Oriental Games

Overview

This game was published in 1990 by MicroStyle, a Microprose arcade label, for the 8 bit homecomputers Amstrad CPC/ZX Spectrum and for the 16 bit homecomputers Amiga/Atari ST.

A manual based in-game copy protection is included in some versions, so before the gameplay can start a specified word from the manual has to be entered properly.

Oriental Games is the martial arts equivalent of the Olympics, a tournament in which the world's greatest fighters compete in a four-discipline contest (on the 16-bit machines Amiga and Atari ST there are only three disciplines available) in their attempt to become Grand Master. In mini-tournaments of Kendo, Kung Fu, Kyo-Kushin-Kai(Karate) and Sumo(only available in Amstard CPC and ZX Spectrum versions) the martial artists can win, like at the Olympics, gold, silver and bronze medals. In addition "merit awards" can be won by the fighters in the 16-bit versions of the game. Merit awards are gained for winning, winning by large margin, and for having a good hit/miss ratio. So the merit awards system gives an extra incentive to perform well rather than simply to win.

Gameplay

16-bit versions (Amiga/Atari ST):

On Amiga/Atari ST the play begins with the coach entering the reception area of the dojo(fighting school). An official, sitting behind the registration desk will ask for information regarding the competitors, and the type and level of competition they wish to enter. This information is given to the official via the "Game Options" screen where he following five game features may be altered:

• Game difficulty: Novice, Professional or Master.
• Game type: Either compete in the championship tournament with fifteen other competitors or to fight a head-to-head two competitor(Player vs. Player / Player vs. CPU) match.
• Human players: Up to 16 human players can join the championship tournament and up to 2 human players a head-to-head fight. The fighters are controlled by joysticks.
• Joystick editor: This feature is only available in the 16-bit Amiga/Atari ST versions. If not skipped the pre-programmed moves for the three events can be changed before each tournament starts. All the sixteen joystick positions(eight with fire pressed, and eight without) can be programmed with sequences of up to four moves. A fighter can, for example, deliver a jump kick to his opponent's head, perform a forward flip tourn round and deliver a roundhouse kick to his back all with one joystick move.
• Computer V Computer: Here the player can set if he wants to watch computer controlled fights or if he wants to skip them.

After the registration process names of the human players can be entered and one gets to the dojo screen again where one of the there events(Kendo, Kung-Fu, Kyo-Kushin-Kai) displayed by the icons can be selected. Then a draw for the chosen event will be shown and the names of the competitors. Finally the "Fighting Display" showing the arena with the two fighters facing each other will be displayed and the action can start. At the top of the screen the names of the two opponents are shown and the mood(ranging from reckless to defensive) of the computer controlled fighter. The two flags at the top corners of the screen represent the stamina levels of the fighters. As the opponents perform their moves their stamina decreases and the flags move down the pole. So if stamina is low certain moves which require a lot of energy may fail during execution. But stamina increases when the fighters avoid making attaking moves for a while. The row of five lights, which are all green at the start of a bout, represents the scoring system of the game. The first hit a fighter receives from his opponent will turn a light white, the second hit will turn the light orange and the third one will turn the light red. When all five lights turn red(a total of 15 hits received from the opponent) the fighter has lost the bout. The moves that can be performed in each event are listed below.

A "fight report" is shown after each bout where details of a fight, like hits on opponent or merit awards, are listed. After the "fight report" the "games report" is updated and shown. The "games report" is a kind of ranking list showing overall won medals and merit awards by the fighters taking part in the tournament.

