151. Hokuto no Ken 2 (Shouei, Famicom, 1987)

Hokuto no Ken 2 is the sequel to the previous game I reviewed, released a year later by the same developer. This title was eventually localized as Fist of the North Star on the NES in North America, the only one of the four Hokuto no Ken Famicom games to get this treatment. Hokuto no Ken 3 and 4 are RPGs, so I can see why those would not have been localized.

The first Hokuto no Ken was one of the worst games I've played this year, and the second game is mostly more of the same, though it is not without its upgrades. Hokuto no Ken 2 boasts better animation, nicer looking sprites & backgrounds, and my favorite feature: you can now jump the full height of the screen, which is a lot of fun. There are also now collectible powerups that make your moves more powerful, unlock new moves, or increase your movement speed.

The levels themselves are more linear and for the most part do not require you to go in the right door or loop around. The second level was shorter than the first, but also much more vertical, and the game's up-to-jump controls scheme is not fun in cramped areas with low ceilings.

Every level has a miniboss and boss, and the minibosses have a ridiculously small hitbox, and are generally not very interesting. The first boss was actually a little fun to fight, with a discernible pattern and punishable attacks. The second boss had a lot of projectiles, so I used my fighting game instincts and jumped in and it turns out this boss has no short range attacks, so it was a breeze compared to other tough opponents.

2/5, some improvements over the first game, but it's still a boring, hard to control experience