Kung-Fu Master

Kung-Fu Master for the Atari 7800 is a side-scrolling martial-arts action game released in 1989. Developed by Imagineering and published by Absolute Entertainment, this home-console version sends a lone fighter into the Evil Wizard's Temple to rescue Princess Victoria. The task is simple to describe but demanding to finish: survive five hostile floors, defeat the master guarding each one, and reach the prisoner at the summit.

Play unfolds on a horizontal path where enemies close in from either side. The joystick moves the hero left and right, pushes him forward into a jump, and pulls him back into a squat. Combining those directions with the action button produces high and low kicks or punches, giving the player different ways to meet threats at their height. The manual stresses careful striking rather than attacking at random, since the timing and position of a blow matter when enemies crowd the screen.

Ordinary henchmen fall to a single punch or kick, although they can grab the player and drain energy until the joystick is worked from side to side. Knife throwers need two hits and force quick decisions about ducking or jumping over their weapons. Tumbling midgets call for lower attacks or a well-timed jump, while falling dragon balls and snake baskets can be smashed before their contents emerge. Spinning bombs are hazards to avoid, and killer moths add another airborne danger to the climb.

Every floor ends in a one-on-one confrontation with a named guardian: the Stick Fighter, Boomerang Thrower, Giant Kicker, Lightning Magician, and finally the Gang Master. The status display tracks score, a countdown timer, remaining lives, the player's energy, and the current boss's energy. Depleting a boss's meter clears the floor; unused time and energy become score bonuses, and the next level begins with renewed timer and energy supplies. A life is lost if either the player's energy or the timer runs out, while an extra life is awarded at 75,000 points.

Kung-Fu Master Atari 7800 supports one player or an alternating two-player game. In multiplayer, control changes when a player loses a life, and the surviving participant continues if the other runs out. Players begin with four lives, so learning when to advance, jump, crouch, strike, or disengage is central to lasting through the temple. Completing the rescue does not end the challenge permanently: the game returns to the beginning with faster, more dangerous opponents.

This Atari 7800 release arrived several years after Irem's 1984 arcade Kung-Fu Master, a foundational scrolling martial-arts game that appeared in many home versions. Rather than relying on the arcade story's names, Absolute Entertainment's manual presents its own Princess Victoria and Evil Wizard scenario while retaining the five-floor ascent, boss encounters, and forward-moving combat structure. That makes the 1989 cartridge a distinctly late-era Atari 7800 interpretation of a classic arcade action design.