The Legend of Thomas: An Encyclopedic History of NES Kung Fu

Back in 1984, a lone martial artist punched his way out of the arcade and into our living rooms. This was Kung Fu for the NES... a simple game about saving your girlfriend that accidentally created two whole genres. Here's the story of Thomas, his amazing jump kick, and the five floors of pain standing between him and Sylvia.

From Arcades to Your Living Room

In the noisy video arcades of 1984, a new hero appeared. Not a spaceship, not a cartoon mascot, just a lone martial artist in white clothes facing down a horde of bad guys. This was Kung-Fu Master , a hit game by the Japanese developer Irem. ¹

The game’s origins are tied to Hong Kong martial arts movies. Irem got the license to make a game based on the 1984 Jackie Chan film Wheels on Meals (released as Spartan X in Japan). The job went to a young designer named Takashi Nishiyama. ²

Nishiyama had already made the shooter Moon Patrol , which was famous for its side-scrolling backgrounds. For Spartan X , he borrowed the hero and girlfriend's names (Thomas and Sylvia) from the movie, but took the main idea from a different film, Bruce Lee's Game of Death . ^{2, 4}

Lee’s movie had a classic scene where he fights his way up a pagoda, facing a different master on each floor. Nishiyama mixed this floor-by-floor climb with the side-scrolling action from Moon Patrol . And just like that, he’d basically invented the beat 'em up genre. ¹

A Fork in the Road

While working on Kung-Fu Master , Nishiyama was hired away by a rival company, Capcom. He left Irem before the game was even finished, a move that changed gaming history. ^{2, 4}

At Capcom, Nishiyama kept working on the beat 'em up formula, starting with 1986's Trojan . But he kept thinking about the best parts of Kung-Fu Master , the one-on-one boss fights. He wondered if a whole game could just be those duels. ²

That idea led directly to 1987's Street Fighter . Nishiyama basically fathered two of the biggest arcade genres of the era, the beat 'em up and the one-on-one fighter. ⁶

Coming to the NES

Back at Irem, Kung-Fu Master was a huge arcade hit. Nintendo noticed and licensed the game to be ported to its new home console, the Famicom (soon to be the NES in North America). This was unusual for Nintendo, who usually made their own games. ^{1, 10}

The project director was none other than Shigeru Miyamoto. Nintendo wanted the game for its launch, sure, but it was also homework for Miyamoto's team. They used the project to get hands-on experience with the side-scrolling mechanics they would perfect in their next game, Super Mario Bros. ^{2, 4}

Moving from the powerful arcade machine to the little NES meant some downgrades. The characters were smaller and the backgrounds were simpler. But many players felt the NES version had tighter, more responsive controls. ^{9, 13}

The home version also added two difficulty levels, Game A and Game B. Renamed simply Kung Fu , it became one of the original seventeen "Black Box" launch titles for the NES in October 1985. Through this humble gray cartridge, a generation learned how to brawl in 8-bit. ^{15, 16}

How to Fight in 8-Bit

Playing Kung Fu is pure action. You're dropped into the game as Thomas with a simple mission, save your girlfriend. The controls are simple, with the A button for a quick punch and the B button for a longer-range kick. ¹⁸

There's a bit of strategy right away. The short-range punch is riskier but gets you more points, while the kick is a safer bet. You can attack while standing, crouching (for a low punch or sweep kick), or jumping. ^{4, 19}

That's it. Your whole arsenal is four moves, punch, kick, jump kick, and sweep kick. With these, you have to fight your way up five floors of bad guys.

The Enemies

The first floor of the Devil's Temple introduces the "Gripper." These guys charge at you and grab you in a bear hug that drains your health until you wiggle free. They're joined by "Knife Throwers," who you have to duck under or jump over their blades. ¹⁸

On the second floor, the temple itself attacks you. Snake Baskets and exploding Confetti Balls fall from the ceiling, while Dragon Balls hatch into tiny fire-breathing dragons. You also meet "Tom Toms," short acrobatic fighters who can only be hit with low attacks. ^{4, 18}

The third floor is a tough test of your basic fighting skills against waves of human enemies. The fourth floor adds the Poisonous Moth, an insect that flies in tricky patterns. The fifth and final floor throws everything at you at once in a frantic last push. ¹⁹

The Bosses

But the real fun was the boss fights. Kung Fu was one of the first games to have a unique boss with a health bar at the end of each level, an idea that became a staple for action games. ¹

The first boss is the Stick Fighter. He uses a staff, so you have to bait out his attack, dash in for a few hits, and get out. The second boss, the Boomerang Fighter, throws two projectiles at once that you have to dodge before you can attack. ¹⁹

The third boss is the Giant, a huge guy who can knock you out in one or two hits. His only weak spot is his head, so you have to risk it all with jump kicks. Next is the Black Magician, who teleports and shoots fireballs. Hitting his head just makes it fall off and grow back, so you have to hit his body. ^{15, 19, 23}

Finally, you face the mastermind, Mr. X. He's a skilled martial artist who blocks most of your moves. But a programming flaw makes him easy to beat, you can trap him in an endless loop with a series of crouching sweep kicks. ²⁵

