Black Belt FAQ/Walkthrough Version 1.0 By edwithgames Created: January 2013 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ****** Introduction ****** This walkthrough was created because Black Belt is one of my favourite games for the Sega Master System. I feel that I've mastered it and I want to share my knowledge and strategies of the game with others. Black Belt is a side-scrolling beat 'em up game which has repetitive game-play and simple controls. Despite this, the game is actually quite challenging with various bosses and mid-bosses needing different strategies in order to defeat them. There is also a bonus game at the end in which all six bosses may be played in order. Items can be picked up for health and invincibility and the music is quite decent too. This walkthrough is split up into sections. These are: -Technical Information -My Experience With The Game -Story/Object Of The Game -How To Play -Items/Health -Walkthrough -Cheats -Final Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ****** Technical Information ****** Black Belt was originally released in Japan as Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star) in 1985 and was based on a Japanese anime cartoon of the same name. Unfortunately, the licence did not extend outside Japan and graphical alterations as well as a change of name were required for the game to be released outside Japan so that any similarity with the Japanese cartoon were removed. The altered game, Black Belt, was released the following year in 1986. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ****** My Experience With The Game ****** I first played this in 2001 after I picked it up cheaply from a second-hand shop. At first I thought it was dull and repetitive but the challenge it provided and the music really grew on me and I eventually completed it after a fair amount of practice. I also think the background graphics are exceptional for such an early game on the Sega Master System. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ****** Story/Object Of The Game ****** The story is very vague and short. In a post nuclear war setting, as Riki, you must rescue his girlfriend Kyoko from a group of martial artists led by a man named Wang who apparently has had the same training as you and is therefore your equal as a fighter. That's it I'm afraid; it's pretty uninspired. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ****** How To Play ****** The controls for Black Belt are very simple. -Press Button 1 to punch. -Press Button 2 to kick. -Press and hold the D-Pad left or right to run in those directions. -Press the D-Pad up to jump. While jumping, press Button 2 to jump-kick. -Press the D-Pad up-left or up-right to jump to the left or right respectively. -Press and hold the D-Pad down to duck. While ducking, press the D-Pad left or right to duck in those directions and press Button 1 or 2 to punch or kick low respectively. -Press the D-Pad down then up in quick succession to perform a high jump. -Press the D-Pad down then up-left or up-right to perform a high jump to the left or right respectively. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ****** Items/Health ****** At the start of the game you have three lives. An extra life is awarded when you reach 100,000 and 300,000 points. Riki has a health bar located at the top of the screen. It starts completely orange indicating full health. Every hit that Riki takes will knock off some orange and once all the orange is depleted and the health bar is black, you will lose one life. Once all your lives are gone, it's game over with no continues. Health can be recovered by collecting sushi or by defeating middle bosses. Defeating middle bosses will recover a maximum of about an eighth of Riki's total health. Please note that Riki will be moved back slightly when he touches items. -Red Chinese Symbol: Getting this item will give Riki invincibility for nine hits. This means that nine blows from various enemies will not cause Riki to lose any health. On the tenth hit from an enemy, Riki will start losing health again. Please note that the effect isn't carried over to the boss stage of each level. So if at the end of a level you still had five hits' worth of invincibility left, you would forfeit them at the start of the boss stage. Red Chinese Symbols appear at certain points during the levels and must be grabbed quickly before it moves off the screen. -Sushi: Getting the sushi will recover a maximum of about a quarter of Riki's total health. Sushi appears at certain points during the levels and must be grabbed quickly before it moves off the screen. