Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 10:17 pm Post subject: Kunio-kun in The Claw of Kowloon
Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun: Kowloon no Tsume (熱血硬派くにおくん ~九龍の爪~, "Hot Blooded Tough Guy Mr. Kunio: The Claw of Kowloon") was a proposed sequel to Kunio-tachi no Banka conceived by series' creator Yoshihisa Kishimoto that was intended to be developed for the PlayStation around 1996.
The proposal never truly began development, presumably due to Technos Japan's closure, but Kishimoto wrote an entire game plan detailing the plot, characters, game modes, controls, type of stages, and other play mechanics (such as a "duck or sway" system). It seems it would've been a bit more arcade-like than Banka, since this one has a credits system (Banka had unlimited continues and passwords).
I'll translate all of it later, but I want to comment on the character designs, which looks very familiar. I don't want to mention whose style it reminds me of, just so I'll know I'm not imagining things.
http://game.ap.teacup.com/920-kunio/
Last edited by Johnny Undaunted on Thu Sep 01, 2011 10:48 pm; edited 2 times in total
By the way, the top of the page contains concept art for other Kunio-kun game ideas (such as polo and go-kart racing). You'll need to scroll down for the Kowloon stuff.
It's from Mr. Kishimoto's website, which contains lots of facts on his work in various games (including dedicated sections to Kunio and Double Dragon).
http://wind.ap.teacup.com/kishi/
Kishimoto will reply to most e-mails and Youtube messages, but only if you write him in Japanese (I don't believe he understands English).
The polo and go-kart sketches were probably not done by Kishimoto though. They were most likely drawn by Masao Shiroto, who did the promotional illustrations for many of the Kunio games, or perhaps another of the cover artists. Those were ideas for Kunio games proposed for the Super Famicom.
As for the Claw of Kowloon character designs, they look like the work of Masami Obari (I was not going to mention him, but screw it). It makes sense, since this would've been shortly after Gowcaizer.
None that I'm aware of. The only other ex-Technos guys with a site are the River City Ransom creators Hiroyuki Sekimoto and Mitsuhiro Yoshida, who run the doujin group Miracle Kidz. They did the new Downtown Nekketsu Dodgeball game that came out for the Wii awhile ago.
http://mkidz.jp/
As far as I know, the last thing Shiroto did as a game designer was Ridegear Guybrave for the PS1 in 1998.
I went on a trip to Hong Kong while working on Kunio-tachi no Banka and that's when I saw Kowloon City with my very own eyes.
The "Walled City of Kowloon" was a so-called "lawless area" in Hong Kong that not even police authority dared to intervene. When I first saw the city, I was overwhelmed by its strange emptiness and sense of dread.
Quote:
[Text from the Japanese Wikipedia describing the walled city.]
It gives a sense of oppression from the outside, while on the inside it's a labyrinth without any sense of daytime.
I came up with an idea for a fourth Double Dragon installment in 1990. The story would have been set during Billy and Jimmy's Sōsetsuken training days as they travel to Hong Kong and confront the Kowloon mafia...
I was reconsidering the idea of Hong Kong's place in the Double Dragon universe two years later. Perhaps it wouldn't had been that interesting, seeing how it looked like a very typical setting for the series.
Then I came up another idea. Kunio-kun hasn't seen much of the world. Sure, he caused a bit of chaos in Osaka, but he hasn't fought any of the world's strongest adversaries yet! Thus, I've suddenly changed the plan so that Kunio could wreck havoc on the rest of the world as well! This time, Kunio and Riki would cause great chaos on Hong Kong!"
Last edited by Johnny Undaunted on Sun Apr 15, 2012 1:12 am; edited 1 time in total
Outline for Kowloon no Tsume. Because the plan was written 15 years ago, they were written with the specifications of the PlayStation in mind.
The thrilling duo return on the PlayStation!
Text on the image=
The battlefield is now Hong Kong!
The two big stars of Technos are back!
The ultimate battle has begun!
Target platform: Sony PlayStation
Genre: Beat-'em-up
Number of players: 1 or 2
Target audience: Hardboiled people above the age of grade school
Game structure: Stage-based
Life system: Health gauge-based
This plan contains detailed information on how to improve cooperative play in a beat-'em-up game. There are multiple battle systems that differ from one action scene to the next.
