358]

SeanTr0n5000 short and sweet “snesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss drunk!” Lol

[@twitchykun]

When I was a teenager, I picked up Taekwondo (specifically the World Taekwondo style), and then I found this game and had loads of fun. "Lee", the all-rounder guy was my go-to.

[@mafiousbj]

Everytime SnesDrunk wishes me a great rest of my day, the day instantly gets better :)

[@gabemewell3643]

Damn, this game looks pretty nuanced for a 16-bit fighter, and there's no major downsides!

[@rubz1390]

Unless you consider learning another language to be a downside.

[@RolandoMarreroPR]

Google translate is your friend!

[@rubz1390]

Google translate isn't always accurate and doesn't account for context correctly. You also need to type the Japanese symbols somehow.

[@levinotjeans]

@@rubz1390 google translate app does support using the camera to input characters, which doesn't work great, but you can also draw them on the touch screen and then select the correct symbol (kind of like the oldschool palm pilot writing but without the non-standard characters)

[@RolandoMarreroPR]

@@rubz1390 Google translate still 100% better than blindly selecting options!

[@lady1kaka]

Super Soccer by Human was one of my childhood games. Soundtrack seems to be the same style with this game. If there ever comes a Fan translation I might give it a try.

[@FUNKnnFLY]

One of my all time fave football games, although playing against Ireland was always brutal with their amazing goal keeper

[@nunoarcade]

@@FUNKnnFLY nintendo team was op. Imagine if that happened in the real world? you would have Ronaldo and Messi trying to save the world cup lol

[@alainsoucysergerie9879]

A winner is you, indeed! As a guy who's currently discovering the legendary Fire Pro Wrestling Returns and its MMA system, I found it really interesting. Good stuff, mate!

[@thegreathadoken6808]

I remember discovering this game on my Sony Xperia M2 android phone years ago using some SNES emulator. I felt like a proper retro games connoisseur, a real forager of hidden gems after finding it. It made me want to find more, it was early in my emulation career and looking back it may have been one of the early boosts in confidence that kept me at the emulation thing. Anyway, this game is really quite a lot better than one would think. I kind of liken it to something like Virtua Fighter in it's spirit. It takes the Streetfighter/Tekken/Mortal Kombat style and tries to make a more grounded and real fighting game out of it. Top marks for the effort from Human, who as you rightly pointed out in the video made plenty of games worth trying, especially The Firemen, which I think is one of the best games on the Super Nintendo, even if it is locked at half-refresh for some ungodly reason.

[@MangoSpringroll]

I played Taekwon-Do in my high school days in mid-late 90s. It was a challenging game. My brother and I would get frustrated playing the story as we got to the final boss. It was a great game!

[@XCM666]

Man, a few years back I played this with a good friend for a whole evening. We had very little idea of what we were doing, but trying out the different characters and discovering the moves (and rules) was lots of fun. Good times and an underrated game.

[@ScarletSprites]

I knew there had to be a video for this. I was just explaining it to a friend and needed a link. I picked this cart up in California in a Japanese game shop way back in the 90s along with a honeybee converter. The owner was insistent I buy it since he had heard I was going to Tae Kwon Do classes. Salesmanship aside it became a favorite to play on my SNES. No one had ever heard of it much less owned a copy of it. It’s cool to see this stuff get some of the spotlight it deserves.

[@tzera_rhuon]

This looks like a turbo-charged version of Karate Champ ❤ I imagine for its time having front and back sprites was a big deal as it equates to double the animation work.

[@lengendaryleo3578]

This reminds me of the Taekwondo movie “Best Of The Best”! This looks cool asl!

[@jarrettpennington4579]

Love that movie

[@jdiluigi]

one of the few channels that I kept notifications turned on over the last year. keep up the great work man. thanks

[@juliomonrroyperez]

ditto

[@Ianforcements5669]

Dude! I've been playing this game for like 2 decades now and this might be the first time I've seen someone else bring it up. I love this game so much. It needs an English patch yesterday.