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ****** Walkthrough ****** Before the walkthrough I will explain about the game and level structure. Black Belt has seven levels or chapters as the game calls them. Access to the seventh level is only granted if a special code is entered after defeating the last boss. Each level (except for levels 6 and 7) is divided into two stages: The first stage has the player fight a multitude of enemies plus a certain number of different middle bosses. The enemies are all identical except for level 4 which has two types of enemy, and the middle bosses are different every time, except for level 5, and need different strategies to defeat them. The platforming aspect of the first stage is extremely simple. There are no physical obstacles such as pits or walls so in the walkthrough will just be strategies for the enemies, middle bosses and bosses. Levels 6 and 7 have no first stage. The second stage consists of a boss fight; also, the graphics change and the sprites are much bigger. Even more so than the middle bosses, the bosses need different fighting strategies in order to defeat them. All the enemies except for middle bosses and bosses only need one hit to defeat them while middle bosses need four hits to defeat. Bosses have their own health bar which needs to be depleted for them to be defeated. Normal enemies are infinite: they never stop coming. You must continuously move to the right in every level to get up to the middle bosses and eventually exit the level. Don't hang around with the intent of "clearing" a level of enemies because they only stop coming when you reach a middle boss or a boss. Only if you're aiming for a high score would you want to kill more enemies than is necessary. ******************************************************************************* Chapter 1 Start off by heading towards the right and killing the identical enemies. Be sure to grab the Red Chinese Symbols and sushi when you see them by doing high jumps. The enemies here are Chinese Kung Fu men and simply run up to Riki and punch him. Try not to let them crowd you and they won't cause many problems. I find punching them better as it's quicker than kicking. The first middle boss is an axe thrower who is quite easy. You can either duck underneath, jump over or punch and kick his axes. He's easy to defeat although he will probably hit you a couple of times. The second middle boss is red and wields a brown staff. He's easier than the axe thrower. Try to jump kick him and follow it with a punch. The third middle boss is blue and fights with two swords. He's also easy. Just let him jump over you and when he lands, punch or kick him. The fourth middle boss is a fat man wearing black. He's actually the easiest middle boss in the game because when you punch or kick him, he doesn't move back and so can be punched very quickly four times; the fight is usually over for me in about two seconds. *** Boss *** The first boss is Ryu and he's a Kung Fu Master. Ryu is not hurt much with kicks so I prefer to concentrate on punching him. To defeat Ryu, you must have patience as he can only be hurt when he's attacking. Between attacking, Ryu will advance towards you if you back away or will back away if you advance. As soon as he starts punching or kicking, punch him then back away. If you get stung repeatedly by Ryu, back away and wait for the next opportunity. If he starts attacking next to the edge of the screen and you punch him there, successive punches can also be delivered easily with low risk of repercussions. Just be careful and wait for an opportunity. Don't bother with kicking as it's just as difficult as punching but a lower amount of his health is taken off him. Jump kicks can be used because they're easier to pull off but will still take a smaller amount of health like the normal kick. The winning blow must be a punch as kicking him when his health bar is completely black will not defeat him. Punch him when his health bar is completely black and Riki will start punching at a tremendous speed and will kill Ryu. After the score is counted up, you'll be taken to level 2. ******************************************************************************* Chapter 2 As before, head right and start killing the enemies here which are wrestlers. These wrestlers do high kicks and will jump repeatedly very high. because of their jumping, they can hinder your attempts to get the items at the top of the screen. Sometimes one or two will jump out of the screen. Do not let them crowd you. The first middle boss is one of the hardest in the game. He has a whip and reminds me of a lion tamer. The best strategy for dealing with him is to do jump kicks but even then they might not land on him. Keep at it though and he should go down soon enough. Don't try to attack him head on as he's merciless with his whip. Another way to get him is to let him jump down next to you and punch him as he lands but this way is tricky to pull off. The second middle boss is the knife thrower. Like the axe thrower, Riki can punch his knives or dodge them. He can be quite tricky because he will stab Riki before your punches or kicks land. The solution to this is to jump kick him until he dies and you