Last Battle

Last Battle (full title Last Battle: Legend of the Final Hero) is a 2D side-scrolling beat 'em up released for the Mega Drive/Genesis in 1989 by Sega. It was one of the six games that were available as part of the Genesis launch lineup in the North America. The Japanese version, titled Shin Seikimatsu Kyūseishu Densetsu: Hokuto no Ken (新世紀末救世主伝説 北斗の拳, lit. "Fist of the North Star: The New Legend of the Post-Apocalyptic Messiah"), is based on the manga series Hokuto no Ken (published as Fist of the North Star in English). Since the international version did not retain the Hokuto no Ken license, the graphics and characters' names were altered. It was the second Hokuto no Ken game released by Sega, following the Mark III original (released internationally as Black Belt).

Gameplay
In Last Battle you control Aarzak (Ken in Japan), and you have to beat up bandits in a post apocalyptic world and progress through the stages from Point A to Point B. There is a central map with branching paths that lead to stages and boss fights. Aarzak has two attacks, punch and kick, and air variations of those attacks. Like in the Anime/Manga, all the bandits die in one hit. The sprites are very large in this game, and Aarzak moves very slow, making some fast moving hazards such as arrows or boomerangs hard to avoid in some stages.

The meter on the bottom of your HUD fills up for every enemy Aarzak defeats. Once it is filled, a cutscene will play of Aarzak getting stronger. His punches and kicks upgrade from a single blow to a rapid 3 blows for each attack. Once a chapter is complete, Aarzak's strength resets.