Fist of the North Star is known for two things: it is incredibly hyper-violent and it has a unique visual flair that set it apart from its contemporaries all the way back in the 1980's. In a world destroyed by nuclear warfare, tribes of warriors sprung up out of the aftermath. Kenshiro is a practitioner of a legendary and dangerous style of martial arts known as "Hokuto Shinken" and the one thing the videogame adaptation nails is the faithful representation of the overly masculine Mad Max aesthetic. Leather jackets and bondage gear are plentiful in a dreary world of browns and greys as you fight your way through a sterile heavy-metal playground, but the empty environments, confusing paths, blurry textures, and generic enemy types are the real offenses here. Many of the problems that Fist of the North Star experiences could easily be written off in the name of fan service, but the lazy attitude towards the design is so pervasive throughout the whole experience, that it actually turns people off that were genuinely interested when starting out (like myself.)
The soundtrack isn't much better. As a bona fide heavy metal fan, even I was thoroughly uninterested and annoyed by the same three guitar riffs that play seemingly at random sometimes. The catchy and crunchy metal sound quickly wore out its welcome after the first hour, mainly because of lackluster dialogue and voice acting being played over the soundtrack. The original Japanese voices can be used if you choose, but the general silence in every level means it doesn't really matter much when all you hear are the painful screams of a thousand victims each level.
