| Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage | |
| Developer: | Omega Force[1] |
| Publisher: | Tecmo Koei |
| Director: | Naohito Kano |
| Designer: | Takahiro Kawai |
| Programmer: | Tomoyuki Kitamura |
| Composer: | Haruki Yamada |
| Producer: | Hisashi Koinuma |
| Genre: | Beat 'em up |
| Modes: | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Platforms: | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage, originally released in Japan as, is a 3D beat 'em up for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 developed by Omega Force and published by Tecmo Koei. It is a spin-off of the Dynasty Warriors series based on the manga franchise Fist of the North Star by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara. It was first released in Japan on March 25, 2010, and it was released in North America on November 2, 2010 and in Europe on November 5. A sequel, Ken's Rage 2, was announced with a surprise trailer at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in June 2012. New playable characters and story arcs are featured, and the game was released in Japan on December 2012.[2]
The basic controls and mission system are the same as most games in Warriors series. Players can also evade like the characters in the Samurai Warriors series. While a KO count is still present, enemies do not necessarily swarm the players and appear in certain sections within an area. Enemies are killed in a similar manner as the original manga, including the series' unique death cries, blood, and exploding bodies.
Similar to modes featured in the titles, Legend Mode is the story segment which faithfully follows the original manga. The official mode follows the first half of the series, starting with Kenshiro's beginnings until he faces Raoh for the right of the Hokuto Shinken succession. Kenshiro, Rei, Mamiya, Toki, and Raoh can be played in this mode.
Clearing this mode with Rei also unlocks an alternate "white haired" Rei model for players.
An original story for the game which lets other characters become playable. The basic outline of the mode has the four Hokuto brothers interacting with the "Nanto army". Each character offers a different perspective or story arc within the mode. Completing character scenarios in this section is needed to unlock more characters for this mode.
Clearing this mode with Kenshiro unlocks an alternate torn clothes version for him at the character select screen.
Unlocked once Kenshiro's official mode is cleared, it pits the players against a continuous string of opponents. Players can simultaneously face the four Hokuto candidates, the six Nanto Seiken, and other challenges as the players continue playing. It acts as the game's survival mode.
The game's tutorial mode for anyone unfamiliar with the game's system, starting with Kenshiro (Hokuto Type). Includes Rei (Nanto Type) and Mamiya (Unique Type) once the second chapter of Kenshiro's official mode is cleared.
Features renders, music, and movies within the game.
Players can arrange the buttons, adjust the sound, or turn off the gauges on the screen. There are three difficulties: easy, normal, or hard. An option to adjust the game's violence level can also be done: "Extreme" keeps the blood and gore while "Mild" turns it off. In the western versions, there's also an option to switch between English or Japanese language voices.
Hokuto Musō was originally announced as a "mystery title" during the 2009 Tokyo Game Show and was publicly unveiled during a staged media event on October 14, 2009 (broadcast live to the Japanese movie site, Nico Nico Douga). Its story and characters are based on the famous Japanese comic and anime Fist of the North Star. Tetsuo Hara and Buronson, the illustrator and writer respectively of the original comic, have expressed their support and enthusiasm for the title.
Hisashi Koinuma, the game's producer said that the staff aim to create a "new realistic feel" for the Fist of the North Star series while still being faithful to the original's roots. During this process, he mentioned his concerns for the characters' body structure, muscles, and other minute details (such as perfecting the model for Raoh's wrinkled forehead). He noted that the official mode for this title carries more action adventure tones than other Warriors titles thus far yet gave his assurance that Warriors fans can easily feel at home in the game's original story mode. He personally spoke his thoughts regarding the game at Yodobashi-Akiba, Biccamera Yurakucho, and Biccamera Ikebukuro on March 22 and March 25. He also played a rock-paper-scissor game for attendants, the winner of the crowd obtaining an original T-shirt signed by the game's voice actors.
Upon release of the game, Koei plans for downloadable content for the game, including additional costumes and characters. Players can also gain access to download Kenshiro's original costume from the manga and the anime for 300 yen, originally available for the first print editions.[3]
The game comes in four different variations; a standalone copy of the game, the pre-order version, the First print edition and the treasure box edition. The first print edition comes with the access to download Kenshiro's original costume, the pre-order version comes with the Metal Card Case and the treasure box edition includes the character voice Alarm Clock, an original soundtrack CD and an original story book with strategies and artwork.
Pokka Coffee was performing a collaboration event with Fist of the North Star in which they had specially printed cans on their products. These same drinks were present during the March 3rd Premium play test for Ken's Rage.
On October 21, it was announced that pre-order customers who order their game from GameStop stores would receive the playable character 'Heart' as a bonus, as well as two additional missions.[4]
Reviews of the game have been mixed, with an average score of 61.70% for the PlayStation 3 version and 60.54% for the Xbox 360 version at GameRankings.[5] [6] The game currently has a Metacritic score of 60 out of 100 for the PlayStation 3 version[7] and 59 out of 100 for the Xbox 360 version.[8]
The game gained a positive review from Famitsu and was given a score of 32 (9/8/7/8) out of 40. "The game recreates the manga's world pretty well, from the heavy-handed Hokuto moves to the speedier Nanto attacks," one writer said. "It's not all that exciting at first, but things change once you start stringing strong attacks together." Another editor had more serious issues with the game's controls. "The throwing animation is too slow, and you stop for a moment after each strong attack," the reviewer wrote. "Maybe it adds to the effect, but it cuts down on the momentum a bit. The rest of your moves are pretty quick and speedy, too, which makes it seem all the worse."[9]
IGN awarded the game five out of ten and said "There are different stories to play through and plenty to unlock, but it's nothing special."[10] Edge magazine awarded the PlayStation 3 version five out of ten and said "It all adds up to an uneven brawler, a game with the resources and technology to break through the walls of the developer's lineage but one unprepared to fully let go and take a chance."[11] GamesTM awarded the same version seven out of ten.[12] PALGN likewise awarded the same version seven out of ten and said "If you like beat 'em ups, you will appreciate this one, but ultimately Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage is a love letter to fans of the original series."[13]
However, The A.V. Club gave the Xbox 360 version a D and stated, "No matter who's onscreen, Ken's Rage is clunky, lacks variety, and on the whole feels incredibly dated."[14]
Hokuto Musō sold about half a million copies in Japan.[15]