When we were kids, and we first beheld the wonder of console video games, the entire thing would sometimes seem like one huge river – no, an ocean is more appropriate. One deluge of games would be released, then another, and we’d still be tackling the first. Then here, a whole new system, and there, crazy new peripherals we never even knew we wanted (but we wanted them). It was like we could never run out of choices. The best (but perhaps most bewildering) part: we were duplicating a primary cycle that was approximately 3 years ahead of us in Japan, where all (most) of this stuff was getting made. One thing most of us were guilty of, though, at least until we were older, was that we’d make strong mental associations with the games and characters, but maybe not the great companies creating them. Now, as a grown-ass man writing about video games three times a month, I try to explore what I clearly missed as a child… the mostly unsung sagas of these companies, some of whom came from humble beginnings and seemingly faded away without the public noticing.

Hudson Soft is a tale that begins with Hiroshi and Yuji Kudo. In May of 1973, they opened a simple shop called CQ Hudson, which sold radio equipment and also had some nice art photographs. You know, stop in for a transistor, get a nice shot of the ocean for your mom as a gift. It’s worth noting that the company was named after a train, specifically the Japanese C62 which had been produced originally by Hudson Locomotives. Japan saw a lot of railway growth after the Second World War, which was when the Kudo boys were coming up.

The post-war choo choo that inspired two young Japanese boys to innovate and entertain.

Things went well for the Kudo brothers, and in 1975, they began selling products for personal computers. Around ’78, Hudson began inching into video games. At first, the firm was putting out around 25-30 titles a month, which sounds impossible; given the simplicity of the platforms in that era, however, it was far from it. Needless to say, this clone-vat approach bore only modest fruit, so Hudson leaped at the opportunity when given a shot a developing for Nintendo’s new Family Computer. Let me re-phrase that: Hudson strode confidently into video game history by becoming Nintendo’s FIRST third-party developer. They immediately met with strong success; both their port of Lode Runner and their self-conceived game Bomberman sold over 1 million copies. Bomberman had been released previously for Microsoft’s Japan-geared MSX computer, and Broderbund had done well with Lode Runner in the US and Europe, but the Famicom was the desired platform and the timing was just right.

Two titles that solidified Hudson Soft’s position in the top tier.

From its new office in Midtown Tower in Tokyo, Hudson continued to carve a place for itself in video game history. Starting in 1985, the company began doing something we wouldn’t even think of until the early 1990s: tournament-style video game competitions. Their first one revolved around the Hudson title Star Force in Summer of ’85; its sequel Star Soldier was used in ’86 and even had 2 and 5 minute modes built into its home version to reflect its status as a competitive game. These remarkable yearly events, which took a much less competitive tone after 1992, solidified Hudson Soft’s notoriety and popularity at home.

In 1987, Hudson teamed with NEC to create perhaps the greatest dark-horse console of the 20th Century: The PC Engine. Known in the West as the Turbo Grafx 16. I’ve already written a love letter to that console, so I’ll spare you the gushing… but it’s important to remember a few things. With this platform, Hudson Soft beat both Nintendo and Sega at a few things. The PC Engine set the record at the time for the smallest console. It also achieved graphically what the Mega Drive did, except almost three years earlier. Lastly, the portable version of the PC Engine wasn’t using its own pared-down set of games. This wasn’t some wrap-it-up Game Boy shit. It was using the same media as its mother system. It did this five years before Sega could pull off the same thing by producing the Nomad. There’s more to how awesome the PC-Engine is, but you’d be better served by reading my original article.

You’re not losing a whole lot visually, either.  Sorry, I just like rubbing this in because so many Sega partisans tend to studiously overlook it.

Other memorable titles from Hudson Soft (many of which saw multi-platform release) were Starship Hector, the Adventure Island series, Faxanadu, Milon’s Secret Castle, and my two favorites of theirs… Jackie Chan’s Action Kung Fu and Felix the Cat.

Hudson Soft’s main bank collapsed during a financial crisis around the turn of the millennium, driving the firm to offer itself on the Japanese stock market. To speed up a sad and tedious tale, Konami bought majority stock in Hudson; the two companies had worked amicably with each other since the early 80s and Konami sought to help give lift to the tired bee’s wings. Hudson still self-published until 2011-2012, when Konami bought what was left and absorbed it into itself. The final vestiges of Hudson Soft vanished in 2014, when its website began redirecting to Konami’s. Officially, the Hudson brand still exists, but it is part of Konami Digital Publishing.

The Hudson Bee about to be taken down from over the firm’s original HQ in Sapporo, 2/29/12.

