Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu is an action platform game by Hudson Soft. Originally released in 1990 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, a slightly expanded version was released a year later for the TurboGrafx-16. The game stars Jackie Chan as a kung fu fighter who battles an evil power which has kidnapped Josephine and taken over China. Jackie is assisted by his master's training and items given to him by various frogs.
Tropes:
- Advancing Boss of Doom: The first boss in the fifth stage in TurboGrafx16 version.
- Blackout Basement: One of the sections of the fifth stage takes place in an environment that's dark, often lit by fire-wielding enemies and background fires.
- Blob Monster: One of the enemies is a purple blob that drops down from a ceiling and then crawls around.
- Bonus Stage: Certain areas sent Jackie to areas with minigames. There he can restore health, attacks or even gain extra lives.
- Damsel in Distress: Josephine acts as a damsel, getting captured. She gets rescued before the final fight.
- Death Mountain: The first half of the fourth stage takes place on a mountain. It starts off grassy and then gets snowy.
- Essence Drop: Enemies drop some sort of energy balls.
- Everything Trying to Kill You: While some of the enemies make sense (Sorcerer's minions, wildlife like tigers), others do not such as rats and toucans. There's also a crab under a rice bowl, river kappas, and animated Buddha statue.
- Fireballs: Monks in the second stage fire waves of fire.
- Flash of Pain: Present in the TurboGrafx-16 version.
- Floating Platforms: The game features platforms that move around the level. Some come in form of rocket-powered kappa shells. Some mid-air platforms just stay still.
- Flying on a Cloud: The Master flies around standing on a cloud, on which he gives Jackie a ride to the Bonus Stages. Jackie gets a cloud of his own for the final battle in the sky.
- Flying Seafood Special: One of the enemy types is a floating pufferfish.
- Giant Spider: The Final Boss turns into one after being defeated.
- Hailfire Peaks: The first half of the second stage takes place in a lava cave. The second half in an icy cliffs.
- He Was Right There All Along: The bosses of the first, third and fourth stages.
- Hilarious Outtakes: The montage at the end of the NES version is meant to recall this tradition of Jackie's films (basically Jackie doing goofy faces in front of the various backgrounds of the game).
- Hurricane Kick: A variant in the Tornado Attack, a continuous mid-air somersault.
- Hyperactive Metabolism: Collecting rice bowls heal 2 life points instantly.
- Inconveniently-Placed Conveyor Belt: Some sections in the fifth stage have conveyor belts.
- Kamehame Hadoken: Jackie Chan can do "psycho wave" attacks for a limited number of times.
- Law of 100: In TurboGrafx16 port, collecting 100 balls refills the health and psycho waves. In the NES version, it happens at 40.
- Lethal Lava Land: The first half of the second stage takes place in a lava cave.
- Level in the Clouds: The second part of the fourth stage takes place in clouds where everything is bouncy.
- Living Statue: Stage 5 features statues that jump around.
- Man-Eating Plant: One of the enemies in PC Engine version is a plant with lips and teeth.
- Mercy Invincibility: Jackie is briefly invulnerable after getting hit.
- Prehensile Hair: One of the enemy types in PC Engine version uses hair as a whip.
- Rise to the Challenge: The last section of the Lethal Lava Land has rising lava in it.
- Roaring Rapids: The second half of stage 5 takes place at a shallow river with water currents.
- Roundhouse Kick: Jackie can do 180-degree and 360-degree spin kicks.
- Save the Princess: Josephine is either Jackie's twin sister or girlfriend, but he's out to save her either way.
- Shows Damage:
- Some bosses change color palette or appearance when damaged, oftentimes at the exact time they Turn Red.
- Mid-boss in stage 5 in PC Engine version loses bits of armor when damaged.
- Solid Clouds: Aside from the second half of Stage 4, solid clouds can be found in bonus stages as well.
- Spike Balls of Doom: In NES version, greenish spikeballs are present, floating up and down.
- Spikes of Doom: Spikes are present in the first level. Getting hit by them propels Jackie upwards.
- Springs, Springs Everywhere: Solid clouds in stage 4 act as springboards.
- Super-Deformed: Jackie Chan and Josephine.
- Temporary Platform: In Stage 2, rock platforms crumble when Jackie stands on them for too long.