Last edited by Johnny Undaunted on Sun Apr 15, 2012 1:16 am; edited 1 time in total
In 1990, I was came up with an idea for a fourth Double Dragon game! The story would have been set during Billy and Jimmy's Sōsetsuken training days as they travel to Hong Kong and cross path with the Kowloon mafia...
Sold
Johnny Undaunted wrote:
Then I got another idea. Kunio-kun has gotten much action around world. Sure, he caused a bit of chaos in Osaka, but he hasn't fought the strongest enemy in the world yet! Thus, I've suddenly changed the plan so that Kunio could wreck havoc on the rest of the world! This time, Kunio and Riki would cause great chaos on Hong Kong!"
Cast of Characters - Since the plan couldn't be in color, I used photocopies for the proposal instead.
Heroes
Kunio - Second-year student of Nekketsu High School. He is always wearing a white high school uniform. A natural born hot-blooded renegade (Nekketsu Kōha) who dislikes those who bully the weak.
Riki - Banchō (juvenile gang leader) of Hanazono High School. Feared by his enemies as "Mach Punch Riki". He is Kunio's rival, as well as his true friend.
Misako - Kunio's girlfriend and a student of Nekketsu High School. She is very fickle and easily attracted to strong men.
Kyōko - Riki's girlfriend and a student of Hanazono High School. A girl with a long ponytail who is Riki's type of girl.
Billy and Jimmy Lee - Successors to the martial art of Sōsetsuken, the ultimate martial art that combines all kinds of fighting styles such as Kung-Fu, Karate, Boxing and Muay Thai. Its name means the "Fist of Twin Interception". Billy practices the fast soft style, while his older brother Jimmy uses the strong hard style. Their signature techniques include the elbow strike and the hurricane kick, as well as the back-to-back hurricane kick they both perform together.
Villains - The Blacksnake Cult (Kurohebi Dan)
Last edited by Johnny Undaunted on Sun Apr 15, 2012 1:19 am; edited 1 time in total
Story -
"A bounty for Kunio's and Riki's heads? This time the place is Hong Kong!!"
Kunio and Riki are suddenly invited to a free trip to Hong Kong from out of nowhere.
"As soon as we get there, let's party and douse ourselves with beer!"
"Hold it! This looks too good to be true."
"You worry too much!"
What awaits Kunio and Riki as their plane lands on Hong Kong? The bustling streets of Kowloon! A film studio! And an attempt to take their lives! As the plot thickens, a large murderous shadow creeps up on our duo!!
"Hey! Why are you in such a shitty mood!"
"Heh-heh... Those who dare mess with us will have to deal with our fists!"
[This is followed by a character relation chart which shows that Kunio and Riki are lure to Hong Kong and that there's a film studio there . The studio is used by both, an actual film studio and a Blacksnake Cult.
The film studio has a producer with his own crew and cast, and among the actors are the Lee brothers.
The Blacksnake Cult is a Hong Kong Mafia led by a man named Lai Rochin. Rochin has four sub-bosses working under him, each with his or her own army of henchmen (white suits, martial arts, army men, and black suits).
The President of the Movie Company, Ichi, is the brother of Kunio and Riki's old nemesis Sabu, whom they defeated during the events of Banka.]
Main unfolding events in the game
1) Opening
2) Arrival at the Hong Kong airport
3) Into the Streets (business area)
4) Hotel - The place where many events occur! The player will be returning here many times to obtain clues and advices from various people about mysteries and troubles the player will face.
5) Into the Streets (town area)
6) Film Studio - Has two businesses. While to the public it operates as a regular movie studio, behind-the-scenes it is used by the Blacksnake Cult, a mafia which rules with drugs and violence, for shady operations such as drug smuggling.
7) Lai Rochin's Island - Serves not only as the home of a Hong Kong millionaire (the President of the Film Studio), but also as the stronghold of the Blacksnake Cult. There are also film sets on the island that hide many traps.
Game Image - Although the graphics were envisioned as traditional 2D dot art, perhaps the game could have been made with toon rendering.
Image Screens
High-Rise Building Battle - Battle atop a bamboo scaffolding! You can fight while moving up or down in the air. They would have played similarly to the rope scenes with the added ability to move up or down. It's a sudden death battle on top of an uneven and tense scaffolding. Moving up increases the margin of fallow as the player narrowly avoids enemy's attacks in a nick of time with breathless suspense.
Rope Scene - A stage set atop ropeline. The player can go down by hanging below a rope. The player dies when he falls into the ravine. The player can use kick techniques while hanging down the ropes! To return to the top side of the rope, the player must press Up on the directional pad. As the player loses health he will try to hang onto the rope until his health reaches zero, in that case he will fall down the ravine.