[@hadjiioke]

“A winner is you!” Ok Kin Korn Karn!

[@MrZillas]

OK USA

[@otaking3582]

Ok Y Kay Kim

[@JustinLeeper]

I took taekwondo as a teen, so I picked any taekwondo fighter like Kim in Fatal Fury or Hwoarang in Tekken. But never heard of this! Thanks, SNESDrunk! Surprising to see a Japanese game about taekwondo, due to it being a Korean martial art & the rivalry between Korea and Japan.

[@R1SKbreaker]

Thanks for doing the video on this game. It was a lot of fun when I discovered it awhile back. Very playable in english if you just do the main tournament mode. Fyi, if you blow out your stamina, your health will be low as well. Figured that out the hard way since I started the game with the guy in green that has low stamina. I hope the extra attention to this game leads to a English translation. Make it to the final boss in Tournament mode; it's a lot of fun and it made me laugh.

[@beelzeburbia]

This game is fantastic! The World Taekwondo Federation's involvement on this game definitely helped it in the long run, for it is one of the most fun and tense experiences I've ever had in a 16-bit era fighter.

[@mattbrown7508]

Dude, you're my favorite retro gamer KZbinr out there in KZbin Land. TKD looks interesting. You always find underappreciated gems like Space Megaforce or Shadowrun, both examples of games I had no idea existed. Maybe, some hacker hero will make that English patch for TKD and the rest of the gaming community. Anyways, keep doing what you're doing and I'll keep watching. 📺

[@thenostalgiafactor5023]

Total length of video: 320 secs. Total length of "SNES Drunk": 5 secs. 1.56% of the video was spent listening to "SNES Drunk".

[@DaedalosC9]

Human Entertainment, always a pleasure to learn more about their games

[@kenhaze5230]

Was waiting for this one. Hadn't heard of it before this video, but was waiting for it.

[@elechain2441]

No no, I get what you’re saying don’t worry lol

[@totalhydration5240]

I totally get it, I've been waiting for the SNES Mini since 2018 and it finally released in 2017. What a time to be alive.

[@thecunninlynguist]

cool. like a 16-bit version (and better) of T&F II's Taekwon-do segment.

[@Shinmsl]

It never ceases to amaze me how you still find these gems on a system that officially stopped their game production more than 2 decades ago

[@Gatorade69]

There's so many games like this that never got ported to America. I remember going through a list of japanese roms oonce and that's how I found and fell in love with Parodius.

[@worsel555]

I have this game complete in box and I love it, awesome to see it covered on this channel :)

[@deabreu.tattoo]

omg, I LOVED this game when I was in my deep SNES emulation phase, in the early '00s. I downloaded this because I practiced TKD when I was a kid and that got me curious. I loced the story mode, even though I couldn't understand a thing, I could follow some of the plot just from the physical acting on the characters. that final match got me so pumped, it was crazy hahaha I recommend this too. it takes some getting used to, but you managed to explain it pretty well. it's more of a slower, 100% footsies-based fighting game.

[@kurati]

The last Champion entrance is amazing. This game is amazing.

[@rezzoflansch2936]

I really enjoyed this game. The story is interesting too, where you face the "evil" North-Korean brothers in the end.

[@isaacrios6861]

Hey SNES DRUNK, I just wanna tell you how much I appreciate your videos. I suffer from really bad generalized anxiety and oftentimes your videos are what helps calm me down. Your videos are mellow, not super fast paced and just pleasant to watch. Plus the "have a great rest of your day" is close to therapeutic. I appreciate it bro. Thank you!

[@SNESdrunk]

Best of luck, hang in there

[@javaly78]

OK I need to play this one. It reminds me of the movement of the fighters in SNK’s Street Smart

[@TheLastWizard]

That's a lot of game in just 16 bits. RPG elements too with the saved fighter, that's a pretty advanced game for the SNES.

[@marquisdan7659]

I want to thank you for making this video and hope you have a great rest of your day

[@Anderson_101]

It seems I would love this game if I have could play it back then.

