Now Back to Your Regularly Scheduled Program

What that you say? This is a video game website? You're tired of all the foody posts that I have been making lately? Well, perhaps you are correct. Now that my new web site is up and running, I will be focusing this blog back on the video game content on which is was built. Tonight I finally went back down into the basement and played some of my arcade cabs that have been sitting unloved as I worked on Cooking in the Great Outdoors (henceforce know as CITGO in this blog). So I fired up the machines and sat down in front of Kung Fu Master for a few games.

Now if you are truly "2old2play" then you probably remember Kung Fu Master from the heyday of arcades, when quarters were king and being good a playing video games could actually get you laid (this WAS the 80's folks). For those of you unfamiliar with the game, you play as Thomas, a martial arts master who is trying to save his girlfriend "Sylvia" from the evil Dragon Master "Mr. X" (hey, I didn't choose those names). This is your basic side-scrolling brawler with a few twists. You kick and punch your way up through the levels, but if you allow any of your enemies to touch you, they grab you in a bear hug and squeeze the life out of you. To free yourself, you must shake the joystick back and forth rapidly.

As you make your way up the Dragon Master's tower, you encounter different opponents, including somersaulting midgets, knife throwing ninjas in white and bosses that wield sitcks, boomerangs, knives and magic. Historically, I have always been able to get to the final level (Level 5) but have never defeated the last boss, Mr. X himself. Well tonight I finally got past the bastard and achieved a new personal best High Score of 164,820. By way of comparision, the official world record as noted by Twin Galaxies is 1,349,040 held by Mike Sullivan. So needless to say, I have some practicing to do.

. What was my reward for reaching this milestone you ask? I got to start over at level one, with more enemies, who moved faster and held onto me longer. Such are the challenges of classic arcade games.