The Classic Arcade and Console Era (1972-1989) - Tiger Road
You won't believe Capcom made this crazy martial arts beat ‘em up platformer where you can literally shoot tigers at enemies.
RELEASE DATE: 1987
DEVELOPER / PUBLISHER: Capcom
BEST VERSIONS: Arcade
PLAYABILITY TODAY: Highly playable
I’ve long been a huge fan of Capcom’s arcade games in the 1980s and 1990s, and not just because they’re mechanically sound, well-presented and just around the right level of difficulty – I also like them because so many Capcom games are so distinctly different from the stuff Taito, Konami, Namco, Tecmo, SNK, Data East, Sega and SunSoft were putting out at the time. But one of the things that always baffles me is how game enthusiasts tend to focus on a narrow sliver of Capcom’s output – series foundations like 1942, Ghosts ‘n Goblins, Commando, Gun.Smoke, Final Fight and Street Fighter – but miss so many wonderful games like other fairly well-known titles I’ve featured in this book (Legendary Wings, Forgotten Worlds, Willow and Black Tiger) or really obscure ones like the futuristic overhead racing game L.E.D. Storm, the mech suit shooter Side Arms Hyper Dyne or the martial arts beat ‘em up Tiger Road.
The last one is, of course, what we’re going to focus on here because, unlike L.E.D. Storm and Side Arms Hyper Dyne, it’s amazingly accessible and doesn’t require much explanation, though it is, like so many games directed by Tokuro Fujiwara (Ghosts ‘n Goblins, Commando, Bionic Commando and many others) fairly tough. Basically, you’re a Chinese warrior monk named Lee Wong who is a student of the Tiger Technique. Your monastery is raided by the warriors of the Dragon God who resides in Ryu Ga Doh, and they steal away all of the children with the intent (or so the home port’s manual explains) to turn them into zombies. Your job is to head out and get them back and to master your art along the way.
While Tiger Road is a beat ‘em up in the one hit kills style of Kung-Fu Master, it’s also a little different from other games like it because it involves a significant amount of platform jumping and also includes sections where you can don a magic cloak and fly around wuxia style, striking at enemies in large vertical rooms. It’s also, surprisingly for a game about a martial artist, a game where you always fight with some sort of weapon – a swinging sickle-style axe, a Morningstar flair, a spear-like sword or a bulbous magic rod. But perhaps the biggest surprise is that the game allows you to select just how much of it you want to play – you can run through the entire thing or cut out some of the filler and tackle the harder ending levels right away if you so wish.
Unfortunately, the shorter path is not the better one, and it’s really a good idea to play the full-length game because, in between each stage, your master will train you with challenges (ranging from “dodge these logs” to “blow out this candle with your weapon”) and help you progress towards the powerful Tiger Technique, which allows you to equip the magic rod and shoot tigers at your foes. It’s a weapon you’ll want to hang onto for as long as you can (and which can be easily lost by accidentally picking up other weapons lying on the playfield) since it allows you to attack from a longer range and, let’s just be honest here, is so crazy and cool that of course you want to utilize it.
But Tiger Road has much more to offer than the awesome Tiger Technique. The levels are nicely varied and often lavishly illustrated, featuring all sorts of giant statues from Chinese temples and mythology and some inventive encounters with giant snakes, enemies strapped to kites, killer statues and, of course, the mortal enemy of the tiger in Chinese culture, flying dragons. The game can get tedious because of the number of enemies it throws at you and the trial and error platforming you’ll have to go through at different points, but it’s never boring. The music is also quite good for a game of this era, featuring some catchy Chinese-style tunes that suit the action well.
The boss encounters are also worth mentioning, but mostly because they start off with some goofy text boxes that clearly aren’t translated well. “I will turn you into stone,” the golden statue Ashura snarls. “Says who, you ugly creature?” Lee Wong responds. In a later encounter, a boss named Kukai says, “I sense living beings! But now I will take your soul.” A boss named Goku says “You are so lucky! I’ll chop you into pieces.” The final boss even has a groaner of a line as he declares, “It’s that pesty priest again!” But perhaps my favorite text comes from the 4th level boss, Rei, who says, “Who are you? You’re shark bait!” While the fights themselves are just OK (with some being far easier than others depending upon the weapon you have), the game’s story at least gives the characters some personality.
Tiger Road is a fairly obscure arcade game, but what’s surprising is that it was ported to many PC systems. As usual, the Amiga and Atari ST versions strive for arcade accuracy at the expense of graphics and sound, the Commodore 64 version tries to match the speed rather than the graphics and the Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum versions are best avoided. But the TurboGrafx-16 adaptation is the most eye-raising because it’s not only the lone console port, but a very different game despite following the same basic plot and progression. The graphics are completely redrawn into more of a chibi anime style, the bosses look much different and the text boxes are more competently translated. I’m personally less a fan of this version than the arcade original, but it isn’t bad for what it is.
If you want to play Tiger Road in its original arcade form today, you’re in luck - Capcom has included it in Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium for modern platforms including the PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, but it’s also available in Capcom Classics Collection - Volume 2 on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. While it’s a tough game to play initially, the learning curve isn’t too bad.
As Our Series Continues…
It’s time to move on to console and arcade gaming in the 1970s and 80s, and we’re going to cover it all with an exploration into hundreds more games you’ve probably never played but definitely ought to check out. Come for amazingly great early 1980s games like Warlords, Super Locomotive, Shark! Shark!, Acrobatic Dog-Fight, Mysterious Stones: Dr. John’s Adventure and Intrepid and stick around for mid-to-late 1980s greats like Peter Pack-Rat, Penguin-kun Wars, Momoko 120%, UFO Robot Dangar, Wonder Momo, Raimais, Last Alert, The Legend of Valkyrie and the arcade version of Twin Eagle: Revenge Joe’s Brother, complete with a rockin’ soundtrack with wonderfully inscrutable lyrics.
If you’ve never heard of any of those games, you’re in for a treat as we explore them one by one. And If those games are all old hat to you, don’t worry; they’re just the tip of the iceberg for what we’ll be discussing!
If you missed my series on the hundreds of 1980s PC games you probably never played, you can find the entire archive at https://greatestgames.substack.com.
Anything I don’t share here will be in my upcoming book, tentatively titled The Greatest Games You (Probably) Never Played Vol. 2. Subscribe to this newsletter so you won’t miss it!