[@raphaelfp]

When it comes to fighting games with martial arts in a more realistic way I can remember of Best of the Best (kickboxing) and Astral Bout for the Super Famicom (various styles), but this one looks more sharp on the edges. I can't help to think Virtua Fighter would be something like that before the polygon introduction. I hope someone comes up with an english patch someday. Very interesting game!

Loved this game back in the day. :) There are 3 bosses in the tournament mode and a code to unlock them. The final tournament fight also has the boss kick the judge out, and start beating you, and you got to fight him with health bars and all. It was awesome. There's also a super move you can perform when your character is tired, which is very nice as well.

[@Gatorade69]

Oh that's awesome. I want to play this game.

[@tekton4044]

I just found this game, its pretty amazing for its time. Human Entertainment had a knack for creating deep, yet accessible simulation fighting games. I wish I knew of more stuff like this, I like the slower strategy of this and the Fire Pro series over the mindless button mashing of something like street fighter or whatever.

[@onionknight9431]

I played it with my friends on super famicom back in the 90s. Wouldn't have remembered this game if I didn't watch this video. Now I recall playing Lee and his quick counter side kick.

[@LRon-ef7ni]

Those animations are so badass.

[@JeddAhyoung]

Dude, I'd completely forgotten about this game. I played this back in 2004 with a friend of mine in college, we worked a late shift in the computer lab and just played emulator games networked between the computers. It was good times. This game was great - you couldn't really button mash and you had to pay attention to your timing. If you didn't pay attention to timing or tried to use the wrong attack, you'd get counter-attacked! I remember that we couldn't figure out the menus or anything. I think I preferred the power dude in the white gi, but I think my friend liked to play the dark blue guy? One dude, green guy, was off-limits because his auto combo would basically wreck you and push you off the mat and was unavoidable, so we always used to ban him. This game had a lot of strategy and footsies, and you didn't need to be a pro player to play it well. I think I'll be checking this one out again.

[@danielespeziari5545]

This point-based structure reminds me a bit of Fighters Destiny on N64

[@hyakugame]

Please learn Kana (katakana/hiragana), it's really easy and quick and you'll be able to get through things like menus and any basic stuff. Most old NES and Gameboy games use only kana so you'll be able to cover more words and understand what you're doing or what's happening a bit more. I promise it's worth it.

[@thiago4santos]

Actually looks sorta like real taekwondo moves in a championship.

[@kramerdesign9443]

I love Human, and I love that they made a fighting game

[@BakiX]

Now *THIS* is an obscure af title, lol. Great work as always Drunk, this was a super interesting one and I absolutely love games made by Human Entertainment. Never heard of this one, so ill have to give it a try someday 👍

[@jonzumaki]

Ah man. I grew up with SNES, love fighting games and teach Taekwondo. Where was this game in my childhood!? Thanks for showing it.

[@Sly88Frye]

Wow a tournament fighter game that actually uses real moves instead of a bunch of crazy made up shit. And they managed to make it good so I am definitely impressed.

[@CamoWolf55]

I took Taekwondo for years as a kid and I remember coming across this game in a rom pack and just loving it because I actually recognized the fighting, unlike other fighting games

[@broncosbreaks]

Little known fact: in real life, people can punch too

[@heavybass40]

Taekwondo, in competition, is all kicking. Depending on the regulating body for the tournament, punches either do not score anything or are only 1 point. Punching just doesn’t get used in Taekwondo competitions.

[@Davide-ki6iy]

Only in itf taekwondo competition you can do punching techniques to the head . In taekwondo wt is allowed to the chest guard

[@broncosbreaks]

A small amount of humor coming from a guy that does kickboxing

[@PacketWrangler]

@@heavybass40 I can't agree. Every level at which I competed, there was frequently a time to use some upper body technique. Usually it's when an opponent is over-eager. Granted I haven't competed in 15 years, but it's hard to imagine that much has changed.

