Fist of the North Star is a single-plane beat-'em-up in which the player proceeds through the game by walking from left to right, using his martial arts of Hokuto Shinken to defeat enemies. Similarly to Kung-Fu Master, jumping is performed by pressing the d-pad upwards instead of having a dedicated button, leaving the A and B buttons solely for attacks. To enter a door, the player must press the d-pad UP while holding A and B simultaneously, which is a requirement to proceed through certain stages. In addition to the regular enemies, the player must also defeat sub-bosses and bosses to proceed in the game. Each boss in the game has a weak point that will result in massive damage if the player strikes it with the proper attack before hitting any other part of the body, along with a greater bonus after the stage is cleared. At the start of the game Kenshiro will only have basic punches and kicks as his only available attacks, but by killing certain enemies with punches, a power-up in the shape of a star will occasionally appear where the enemy used to be. Picking up these stars will increase Kenshiro's power by up to seven levels, granting him numerous new abilities such as rapid punches and kicks, the ability to reflect enemy knives and arrows, faster walking speed, and a projectile shooting attack performed by pressing AB simultaneously while standing still. When Kenshiro reaches his maximum power level, he will rip his shirt and vest open, increasing his defenses. Other power-ups include the flag of the Hokuto Army, which replenishes Kenshiro's life gauge, a silver necklace which grants him more "bomb" units and a gold necklace that grants him temporary invincibility by summoning the power of the ultimate technique Musō Tensei. Kenshiro is given an extra life for every 100,000 points achieved by the player. Shooting power can also be replenished for every 20 thugs killed by the player.
Plot
After the death of Raoh, the Central Imperial Capital, a city ruled by the Tentei, has been in great confusion. Kenshiro returns to assists the now grown Bat and Rin as they lead the Hokuto Army resistance against the Tentei's corrupt imperial forces. As Kenshiro ventures into the Capital, he confronts the Four Generals of Gento and their leader Falco the Gold.
Development
The game was developed during the early stages of the Hokuto no Ken 2 anime's production. As a result, the game only covers the Tentei story arc and ends prematurely with an optional final boss battle against the Nameless Shura. The game features characters from both, the manga and anime. Most notably the game's boss characters, the Four General of Gento, consists of Solia, a character from the manga, Taiga and Boltz, the renegade Gento Kōken masters from the anime, and a new character named Bronza, who was created for the game. Bronza substitute Shōki's role in the anime as the General of Red Light and is described as the only martial artist outside the Hokuto Shinken school to had mastered the ultimate technique of Musō Tensei. The U.S. version was shown at the 1988 Summer Consumer Electronic Show under the title Ken the Great Bear Fist, which is the localized title used by Toei's international sales department. The title was changed to Fist of the North Star for its release in order to tie in with Viz's English adaptation of the manga. The cover artwork for the U.S. version depicts Kenshiro sparring with Toki, who doesn't appear in the game and never actually appeared in the Hokuto no Ken 2 anime series outside flashbacks. The NES version has some slight differences from its Famicom counterpart, which cuts the appearances of side characters at the end of certain stages, as well as the kanji that appear at the top of the screen when Kenshiro defeats a boss after striking its weak point at the start of the battle.