Boss Confrontation Scene
3D Minecart Scene - A minecart played from a pseudo-rear-view perspective. The player fights in an auto-scrolling course that moves up and down. The player advance through the stage while fighting enemies and throwing dynamites.
Game Modes and Controls - How the control functions and game system was going to evolved from Kunio-tachi no Banka
Game Modes
1P Play Mode (party system) - A single-player mode where one chooses between Kunio or Riki. When the character controlled by the player is defeated, the player will change to the other character available. When both characters are defeated, it's game over.
1P + COM Play Mode (duo system) - One player controls Kunio or Riki, while the character who is not chosen will act as an AI-controlled partner. The player can give instructions to the CPU partner on how to act.
2P Play Mode (co-op system) - One player controls Kunio and the other controls Riki.
The number of continues will be limited and can be adjusted on an Options screen. The number of credits can be adjusted between "03", "05", "07" and "09".
In 1P Play Mode, continues are used when both characters are defeated.
In 1P + Com Play Mode, continues are used when the player-controlled character is defeated.
In 2P Play Mode, each player uses a continue when his character is defeated.
Controller Functions Part 1
D-button: Moves the character (The way the character moves differs between stages. The details will be provided.)
Circle Button: Punches
X Button: Jump
Square Button: Kicks
Triangle Button: Grab
L1 Button: Duck or Sway
L2 Button: Duck or Sway
R1 Button: Duck or Sway
R2 Button: Duck or Sway
Select Button: Unused during the game
Start Button: Pause
Advantages of the Duck and Sway System
1) While avoiding an attack during close-quarter battle, the player can follow it with a counter-attack.
2) Since the character is temporary locked in an MC position, it is possible to input command-based moves even on a playing field with depth.
Disadvantages of the Duck and Sway System
1) Although it's a good defense mechanism for upper attacks, the player is put in a vulnerable state for low attacks.
Because of this, the Low Guard move is added for such situations. The Low Guard move provides complete defense to the lower part of the player's body, but leaves the upper half vulnerable.
With the three defense moves ("duck", "sway" and "lower guard") combined, various playing styles are possible.
For example:
An enemy's combo that consists of a low kick, a high punch, and high kick can be countered with the following possible sequences.
1) Low Guard, sway, and then an uppercut from a duck
2) Low Guard, duck , and then a roundhouse kick from a sway
3) Low Guard, a body blow from a duck, and then a finisher (special move)
All three defense moves can be converted to regular attacks (punches or kicks) or a special move.
Although the basic action is one-against-many, the controls are also applicable for one-on-one combat.
Controller Functions 2 - Grappling Moves
Condition to grab an enemy = Approaching the enemy within a certain distance while he's not attacking.
There are two ways to grab an enemy.
Grab from the front to do a "collar grab"
Or grab from the back do an "arm bind"
During a collar grab:
Press circle for collar-grabbing punches
Press X for collar-grabbing kicks
Press circle while holding left or right for a shoulder throw
Enter a specific command and press circle for a special move
Enter a specific command and press X for another special move
During an arm bind:
Hold the d-pad opposite to the character's direction and press circle for a Dragon Suplex.
Attack while an enemy is knocked out:
Stand atop a fallen enemy and press X to stomp him.
Stand atop a fallen enemy and press down to sit-on him.
While sitting on an enemy, press circle to perform a sit-on punch.
To leave the sit-on position, press up to stand up again.
While sitting on an enemy, press the triangle button to do a collar grab.
During a sit-on collar grab, press the circle button to bash the enemy's head into the ground.
Controller Functions 3 - Defensive techniques and reversals
Duck or Sway - The button functions changes depending on whether the player is facing an enemy to his left or to his right.
While the player is facing an enemy to his right:
L1/L2 Button: Sway
R1/R2 Button: Duck
While the player is facing an enemy to his left:
L1/L2 Button: Duck
R1/R2 Button: Sway
Lower Guard: Press L1+R1 or L2+R2 at the same time.
Reversals: While the player grabbed by the collar, has his arms bind, is being sit-on the enemy, or has his collar-grab while being sit-on, a reversal for each of these moves can be performed by pressing the circle button. When the enemy performs a special grappling move on the player, a special reversal can be performed by inputting a command.
