Developed by Japanese designers PiXEL, Xiaomei and the Flame Dragon’s Fist is a homage to the 8bit and 16bit scrolling fighters of old. It’s been published by Leoful and is now available on the Switch inthe west for the first time after seeing success in as a Japanese exclusive.
The game was first released on PC back in 2019 and a Mega Port is also in the works. The developer has enhanced the Switch port with new characters and other unlockable content. The story you centres on Xiaomei, a young kung-fu warrior on a journey to save her sister from the Dark Dragon.
The action takes place on side-scrolling levels where hordes of ninjas and swordsmen continually run at Xiaomei. Most take a hit or two to defeat with the occasional mini-boss that will have more advanced attack techniques. Each stage ends with a tricky boss that will take lots of trial and error to defeat.
You have a basic kick and punch function and can attack in the air by jumping with by pressing up. As you attack enemies your special meter builds and this enables you to throw a powerful fireball. This invaluable move clears enemies off the screen and is vital for finishing off the tough bosses. You take damage with every touch of an enemy but steamed buns appear that refill a small portion of your health.
Xiaomei and the Flame Dragon’s Fist is a hard game, even on the easy setting. It certainly pays homage to the tough kung fu games of the 80s and 90s and will challenge even the most seasoned arcade pro. That being said, it is a lot of fun and the bosses stand out as great set pieces. At first it feels a little unfair, but once you start to master the moves and enemy attack patterns, finishing a level feels rewarding.
Fans of side scrollers like Kung Fu Master will enjoy this one there and there’s lots to unlock such as galleries and new characters. Xiaomei and the Flame Dragon’s Fist doesn’t doesn’t move the genre forward but does all the basics very well with some great pixel art and music that brings that classic martial arts game feel to life.