The events:

Event	Moves (How to execute)
	High Block (Up) Head Block (UpForward) Shuffle Forward (Forward) Body Block (DownForward) Side Step (Down) Shuffle Back (Back) Jump Back (UpBack) Cleaver (Fire+Up) Headswing (Fire+UpForward) Bodyswing (Fire+Forward) Hipswing (Fire+DownForward) Stomach Jab (Fire+Down) Cleaver Feign (Fire+DownBack) Body Feign (Fire+Back) Head Feign (Fire+UpBack)
	Jump (Up) Forward Flip (UpForward) Walk Forwards (Forward) Stomack Block (DownForward) Duck (Down) Inward Block (DownBack) Walk Back (Back) Back Flip (UpBack) Jump Kick (Fire+Up) Chin Punch (Fire+UpForward) Headbut (Fire+Forward) Reverse Punch (Fire+DownForward) Duck & Punch (Fire+Down) Leg Stomp (Fire+DownBack) Turn Around (Fire+Back) Roundhouse Kick (Fire+UpBack)
	Jump (Up) Forward Flip (UpForward) Walk Forward (Forward) Block (DownForward) Duck (Down) Block (DownBack) Walk Back (Back) Back Flip (UpBack) Jump Kick (Fire+Up) Roundhouse Kick (Fire+UpForward) Mid Kick (Fire+Forward) Low Kick (Fire+DownForward) Duck & Punch (Fire+Down) Sweep (Fire+DownBack) Turn Around (Fire+Back) Chest Punch (Fire+UpBack)

8-bit versions (Amstrad CPC/ZX Spectrum):

The Amstrad CPC/ZX Spectrum versions have an extra event, Sumo Wrestling, but no joystick editor to change the pre-programmed moves or to programm the joystick positions with sequences of moves. The scoring system is simpler than in the 16 bit versions since the fighters have no stamina levels in addition to the energy meter. Also no merit awards can be gained by the fighters - just gold, silver and bronze medals can be won. The four options that can be selected in the "main menu" when the program has loaded are:

• Number of players: Up to four players may enter the Oriental Games tournament.
• Enter humble name: Each player can input his or her name.
• Select controls: Here each player can choose his or her preferred method of control. When keyboard is selected the control keys can be defined by the players individually.
• Enter Oriental Games: Start the gameplay.

After formalities are completed, the sixteen competitors names for the first event are shown in draw order. Finally the fighting display with the two comabtants facing each other appears and the action can start. Each combatant has an health bar and a score with the points scored for each hit. The bout is over when the health bar of one of the opponents decreases to zero or when one of the combatants scores 1000 points. The moves that can be performed in each event are listed below.

The events:

Event	Moves (How to execute)
	Jump (Up) High Parry (UpForward) Move Forwards (Forward) Low Parry (DownForward) Duck (Down) Jump Back (DownBack) Move Back (Back) Cross Bar (UpBack) Cleaver (Fire+Up) Head Blow (Fire+UpForward) Chest Blow (Fire+Forward) Stomach Blow (Fire+DownForward) Cut Throat (Fire+Down) Skimmer (Fire+DownBack) Turn Around (Fire+Back) Tornado (Fire+UpBack)
	Jump / Get Up (Up) High Lunge Punch (UpForward) Mover Forwards (Forward) Block / Grab (DownForward) Sweep (Down) The Elbow (DownBack) Move Backward (Back) Chop Stick (UpBack) Jump Kick (Fire+Up) High Kick (Fire+UpForward) Mid Kick (Fire+Forward) Reverse Punch (Fire+DownForward) Reverse Sweep (Fire+Down) Head Butt (Fire+DwonBack) Turn Around (Fire+Back) Roundhouse (Fire+UpBack)
	Dodge (Up) Walk Forwards (Forward) Duck (Down) Walk Backwards (Back) Slap (Fire+Up) Push (Fire+Forward) Grab (Fire+Down) Turn (Fire+Back)
	Scissor Kick / Get Up (Up) Forward Somersault (UpForward) Pounce (Forward) Double Forward Somersault (DownForward) Crouch (Down) Double Back Somersault (DownBack) Jump Back (Back) Back Somersault (UpBack) Flying Jumpkick (Fire+Up) High Kick (Fire+UpForward) Mid Kick (Fire+Forward) Low Kick (Fire+DownForward) Sweep (Fire+Down) Back Flip Kick (Fire+DownBack) Turn Around (Fire+Back) Roundhouse (Fire+UpBack)