Fist of the North Star
Numerous video game titles based on the "Fist of the North Star" have been produced since the 1986 release of the Enix adventure game, simply titled "Hokuto no Ken" for the PC-88. The earlier games in the franchise were released by Sega for the Mark III and Mega Drive and by Toei Animation for Nintendo's Famicom, Game Boy and Super Famicom. These titles included side-scrolling action games, role-playing video games and competitive-style fighting games. The two Sega titles were released overseas without the "Hokuto no Ken" license under the titles of "Black Belt" and "Last Battle", while a couple of the Toei titles, namely "Fist of the North Star" for the NES and "Fist of the North Star: 10 Big Brawls for the King of Universe" for the Game Boy, had American releases with the license intact. Further games were released for the Sega Saturn, PlayStation, Arcade, PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS among other platforms. In 2000, Konami released an arcade game based on the franchise titled "Fighting Mania". Another arcade game, a 2D fighting game simply titled "Fist of the North Star", was produced by Sega and Arc System Works in 2005. Both games saw international distributions, although the PS2 version of the fighting game was released exclusively in Japan. Tecmo Koei produced a "Dynasty Warriors" spinoff focusing on the events from the first half of the manga, titled "". It which was released in Japan on March 25, 2010, and later in North America on November 2, 2010, and Europe on November 5, 2010. A sequel, "", expanded on the first game and incorporated the events from the second half of the manga. It was released in Japan on December 20, 2012, and in North America on February 5, 2013. On August 25, 2017, Sega announced a new game, "", for release in 2018 on PlayStation 4. The game was released on March 8, 2018 by the team behind the "Yakuza" series and features similar gameplay and elements.
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North
"War in the North" is an action role-playing hack and slash game played from a third-person perspective. The game features three playable characters; Eradan (a Ranger), Farin (a Dwarf) and Andriel (an Elf). When the player begins any level they must choose one of the three to control. However, they can switch at the end of each level, or by loading a previously saved game and selecting a different character. Each character has its own weaponry and abilities. Eradan uses the following combinations of arms: bow, a two-handed sword, a sword and shield or two single-handed weapons. His skill set is built around stealth. His abilities allow him to follow the tracks of other Rangers to secret stashes of items and weapons. Farin uses two-handed heavy weapons such as axes, a single-handed weapon and a shield, or a crossbow. His skills are built around melee combat. He has the ability to detect fissures and weakness in walls and rocks, smashing them open to find money, items and gems. Andriel uses a staff and a shield, or a staff and a single-handed weapon. Her staff also serves as her long-range weapon. Her skills are built around offensive and defensive spell casting. She can also create potions from alchemy ingredients collected in the field, and her special ability allows her to find secret passages marked with hidden elven glyphs.
All characters have a light and a heavy attack, and all three can roll, block and sprint. Players can also perform critical strikes; when a yellow indicator appears over the head of an enemy a heavy attack will produce a critical strike, which are extra-strong attacks that often kills the enemy with a single hit. During a single-player game, players may issue orders to their AI companions; ordering them to either seek out enemies and attack, or stay near the player character and defend. Players may also revive fallen allies; if the player character dies, the player must wait to be revived by an AI ally. Another aspect of combat is the player's ability to summon a Great Eagle to aid them. The eagle can target a single foe for a large amount of damage. However, the player is limited in the number of times they can summon him, and he can be summoned only when the player is in an outdoors location.