shouldn't take too much damage. *** Boss *** The second boss is Hawk and he's a Street Fighting Master. Up close he will punch and from far away he will throw boomerangs that curl upwards and drop down. It is easy to avoid the boomerangs and even if they hit, they don't do much damage. Stay close to him and he will back away while punching. Kicks do the most damage here but if you take a smaller amount of his health off repeatedly with punches, Riki will change his punching style to uppercuts and will take off as much damage as a kick. Jump kicks are possible and will do good damage but are tough to pull off. The winning blow can either be a punch or a kick but once done, Riki will start kicking repeatedly until Hawk is dead. Also, note the graffiti in the background during this boss fight. After the score is counted up, you'll be taken to level 3. ******************************************************************************* Chapter 3 From the start, head right and kill the red Jujitsu men. They behave the same as the enemies from level 1 and are very easy - just don't let them crowd you. The only middle boss is a man in black with swinging hooks. He's very similar to the third middle boss in level 1 and is just as easy. Just let him jump over you and when he lands, punch or kick him. *** Boss *** The third boss is Gonta and he's a Sumo Master. When I first played this game, I found Gonta quite tough. Gonta will charge at you if you're standing too far away from him and will punch repeatedly when you're close to him. When he charges, do a high jump and then get close to him. Get close to him, punch once or twice then back away but not too far or he'll charge again. Gonta will also jump repeatedly if you get too close to him so back away if he does this as it's quite damaging and he won't stop until you back away. I prefer punches to kicks as the kicks seem not to work half the time but they both do the same damage. So just get close to him, punch once or twice, then back away. Repeat until Riki starts quick-fire punching to kill him. After the score is counted up, you'll be taken to level 4. ******************************************************************************* Chapter 4 Level 4 is where the game starts to get particularly difficult. Level 4 contains two types of regular enemy: ninjas and eagles. The ninjas have swords and so their attack range is very long thus making them quite difficult - especially if they crowd you. The eagles aren't too numerous but can take a bit of extra damage off if you're not too careful. Although they can be killed, they are more easily avoided as all they do is fly on screen, swoop down, then fly off screen. When they swoop down, just move left or right slightly to avoid them and then ignore them as they fly off screen. If you want to kill them, you have to time a jump kick perfectly for when they swoop down which is no easy task especially when the Ninjas are crowding you. Make sure you grab the Red Chinese Symbols and the sushi as they're very useful here. The first middle boss is a red man with a whip. He is extremely quick and will advance towards Riki. Do not attempt to face him head on or he will quickly sap your health away. Try to land jump kicks on him. If you manage to push him out of the screen, he will charge back with a vengeance. If he corners you, do a high jump to escape him. Be careful. The second middle boss is a pair of red swordsmen. One will come from either side and throw shuriken too. Try to concentrate on the closest one first and ignore the other until you deal with the first one. There is no surefire strategy for killing them only to utilise jump kicks, low kicks and low punches all in quick succession; try to take them out quickly. Once one is gone, the other on his own is easier but be careful of the shuriken he throws if you stand too far away. *** Boss *** The fourth boss is Oni and he's a Ninjutsu Master. Oni is tough: if you try to attack him, he will duck and hit you back every time. The only way to hurt him is to punch his face when he punches which is the only time he lets his guard down. There are two ways to do this. You can stay close to him and punch him every time he punches you; you will take off as much health as he takes off you but when his life bar is all black he'll be defeated but you won't be because Riki must get hit one more time to die when his bar is all black. The problem with this strategy is that sometimes you may miss and he'll end up with slightly more health and so the strategy might end up failing and you'll lose. When I first fought Oni I got frustrated with this flawed strategy and found a new one: if you stand just slightly away from Oni, he will try to punch you but it won't reach. When Oni does this, his guard will be down and you can quickly move closer to him to punch his face. With this method, you can hurt him without taking damage. Remember, you must move closer