Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage - the XBL demo



Scene from Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage; image courtesy of
Amazon

 If it weren't for @JoystiqXbox for blasting the PSA about the forthcoming Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage demo on Xbox Live, I wouldn't have even known that this button-mashing game was going to be released just right before the holidays.

After waiting for the game to download for about 45 minutes (1.31 GB file AND I completely forgot that nothing will DL if you're watching Netflix - my bad) and about 45 minutes worth of gameplay on Legend mode (story mode based on the manga), I've reached the following conclusion:

I royally suck at this game.

Have you played it yet? It's nothing like the side-scrolling Street Fighter games that I'm used to, and oh, by the way, I'm a button masher - big time! But that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the demo; it just means I was totally over it once I realized I had to control the camera with the other joystick (hello?? I'm not playing a first- or third-person shooter game).

You're allowed to play one of two characters: Ken or Rei. Out of the two, Rei would be my pick because of his range, ability to cause damage, and special moves. Ken, I feel, moves a bit slower than Rei, but the damage he inflicts is of greater capacity. The grunts are annoying and easy to pick off (especially the Fang Clan boys), and with enough patience and proper timing in hitting the Y button, you can easily defeat the bosses faster than you can hit XXY (or B, or even RT).

Fist of the North Star is a great bloody demo with a cheesy electric guitar soundtrack. The game's not for me, but I bet the lot of you would definitely enjoy it. My advice: download the demo (don't watch Netflix while doing so), and play the heck out of it.

Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage comes out November 2, 2010. Pre-order your copy at your local GameStop or at Amazon.