The Story, Save the Girl

Kung Fu 's story is simple and gets the job done. The crime boss Mr. X has kidnapped your girlfriend, Sylvia. A quick cutscene shows her being carried away, pleading "Help me Thomas!", before you jump into action. ^{4, 27}

That's the whole plot. You have a hero, a victim, a villain, and a goal. In the 80s, this was a feature, not a bug, it let the action start right away. ²⁸

The plot is a classic "damsel in distress" story, just like in Donkey Kong . In the 1980s, this was a super effective way to give young male players a clear, heroic goal, rescue the girl. Every punch and kick in Kung Fu is part of that quest. ^{1, 30, 32}

The game's atmosphere comes from its non-stop action and momentum. The backgrounds are simple and repetitive, which keeps your focus on the fight. You're always surrounded, and the only way out is up. ¹⁵

Wataah! The Sounds of Kung Fu

The sounds of Kung Fu are unforgettable. The combination of its catchy theme music and sharp sound effects are a huge part of its charm.

The main theme is an energetic, looping, Oriental-style melody that's impossible to get out of your head. The game's designer, Takashi Nishiyama, originally thought the game should only have sound effects, no music. Composer Masato Ishizaki had to make two versions to convince him the music was essential. ^{4, 15}

When the game came to the NES, its sound was adapted by a young composer named Koji Kondo. Working with the NES's limited sound chip, Kondo created the iconic sounds that gave the game its character. ^{4, 34}

And the combat sounds... so crunchy. Every hit lands with a sharp smack that feels incredibly satisfying. When you get hit, you hear a dull thud. ³⁶

But the most memorable sound is Thomas's battle cry. With every kick, he lets out a high-pitched "Wataaah!" that perfectly captured the spirit of old martial arts movies. That one sound defines the game for many people. ³⁶

There are also little musical cues, a happy jingle when you clear a floor, and a mocking laugh from the boss when you die. These sounds aren't just background noise, they create rhythm, reward you for good hits, and punish you for messing up. ³⁷

The Game That Started It All

Kung Fu was a smash hit when it landed in 1985. As a launch title for the NES, it sold an amazing 3.5 million copies, making it the 13th best-selling NES game ever. Critics at the time called it a "near perfect conversion" of the arcade original. ⁴

But its real legacy is bigger than sales numbers. Kung Fu is, seriously, one of the most important games ever. It created the blueprint for the entire beat 'em up genre.

Before this game, the idea of a single hero fighting waves of enemies with punches and kicks in a side-scrolling world didn't really exist. The horizontal level design, the endless bad guys from both sides, the small set of moves, and the big boss fight at the end, Kung Fu pioneered all of it. ¹

You can draw a direct line from Kung Fu to later classics like Double Dragon , Final Fight , and Streets of Rage . They were all building on the foundation that Kung Fu created. And as we know, its creator, Takashi Nishiyama, took the boss fight idea and turned it into Street Fighter , kicking off the fighting game genre. ^{1, 8}

Because everyone with an early NES had this game, it taught a whole generation the "language" of beat 'em ups. Players learned how to handle crowds, watch for off-screen attacks, and learn boss patterns. So Kung Fu didn't just invent a new genre for developers, it also trained a whole generation of players how to play them. ³⁹

Secrets, Glitches, and a Lost Sequel

For such a simple game, Kung Fu has a lot of interesting history. Its original Japanese release on the Famicom was called Spartan X , a tie-in to the Jackie Chan movie. Later, after Nintendo lost the license, the game was re-released in Japan as Kung Fu , with the same title screen design as the North American version. ¹⁰

Players also found a hidden trick for a 5,000 point bonus. If the 12th enemy on any floor is a Gripper, and you defeat him with a jump kick, you get the points. This created a little meta-game for score chasers trying to time it just right. ^{21, 43}

The game also has one of the weirdest glitches on the NES. If you defeat a boss at the exact same moment a thrown knife hits you, the game gets confused. Thomas will climb a set of "invisible stairs" into the air. ²⁵

It gets even stranger on the final level. If you do the glitch while beating Mr. X, you get to the ending, but Sylvia is gone. Thomas just stands there alone, celebrating with a bunch of floating hearts. ²⁵

Finally, there was supposed to be a sequel. A game called Spartan X 2 was released for the Famicom in Japan in 1991. American magazines even previewed it as Kung Fu 2 , but the Western release was cancelled for unknown reasons. ³⁹

Why We Still Love This Game

Why do we still love Kung Fu today, with its blocky graphics and simple gameplay? It's not just because it was important, it's because the design is pure and it represents a shared memory for millions.

For many 80s kids, Kung Fu was their first real video game, right alongside Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt . It felt like everyone owned it. Playing it was a shared experience of frustration (those Grippers!) and pure joy (finally beating the Giant!). ^{23, 39}

Its simplicity was its secret weapon. Anyone could pick up the controller and understand what to do in seconds.

The game is tough, but a full run takes less than ten minutes for a good player. This created an addictive "one more try" feeling. The controls were tight and the sound effects were so satisfying that just punching and kicking never got old. ^{12, 22, 36, 46}

Today, Kung Fu is a reminder of a simpler time in gaming. It represents the magic of that "Black Box" era, when a few pixels could create a whole adventure. It's earned its place in the history books... and in the hearts of anyone who picked up that gray controller.

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