to Oni to punch him as soon as he punches otherwise he'll duck and punch you again if you're too late in attacking. Practise at it until you've perfected the technique. Do not try to duck and attack otherwise he will jump and kick you. Always punch him when his guard is down as kicks seem not to work. Once all his health is gone, Oni will vanish and leave his mask on the floor. Riki will not do quick-fire attacks to kill him. I have experienced a glitch during this boss. When you defeat Oni, his mask comes off. For some reason, Riki must walk over his mask at the end before walking off the screen. The problem is that sometimes Oni dies and leaves his mask just outside the screen. When he does this the game will not progress to the next level and you'll have to start the game again I'm afraid. This has only happened to me twice before so it's quite rare. After the score is counted up, you'll be taken to level 5. ******************************************************************************* Chapter 5 Level 5 is quite tough too. The enemies here are black women and they behave similarly to the wrestlers from chapter 2 in that they jump very high. Be careful not to let them crowd you. Like level 2, sometimes they will jump off the screen and disappear. Be sure to grab the Red Chinese Symbols as the middle bosses can be tough in this level. The first middle boss is a pair of blonde haired women carrying flamethrowers. The flames they shoot can be dodged by jumping and ducking but cannot be punched like the throwing knives and axes from before. Like the red swordsmen from the previous level, it's best to deal with one of them first while ignoring the other. Use punches, kicks and jump kicks to take down one and the other should be much easier on her own. Be careful when you're close to them or they'll start kicking repeatedly too. Being invincible by grabbing the Red Chinese Symbols earlier in this level makes this middle boss much easier. The second middle boss is another pair of blonde haired women carrying flame throwers so use the same strategy as above. The third middle boss is yet another pair of blonde haired women carrying flame throwers so not only use the same strategy but try to have enough health to deal with them without dying. *** Boss *** The fifth boss is Rita and she's Wang's bodyguard. Rita is a strange boss in that she has to be hit with different attacks in sequence or she won't lose any health. Your first attack must be a standing kick or a jump kick - both will work. The second attack must be a standing punch; the third must be a low punch; and the fourth attack must be a low kick. If you do any other attack, Rita won't lose any health. Once half of her health is gone, repeat the sequence again until she has no health left. Rita's attacks consist of rapid punching and kicking and when she starts this, just stand back out of the way until she stops. Once Rita has no health left, refer to the next paragraph to find out how to finish her off. Finishing Rita off is tricky as any normal attack won't hurt her. You'll have noticed while fighting Rita that sometimes, when there's a fair bit of distance between you and her, she will jump very high, fall towards you in a diagonal line and kick you. The only way to finish her is to perform a jump kick just before she lands while she's still in the air. Again, this can be tricky to pull off. I think it's easier if you do a high jump and then kick rather than a normal jump but both are valid and possible ways of getting this to work. Once you land the winning kick, Riki will punch very fast and kill Rita. I think the picture and busts in the background during the fight with Rita are of Wang. After the score is counted up, you'll be taken to level 6. ******************************************************************************* Chapter 6 Level 6 just consists of the last boss and you will start in the boss stage. *** Boss *** The boss here is Wang and he's a Martial Arts Master. Wang is Riki's equal because he's had the same training as Riki. Wang is a formidable opponent but luckily there are two strategies for defeating him: a legitimate one and a glitched one; naturally the former is a lot more difficult than the latter. The legitimate strategy involves fighting Wang one-on-one. Wang is quite tough to hit but he can be hit with punches and jump kicks. Punching Wang's head will likely allow Wang a free hit back and Wang's punches and kicks do more damage to Riki than Riki's punches and kicks do to Wang. While fighting Wang, you'll notice that he likes to jump a lot: try to land a standing punch on Wang's legs as he's falling down from his jump and you'll likely not receive a counter-hit from Wang so I recommend punching Wang's legs as he's descending after a jump as the best way of hurting him. You can do jump kicks but they're difficult to pull off and time correctly and they allow Wang an easy chance at a