I tell myself sometimes (And I’m sure someone reading this will laugh at me) that I’m helping preserve and curate history when I write articles like this. I know it’s not terribly significant stuff to the world at large, but it is to me… and to any gamer who likes knowing where things started. Thank you, Kudo Brothers. Thank you for starting a radio parts shop in 1973 and naming it after a train.

Thank you for everything.

More in February! Take care until then!

Any fan of film or martial arts will undoubtedly be familiar with Jackie Chan. His affable, smiling face is synonymous with both modern day action and classic kung-fu mayhem. He was the Fearless Hyena. He fought like 30 dudes with a ladder… accidentally. He does all his own stunts, which is something worth being proud of.

You remember that time he beat up the Prince of Sorcerers?

Just like all those times he threw balls of mystical energy at dragons made of magma.

Jackie Chan’s Action Kung Fu was developed for Hudson Soft by a firm called Now Production in 1990. Now had previously done some work for Bandai and other companies, notably producing a Splatterhouse parody for the Famicom. They would later go on to develop 2 sequels to the popular Adventure Island NES game for Hudson. Now Production (also known as NowPro) also produced the game Yo! Noid, one of the more unfortunate licensed games late in the NES’s history.

Okay… (TG-16 Version)

Jackie Chan’s Action Kung Fu is by far NowPro’s best effort of the time period. It was released for the NES and for the PC Engine, known as the TurboGrafx-16 here in the West. Both versions are similar in terms of overall appearance and construction; players will note that the Turbo-Grafx 16’s version requires a bit more from them, but also has slightly better production value. The TG-16 game offers a decidedly more arcade-like experience, but then, the TG-16 was a bit more advanced than the NES hardware-wise.

Box art for the TG-16 (left) and NES versions. 

In either game, you play the role of Chan himself, reigning undisputed kung-fu champion along with your sister Josephine. The story begins when some jerk calling himself the Prince of Sorcerers (who looks oddly like a wing chun style Dracula) zaps you silly and takes off with Josephine. Your quest will lead you through many obstacles and to the Prince’s fortress, where you must put a stop to his wicked reign and free your sister.

Video game villains really need to work out their issues and stop taking them out on the women close to protagonists. You’re the Prince of Sorcerers, dude, where’s your low self esteem coming from? (TG-16 Version)

Luckily, Jackie isn’t the kung fu champ for nothing. He’s both a prodigious leaper and a skillful combatant, whose normal array of punches and kicks can be supplemented with powerups. These grant limited uses of special moves, usually whirlwind-style kicks or some other acrobatic maneuver. Jackie can also charge up energy in his fist for use as a projectile, not unlike Ryu or Ken from Street Fighter II. Jackie can do it more easily, though; all you have to do is hold the attack button down for a second or two.

Below are some of the scenes of mayhem one can expect when entering the mythical world of Jackie Chan’s digital adventure.

Did I mention you get the powerups, as well as rice bowls to refill health, by beating the shit out of cute little frogs?

This image captures it all. Look how angry Jackie is, and look how blithely oblivious the frog is. Little does it know it’s about to get a jump-kick powerup punched right out of its stupid mouth. (NES Version)

Despite your wanton cruelty to animals yielding such bounty, the way ahead is still thick with danger. There are five levels in total, although the later levels get quite long. The latter half of each is a sort of fortress or shrine, which contains a boss. Some of the lesser enemies include evil warriors and monks, dragons made of lava, little creatures that hide under massive bowls and throw darts at you, and an assortment of bats, rats, and snakes. The challenge isn’t too over the top, but it’s appreciable; it bears mentioning that you are straight-up fighting wild tigers in the first level.

The most comprehensive study of deaths due to tiger attacks estimates that at least 373,000 people died due to tiger attacks between 1800 and 2009, the majority of these attacks occurring in South and Southeast Asia. The number of tigers killed by Jackie Chan, however, remains a mystery due to incomplete data. (NES Version)

Jackie Chan’s Action Kung Fu was fairly well-received by critics of the time, but both versions received higher scores from modern critics looking back. The graphics are obviously nicer on the TG-16, but even the NES cart has good visuals and a great cartoony look. The music for both versions is about the same, and while it’s far from classic, it’s catchy. I couldn’t find a complete rip of the slightly better TG-16 soundtrack to link here, but the NES version’s pretty good for 8 bit.

I give Jackie Chan’s Action Kung Fu 8 out of 10. It’s a lot of fun to bounce around and throw moves like a kung fu superstar, and the game is very well thought-out. It was perhaps underrated in 1990, but still holds up well as a fun action title.

Hang in there! More coming in July!

 

 

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