[@heavybass40]

@@broncosbreaks Kickboxing is also fun. I’m currently training in Taekwondo but have done Kickboxing, Shorin Ryu and Muay Thai in the past. I wish you great success!

[@jesselarsen2279]

I remember I used to kick ass at this game but I think I lose finger coordination as I get older(that's what she said) that's why I loved growing up with a gamer dad got to play all the best imports and that was a big deal in the 80s and 90s

[@danielrecommends]

This game reminds me of Street Smarts from back in the day. It looks way more advanced but the play style seems to be something like that game. This does seem to be a really fun game. Thanks for brining this gem to our attention!

[@jmyers1385]

This was the first Super Famicom game that came with the system I imported with my first paycheck! The seller kinda threw it in randomly and I'm not complaining, I've played this a ton over the years. If this game feels and plays great, there's a pretty good reason for it, a good handful of folks from the Fire Pro Wrestling games programmed and developed this one, which should be very encouraging for anyone who runs across this. Solid fighting mechanics, close attention to detail, a solid rule structure that mirrors the actual sport, custom character creation, and a ton of game modes are all staples of FPW that are also in this game. This is a total sleeper hit, and there are a few decent guides out there to navigate the menus in English if that's the only hesitation anyone has to trying this out.

[@deleteable.]

another night of waking up at 4am to watch snesdrunk 😔

[@atinimaedigresyl]

West Coast? I'm in VA. 7:30 here😃🙂

[@MR.AIRWALK]

You were already up don’t lie

[@jw9737]

Few of us are sleeping well these days.

[@rockguitarist8907]

OK

[@moonlightaffairs]

I got this game many years ago. The trick is try your luck when your opponent wobble, hit him on the head will usually knock him out.

[@jamesburchill7522]

The password system would be a drag...except...we all have cameras on our cellphones now. ;) Good vid as always, man.

[@frankburnett719]

No way you finally made a video on this!!

[@SeaSerpentLevi]

this is a pretty solid game man i still remember when i discovered it. I couldnt read shit, so i would fill the dialogues with my own imaginary plot and think the other guy was a super epic rival of my character, the character sprites are so expressive that it always made this little "roleplay" very fun and immersive for some reason xD Its interesting that instead of having only reference on what was big in the time, it apparently takes more reference of older fighting games like karate champ, this kind of more realistic approach is very rare to find well done to this day, and i think taekwondo was a solid underrated lil gem.

[@franciscomargitic7803]

I did taekwondo for about 7 years

[@JforJeff]

This looks like a sweet game. I appreciate how nuanced the combat is.

[@NESADDICT]

Snnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeessssssss drunk!🤣

[@shin_roku5696]

This game was ahead of its time

[@MarioUcomics]

Makes it part fighting game, part sports game with the point system

[@Gatorade69]

Well I mean fighting is a sport. It seems to be one a more "realistic" fighting game which I find cool. Looks pretty good from what I see like they nailed the balance of realism and gameplay.

[@fromthe90s21]

@@Gatorade69 ...which is very typical of Human, if you dig a bit deeper into their numerous sports games. I cannot recommend Final Match Tennis (on PC Engine. Avoid the SNES or PS1 versions) enough.

[@nayyarrashid4661]

This game needs to be ported over to modern system and a remake with English. Preferably both versions on a single package. Someone needs to realize how great this game looks and sounds... Love the mechanics in this game

[@terrythe2dmaniac71]

Was really hoping you would reach this amazing and unique game eventually, keep up the good work, you rock buddy 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@csward5380]

Take a picture of the Japanese characters with your phone for the password system, Drunk.

[@runningsuperska]

A winner is you!! I wondered where OSW review got that from.

[@8thLife]

I like that this game has stats that you can build on over the course of the game!

[@theraymunator]

As a practicioner of taekwondo and massive fighting game fan, this game looks amazing.

[@hereandnow3700]

I discovered this game about 20 years ago on a site called "cherryroms" that had super famicom games. been a fan since

[@bra1nc417d]

Never seen this before. Looks very unique. Really does suck that it's not translated. Thanks for the video.