counter-hit so try not to rely on them. It's extremely difficult to land a normal standing kick or a low punch or kick on Wang; you can kick or low punch his legs when he's descending after jumping but don't waste the opportunity: do a standing punch after he jumps as it's easier to miss him with a kick or low punch and he'll likely hit you if you miss. Your blows don't do much damage to Wang but keep at it and you'll whittle him down to his last bit of health. The only way to finish Wang off when he's on his last bit of health is to do a standing punch to his face. You might get a counter-hit from him before you manage to land one but it's the only way. Remember that even with this strategy, Wang is still very difficult and unpredictable. Don't forget to use jumps and jump kicks to escape when Wang corners you. The glitched strategy can help you whittle all of Wang's health away except for the last bit. At the start of the fight, move left so that you're touching the left-hand side of the screen, duck, and wait. Wang should edge towards you from the right and once he reaches the midpoint of the screen he will jump and attempt to land just behind you. in the previous paragraph I describe how punching his legs when he's falling from a jump is the best way to hurt him, so, while still ducking, punch his legs repeatedly before he touches the ground and you should be able to take all of his health off except for the last bit. If you don't duck but stand, Wang will still jump over Riki but you'll only be able to land one punch on him before he lands: you must duck to be able to punch Wang repeatedly and get the full benefit of this glitch. Remember to punch repeatedly; if you don't get all of his health off except the last bit refer to the previous paragraph for the best way to hurt him. To finish Wang just land a standing punch on his head. You might get a counter-hit from him before you manage to land one but it's the only way. Whichever strategy you use and if you manage to land the winning punch on Wang, he'll seem to turn into a statue and the ending sequence will begin after the score is counted up. Riki is shown carrying Kyoko away and then we're taken to a black screen with text that explains the ending. We learn that Riki rescued Kyoko and temporarily brought peace to the world. The game officially ends at this point but there is a secret level 7. To unlock level 7, continuously hold Buttons 1 & 2 while tapping up on the D-Pad during the black text ending screen. If done correctly, level 7 will start after the text screen is finished. If done incorrectly or if you weren't attempting to unlock level 7, you'll be taken to a red screen with a Chinese symbol on the bottom-left corner. Simply press Button 1 or 2 to return to the title screen. ******************************************************************************* Chapter 7 This chapter is a survival mode consisting of all six bosses. Health is not replenished between bosses and lives are carried over from the previous level so try to finish level 6 with some spare lives and try not to lose too much health on the level 7 boss fights. I've managed in the past to lose no health at all on all six bosses so aim for that as it is possible. If you manage to defeat all six bosses in a row, congratulate yourself. After you defeat Wang again, the score is counted up and you're taken to a red screen with a Chinese symbol on the bottom-left corner. Simply press Button 1 or 2 to return to the title screen. Congratulations on completing the game! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ****** Cheats ****** The first cheat is the code for unlocking level 7 which is to hold Buttons 1 & 2 while tapping up on the D-Pad continuously at the black text ending screen. If done correctly, level 7 will start after the text screen is finished. If done incorrectly you'll be taken to a red screen with a Chinese symbol on the bottom-left corner. Simply press Button 1 or 2 to return to the title screen. The second cheat yields unlimited lives. Please note that I have not gotten this to work. Press Button 1 at the title screen then hold the Reset button at the black screen after the red screen until Riki appears on the screen. Once this happens, release Reset and the game will start, giving you unlimited lives. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ****** Final Notes ****** Thanks to www.gamefaqs.com and www.gamewinners.com for the information about the unlimited lives cheat code. This guide can be found on the following sites: www.gamefaqs.com www.gamewinners.com If you wish to post this guide on your site, please send me an e-mail first to the address below. I hope you enjoyed this. Although Black Belt seems boring and repetitive at first glance, underneath is a very challenging and rewarding game. Having trouble? E-mail me at edwithmj (at) yahoo (dot) co (dot) uk and I will respond. Thanks for reading. Good Day.