It’s incredibly primitive by today’s standards, but Yie Ar Kung Fu is the grandfather of the whole fighting game genre. Taking control of Oolong, a generic Chinese fighter, you take on 11 different opponents, each with thier own abilities. Although you can’t play as the other fighters, the matches have a lot of strategy and variety. With Oolong being able to perform 16 different attacks, the game was surprisingly deep given it’s age, It was ported to several older systems, and updated on various gaming download services. The Xbox Live arcade port has remixed graphics. The Game Boy Advance version, included as part of Konami’s Arcade Advanced complication, has 2 secret opponents which can be unlocked via (what else?) the Konami code. It also has a two player mode in which players can play as any of the game’s fighters. If you like fighting games, you’ll definitely want to check out this Lost Classic.

Disclaimer: While I enjoy watching Mixed Martial Arts, I don’t keep up with it (or for that matter other sports) as frequently as I should. Thus, my knowledge of the sport extends little beyond this game.

MMA is the new Professional Wrestling. Of course unlike Pro-wrestling, MMA is very real and very brutal, and it has been increasing in popularity. So much in fact, that THQ teamed up with the UFC to bring UFC Unleashed to consoles, so it seems only natural that EA Sports wants to throw its hat into the ring (maybe that should be cage). While EA MMA isn’t perfect, it puts together a good package and manages to give THQ a run for its money.
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