Welcome back to Sega Saturday, the weekly salute to Sega’s legendary library! This week we’re delivering a flying kick straight to 1986 with Black Belt, the Master System’s karate-kicking launch classic. That iconic grid-box art with the explosive red fist? Pure 80s martial arts movie poster energy. Let’s bow in, break some boards, and discover why this underrated brawler still packs a punch.
The Game: One Fighter, Seven Chapters of Pain
Released in July 1986 as one of the very first Master System titles in the West (and simply titled Hokuto no Ken in Japan), Black Belt puts you in the gi of Riki, a martial artist on a mission to rescue his girlfriend Gaea from the evil Wang and his army of thugs. Sound familiar? That’s because the Japanese version is literally a licensed adaptation of the ultra-violent manga Fist of the North Star—but Sega of America stripped out all the gore, explosions, and Kenshiro references to make it “kid-friendly.”
Gameplay is a fast-paced side-scrolling beat-’em-up across seven chapters:
- Punch, kick, and jump-kick your way through waves of ninjas, sumo wrestlers, kung-fu ladies, and kickboxers
- Grab power-ups like the red belt (faster attacks) and blue belt (longer range)
- Face a unique boss at the end of every stage—Rita the whip lady, Hawk the giant, and finally Oni the flame-throwing demon
- One life, no continues, 99-second timer per section—pure arcade brutality
Why the Master System Version Still Kicks Hard
Developed by Sega’s legendary AM2 team (the same crew behind Hang-On and Out Run), Black Belt was built to show off the console’s arcade chops:
- Sprite work: Riki’s animations are silky smooth—eight frames for walking, four for punching. Enemies explode into white puffs instead of blood (thanks, censorship).
- Parallax scrolling: Chapter 2’s dojo and Chapter 5’s bamboo forest move at different speeds—mind-blowing for a 1986 cartridge.
- Music: Yuji Naka (yes, that Yuji Naka, future Sonic creator) programmed the FM soundtrack. The Chapter 1 theme is an absolute earworm.
Critics loved it: Computer & Video Games gave it 91%, calling it “the best beat-’em-up on any home system.” It even came bundled with the console in some European countries.
Explosive Trivia (No Heads Required)
- Censorship madness: In Hokuto no Ken, enemies’ heads literally explode when defeated. In Black Belt, they just vanish in a puff of smoke. Rita’s whip originally sliced people in half. Wang’s final form was toned down from a muscle-bound demon to… a guy in red pajamas.
- Hidden developer message: Beat the game and wait on the ending screen for 90 seconds—Sega’s staff credits roll in Japanese katakana.
- Speedrun legend: The current world record is 9 minutes 21 seconds (any%). Pros abuse the slide-kick glitch that lets you zoom through walls.
- Japanese box art: The original Hokuto no Ken cover shows Kenshiro screaming with a bloody fist—way cooler than the Western fist-bump.
- Unused content: ROM dumps reveal leftover gore sprites and an unused “head explosion” animation that never made the final cut.
- Yuji Naka’s first soundtrack: Before Sonic’s Green Hill Zone, Naka composed Black Belt’s entire FM score at age 20. You can hear his signature style already.
Legacy That Still Explodes Heads (Figuratively)
Black Belt never got a sequel, but it proved the Master System could deliver arcade-quality beat-’em-ups from day one. It also quietly introduced Western kids to Fist of the North Star vibes years before the anime hit VHS. Today, collectors hunt the Japanese Hokuto no Ken cart for the uncensored glory, while speedrunners treat the Western version like a sacred relic.
Load it up and try to beat Chapter 6 (the infamous sumo gauntlet) without dying. When you finally land that final kick on Wang and rescue Gaea… you’ll feel like a true black belt.
So, which version do you prefer—censored Black Belt or gore-fest Hokuto no Ken? Ever discovered the staff credits? Drop your dojo memories below! Next week we’ll strike again with another Sega classic. Until then—keep your fists high and your heart rate higher! 🥋💥
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