Favourite martial arts centred games

[south carmain]

Since a lot of us love shenmue for basically being a martial arts epic I'm interested in what are some of your other martial arts based games.

Personally my favourite other than the shenmue saga is probably one that a lot of people here will list too: Sleeping Dogs. Being a long term fan of hong kong martial art movies playing a game that felt like GTA made love to infernal affairs was amazing. Doing some virtual tourism in hong kong was great too though it's a shame the game had no first person camera even when driving to get the most out of the atmosphere.

[Raithos]

Yeah, Sleeping Dogs was great. One of the few games I bought on multiple platforms. I was always a fan of Bushido Blade. My brother and I used to play it all the time. We used to play The Last Blade 2 a lot as well. Highly unbalanced, but fun as hell.

[south carmain]

On the topic of PS1 games I enjoyed Tai Fu a lot as a kid. No idea how it holds up today but I really enjoyed it back then.

[Raithos]

I still have Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style somewhere too. I have a feeling it won't hold up so well lol

[south carmain]

I always loved the weird love story hip-hop used to have with martial arts. It's a shame it seems like it's not so common these days especially since the focus of mainstream hip hop has become more about showing off than anything else.

[AnimeGamer183]

Jade Empire. Cant think of another game that comes close to the depth of different martial arts styles available, outside of some out right fighting games, there is a whole list that I probably dont even want to try to make if we are counting fighting games.

[Thief]

Does Street Fighter Alpha 3 count? Not sure if you want to include fighting games.

[Calshot]

Kung Fu Strike. It's like playing a wuxia movie.

[OL]

Does Kengo for PS2 count?
It's probably the only game based around a martial art (in this case, samurai fencing) that I know of which isn't solely about the fighting. Training is half the game as well, with a series of minigames that don't only test your quickness with a blade, but also your character's balance, willpower, and concentration. Always found that interesting. It's also primarily a very quiet and almost... serene game, since it isn't just about exchanging blows with an opponent.

[DL30]

Xenogears.

[fittersau]

The original Karateka.

[Henry Spencer]

God Hand. Seems like an odd pick, but not really; you can basically customise your fighting style to various types of martial arts types/fighting styles, choosing what a simple button press does to what a combination of button presses does. Drunken fighting style punches, Jujitsu power blows, diving kicks, backward somersault kicks, Karate chops, elbows to the face or just a kick to the nuts. And yeah, blocking is a BIG part of the game too and even blocks can be customised. Upgrading your fighting moves to the next level is also a part of the game. Best 3D brawler system ever.

[Monkei]

I always loved the weird love story hip-hop used to have with martial arts.

Me too. Have you seen "The Man with the Iron Fists"? I recently ordered Afro Samurai (PS3) from the UK, which would probably be another good example for this. Still waiting for the game to arrive. I'm aware of the mixed reviews, but that combination of cel shaded, stylized samurai violence, the Samuel L. Jackson-voiced main character and that pretty decent sounding hip hop soundtrack made me think that I have to play it.

Other than that I'm still sitting on Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition (PS4) - really looking forward to playing that one as well.

[Snakiest]

I liked the first ninja gaiden on the original xbox. It was pretty fun although more reaction oriented than inputting complicated combinations.

In Yu we trust.

[sand4fish]

Street Fighter and Virtua Fighter for me. Ryu in particular embodies the perfect image of a martial artist in my eyes.

Other than the fighting genre I would say Streets of Rage, as it was the first console game I've picked it up and totally felt like being in a HK action flick.