Black Belt (Sega Master System)

Black Belt
Also known as: Hokuto no Ken (JP) Developer: Sega Publishers: Sega (JP/US/EU), Tec Toy (BR) Platform: Sega Master System Released in JP: July 20, 1986 Released in US: 1986 Released in EU: 1986 Released in BR: 1986 This game has a hidden level select. This game has regional differences.

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The Master System Hokuto no Ken is an adaptation of the manga. Due to said manga being relatively unknown outside of Japan at this point, the international release changed the main character to a generic martial artist with superpowers.

The game is also unlockable in Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise, in its original, unaltered Hokuto no Ken form.

Level Select

At the title screen, press Up, Down, Left, Right, Up Left, Up Right, Down Right, Down Left, Down, Down, Down, Down, Down, Down, Down, Up, Up Right, Up Right on Controller 2. The level select will appear to the right of the title. Note that the code is quite difficult to enter: the diagonals must be pressed very precisely, and there's only a small window of time to enter the code.

Alternately, use Pro Action Replay (PAR) code 00DB6B12.

List of values and their corresponding levels:

Value	Level
0	Chapter 1
1	Chapter 1 Boss
2	Chapter 2
3	Chapter 2 Boss
4	Chapter 3
5	Chapter 3 Boss
6	Chapter 4
7	Chapter 4 Boss
8	Chapter 5
9	Chapter 5 Boss
A	Chapter 6

(Source: SMS Power!)

Regional Differences

To do: Add more, specifically about gameplay.

Though the gameplay remains similar, all of the background locations are different, and all of the characters have been redrawn with different clothing.

Title Screen

Both title screens are animated, but the Hokuto no Ken one has lightning flashing in the background whereas the Black Belt one just color-cycles the logo.

Hokuto no Ken	Black Belt

Areas

Scene	Hokuto no Ken	Black Belt
Chapter 1
Chapter 1 Boss
Chapter 2
Chapter 2 Boss
Chapter 3
Chapter 3 Boss
Chapter 4
Chapter 4 Boss
Chapter 5
Chapter 5 Boss
Chapter 6

Note that during most boss fights, the player character has an enlarged sprite that matches the large size of the boss. In Hokuto no Ken, for the Chapter 3 boss fight against Devil Rebirth in the ruined stadium, the player retains their smaller sprite to reflect the canonical size difference between Kenshiro and Devil Rebirth (in the original source, to put simply, Devil Rebirth is practically a kaiju). In Black Belt, the player is the same size as the boss, now replaced with a sumo wrestler.

Finishing Moves

After beating each boss, the name of the technique used to beat them is displayed on screen. In the original game this reflects the techniques Kenshiro uses to defeat each enemy in the manga, except for Toki the stage 4 boss, whom he has a friendly match with and learns the Ju no Ken ways from, and Raoh, the final boss, where no such finishing technique is shown. In Black Belt, the moves are all renamed to (still untranslated) other Japanese terms instead, the Stage 3 Boss finish is changed entirely and Oni (the Toki replacement) has a special move finish made up just for him.

Scene	Hokuto no Ken	Black Belt	Notes
Chapter 1 Boss (Shin/Ryu)	北斗百裂拳 (Hokuto Hyakuretsu Ken)	鉄拳制裁 (Tekken Seisai)	In the manga, Kenshiro actually used Hokuto Juji Zan (北斗十字斬) to defeat Shin.
Chapter 2 Boss (Colonel/Hawk)	北斗壊骨拳 (Hokuto Kaikotsu Ken)	悪党撃破 (Akutō Gekiha)	Hawk still explodes after his boss fight mimicking Colonel's gruesome death.
Chapter 3 Boss (Devil Rebirth/Gonta)	北斗七死星点 (Hokuto Shichishi Seiten)	闘魂一発 (Tōkon Ippatsu)	In Black Belt, Riki repeatedly slaps Gonta out of the ring rather than Ken striking all of Devil Rebirth's points mid-descent.
Chapter 4 Boss (Toki/Oni)	None.	懺悔無用 (Zange Muyō)	Instead of a technique finish, Ken learns the ways of Ujo no Ken (Fist of Softness) from Toki as the two are on good terms.
Chapter 5 Boss (Souther/Rita)	北斗有情拳 (Hokuto Ujō Ken)	極意炸裂 (Gokui Sakuretsu)

The extensive game makeover leads to a bizarre oddity at the end of the game where Wang mimics Raoh's raised fist pose perfectly. While in Hokuto no Ken this re-creates Raoh's iconic death scene just fine, there's no explanation in Black Belt as to why Wang seemingly raises his fist in triumph after being beaten by Riki.

Music

Both games have different music for some scenes.

Track	Hokuto no Ken	Black Belt
Title
Stage BGM
Boss