Controller Functions 4 - Special Actions
Grasp: While jumping towards the edge of a ledge or such, press the triangle button to grab and hang unto it. While in the hanging position, press the square button to kick. Special moves cannot be performed while hanging.
Weapon Controls: Press the triangle button while standing on a weapon on the floor to pick it up. When wielding a weapon, press the circle button to throw it. Press the triangle button again to drop the weapon.
Practical Uses for Weapons:
It is possible to catch a weapon thrown by enemies. When the thrown weapons approaches the character, press the Triangle button to catch it when the timing is right.
The player can even catch and throw oildrums and toss it around like a game of "dodgeball" if he feels like it!
Weapon reversals? By using moves such as a jump kick at thrown weapons, the player can deflect it back at the enemy.
Playing Points - All of Technos Japan's action know-how is included in these details.
Playing Point 1 - Diverse Battle Scenes
During 1P or 2P mode, we have the following types of battle scenes:
1) Regular Action Scenes - Rumble Type (side-scrolling one-against-many battles)
Which leads to...
2) Boss Confrontation Scenes - Versus Type (single-lane one-on-one battles)
The player advances through scenes of type 1 and 2 like a standard action game.
During Duo mode, the battle scenes are as followed:
3) Regular Action Scenes - Rumble Type (side-scrolling two-against-many battles)
Which leads to...
4) Boss Confrontation Scenes - Versus Type (single lane two-on-one battles)
The player advances through scenes of type 3 and 4 like a standard action game with another player.
Special stages (plans)
5) 3D dungeon scenes viewed from the player's point of view.
6) A rotating 2D scene that makes uses of a rotation feature.
7) 3D minecart scenes played from a pseudo first-person view.
8) 2D scenes fought atop a rope (stage fought on one line with the ability to move up or down)
9) Fighting scene while hanging on a wire (confrontation in the air)
Scenes of type 5 through 9 are the main highlights of certain stages.
Playing Point 2 - The Duck and Sway System
Fighting Stance: The stance the player assume when the d-pad is on neutral. This can lead to a duck or sway.
Duck: The player approaches his enemy while defending from an enemy.
Sway: The player steps away from his stance while defending from an enemy.
Follow-up moves the player can perform during a defensive stance.
* An uppercut after ducking
* A rotating kick after swaying
Playing Point 3 - Weapons
The basic mechanics are inherited from Double Dragon. The player can pick up and throw items on the field (such as oildrums or boxes). Weapons can also be taken away from disarmed enemies.
Since there are no special attacks with long distance range, it is important to put weapons to practical use while playing.
We also plan on having special stages involving shooting that may require Kunio and others to wield guns. However it will probably seem a bit odd to have a high school student like Kunio fire a gun and stray away from his image as a hero. If that's the case, then we'll change it to tranquilizer gun.
Playing Point 4 - CPU Partner
During Duo Mode, the player can give instructions to the CPU! The player normally gives orders to his partner by inputting certain commands.
No command given (playing freely) - The computer behaves accordingly to the situation.
"Help me!" - The partner will attack any enemy that goes after the player
"Run away!" - The partner will run away off-screen.
"Let's join forces!" - The partner approaches the player to combine their attacks.
"Surround the enemy!" - The partner will approach the enemy in front of the player from behind in order to bind his arms.
"Grab a weapon!" - The partner will pick up the nearest available weapon.
"Finish the enemy!" - The partner will deliver the finishing blow to an enemy stunned by the player.
When the player gives an instruction, it will be displayed under the health of his character. The character controlled by CPU will be give his reply.
When the partner accepts an instruction, he'll say "Okay!"
When the partner declines, he'll say "Not now!"
Scenes are also planned in which the two character communicate mutually.
"Combination attacks" can also be performed during the two-player mode.
Last edited by Johnny Undaunted on Sun Apr 15, 2012 1:37 am; edited 1 time in total
The game seems to borrow a few concepts from other past Technos games as well. The "party system" (i.e. changing into another character after your current guy dies) and the "combination moves" are from Double Dragon III, as well as the Dragon Suplex move. The head smash is from Combatribes. The grab button doesn't to be borrowed from anything though (the closest I could think of was Iron Commando).
It's too bad Technos went kaput before they could make this. I felt Kunio-tachi no Banka had potential, but the hardware limitations of the Super Famicom held it back (most SNES belt-scrollers could only display three or four enemies on-screen at a time and Banka was limited to only two due to how detailed and animated the sprites were). The PS1 certainly could've used more original belt-scrollers.
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