[@kakzetak]

One of my favourite SNES games. Love rpg-mode and final twist before bossfight ) Btw, there is one modern gamedev studio, which makes sort of modern remakes for old and little known games, such as Barbarian: Ultimate warrior (Age of Barbarian) and this game, Taekwon-Do. It called Karate Masters, and it's in English)

[@winterwarz07]

crian soft

[@kakzetak]

@@winterwarz07 yeah, thanks. I forget to mention they name

[@doctorhino8736]

I found this game recently and it was really fun. The pacing of the fighting is very unique and strategic

[@evandigga]

I LOVED this game. Played it however I could back in the day. Found a guy that used to speedrun it on Twitch, but shortly later he disappeared. I wonder where he is to this day...

[@Turtleproof]

Accurate. Tae Kwon Do emphasizes kicking, foot placement is a big deal.

[@BrilliantBenGaming]

this game looks like fun. A modern retro taekwon-do game would be excellent

[@MaaZeus]

Oh wow, this looks like a real hidden gem that stands out from the rest. We really need a translation patch for this, pronto.

[@JackyBrayant1994]

The final match was definitely one of the most iconic final bosses in that era, your opponent enters ring with with a daily, he kicks the referee and destroys the points indicater in the back ground and all of the sudden the power bars appear This meant only one thing and one thing only : This isn't a sport, anymore its a legit fight!

[@EricRShelton]

Go with Korean. Even if you don't speak it, Hangul is just a series of letters grouped into syllables. You could teach yourself to "read" it in a day or two with some practice (even if you don't know what it means).

[@Liquidcadmus]

I really like this game, and speaking Korean does help.

[@brianwindson9656]

this game is amazing, it's what got me into taekwondo since a child. and it's surprisingly accurate

[@Saberwaisen]

Human ent. really was something special

[@LanEXHikari]

You never fail to amaze, Drunk, it kinda surprises me that there are still more hidden gems from Human Entertainment. Thanks for the vid 👍🏼 Have great rest of your day too

[@tdrev4895]

Im not gonna spoil anything but the last fight the way it happened was of the coolest suprises i had on the snes for sure

[@trevormarshall8553]

I used to play this on my SNES emulator. I'd kill to get a copy of this for my super retron. Made me fall in love with point fighting

[@悪魔城下町]

Human made some great games, also for the PC Engine (Final Match Tennis).

[@torokun]

Whoa! This actually looks pretty good and it seems like the gameplay is pretty solid.

[@chaosgreyblood]

There's gotta be a brave soul or two who can help translate this game. Another hidden treasure by Human.

[@RolandoMarreroPR]

I wanted to play a game like this back in the day! 25 years later finally find out there was such game! A shame that this didn’t make it to the US or Europe!

[@caleblatreille8224]

this looks like a fantastic mix between a fighting game and something more akin to Super Tennis… more of a "simulation" style with a long learning curve based on reliable controls/physics, player differentiation, and a useful tournament structure. Please update the top comment or with a channel post if you learn of a patch!

[@lennywright5655]

Why didn’t we get this? I would’ve bought Taekwon-Do!

[@tasjalo1411]

I loved this title - was a childhood fav

[@milegindahouse]

Taekwondo is terrific for keeping in shape, but it’s also a deadly serious killing system.-Fred Simmons (Danny McBride)

[@nomadicmonkey3186]

Human's got a really interesting roster of uniquely creative games that no other companies seem to have dare attempted. Also I noticed their 2D sprites kinda share some similarities across totally disparate titles such as this and PS1 cult classic Twilight Syndrome, giving the company a unique flair. It's such a shame they didn't make it to survive until detailed 2D graphics became cool again.

[@alexandernichols413]

This was the one martial art I learned as a kid.

[@jeffreys431]

This game looks terrific, would have gladly imported it back in the 90’s. Great find!

[@NotesandNerds]

This reminds me of Andre Panza Kickboxing on TurboGrafx-16, or Best of the Best everywhere else. Used to be really good at that game, too.