Kung Fu — stories left

She also praised the controls, referring to Thomas as "a whirling, kicking, jumping, fighting machine" controlled by an eight-way joystick and two buttons, the "energy levels" which allow the player to "absorb a large number of hits" from enemies, the smooth "lifelike" picturesque graphics, and the catchy music jingles.

He stated it was part of the "current craze" for arcade martial arts games, but said it had "more of a story line and game play" than others, noting the progression through five floors, simplified controls, abilities such as ducking and jumping, and multiple "standard baddies" followed by "super baddies" who are tougher to beat; he refers to the final opponent as the boss of organization X.

Top Score reviewed the NES version in early 1987, calling it "a fantastic reproduction of its arcade counterpart" and an action-packed winner.

Tony Takoushi of Computer and Video Games called it "a near perfect conversion with all the gameplay and levels" intact from the arcade original, praising the gameplay as well as the "solid" graphics and sound.

They said that, despite being a "dumbed-down port" compared to the arcade original, it was a fun game with rewarding gameplay, challenging boss battles and replay value.

He called it "a karate game with adventure elements thrown in" and said that it looked better on the Commodore than on the Apple.

Outside Japan it was licensed and sold under the title KUNG-FU MASTER by Data East USA, a group company of Data East.

The NES version outside Japan was released under the title KUNG-FU.

A film with the same name as the overseas version, KUNG-FU MASTER, was made in 1987, starring Jane Birkin and co-starring her daughter Charlotte Gainsbourg.

First released in Japan in July 1986, Black Belt was localized for North America, Europe, and Brazil.

Spartan X 2 did not receive a North American release until 2016, when it was included as a built-in title for the Retro-Bit Generations retro video game console under the name Kung-Fu Master 2.

In the Gamest Mook The Best Game 2, published in 1998, it was selected as one of "The Best Games", certified as a "classic, outstanding, or brilliant title".

The game was a major commercial success, topping the Japanese arcade charts and becoming America's second highest-grossing arcade game of 1985, while receiving critical acclaim for its fast-paced, side-scrolling gameplay and detailed, colorful graphics.

It was also one of the top five best-selling Commodore 64 games of 1986.

She also praised the controls, referring to Thomas as "a whirling, kicking, jumping, fighting machine" controlled by an eight-way joystick and two buttons, the "energy levels" which allow the player to "absorb a large number of hits" from enemies, the smooth "lifelike" picturesque graphics, and the catchy music jingles.

In Europe, the Commodore 64 port topped the UK Gallup software sales charts in February 1986, and went on to become one of the top five best-selling Commodore 64 games of 1986.

In later years the title was changed to the same one in Japan as well, and it has been sold there in small numbers.

The arcade game was originally released as Spartan X in Japan on November 24, 1984.

It was originally planned to release in North America as Kung Fu II in the fall of 1991, but ended up not releasing there.

A port for the Nintendo Entertainment System (known as the Famicom in Japan) was developed by Nintendo under the direction of Shigeru Miyamoto, released as Spartan X in Japan and Kung Fu in the West, selling 3.5 million copies worldwide.

In Japan, the Famicom version sold 1.42 million copies.

The arcade version was later included along with the arcade versions of 10-Yard Fight and Zippy Race in IAC/Irem Arcade Classics for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn, released in Japan only in 1996 by Irem and I'Max.

On December 26, 2019, developer PiXEL released their doujin game Xiaomei and the Flame Dragon's Fist (Fire Dragon Master Fist Xiaomei) for PC through DLsite and was later ported to the Nintendo Switch by publisher Leoful on March 31, 2023 as a digital only release.

Mike Roberts also gave the arcade game a positive review in the May 1985 issue of Computer Gamer.

Originally in 1985, Irem began work on the prototype Super Kung-Fu Master which later expanded the work into an arcade sequel called Beyond Kung-Fu: Return of the Master under development and underwent location testing in 1987, but was shelved after it underperformed.