Fist of the North Star strikes November 2

Tecmo Koei is giving Fist of the North Star fans time to brace themselves, as the publisher today dated the latest game adaptation of the hyperviolent manga and anime series. Set for release November 2, Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage will bring the source material to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 owners in the form of a Dynasty Warriors-style beat-'em-up.

The Dynasty Warriors comparison is an obvious one, as Ken's Rage was originally released in Japan as an offshoot to the historical action series. Ken's Rage was titled Hokuto Musou upon its March release in Japan, its title a literal combination of Fist of the North Star (Hokuto no Ken) and Dynasty Warriors (Sangoku Musou). This is not the first licensed crossover title for the Dynasty Warriors series; there have already been two Dynasty Warriors: Gundam titles released, with a third scheduled for Japanese launch by the end of the year.

Ken's Rage pits series protagonist Kenshiro against hordes of gang members and savage armies answering to his elder brother, Raoh. As in the manga and anime, Kenshiro has at his disposal Hokuto Shinken, an absurdly powerful martial art that allows practitioners to explode heads and liquefy internal organs through careful strikes to hidden pressure points on the human body. The game includes two main campaigns: one "faithful to the spirit" of the original manga adventure, and a second featuring Kenshiro in an original storyline.

This is not the first time Kenshiro's journeys have spawned a gaming adaptation. Taxan released a Fist of the North Star game for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1989, and Electro Brain followed that up with a Game Boy game the next year. And although it didn't bear the name of the series, the tamed-down 1989 Sega Genesis title Last Battle was originally a Fist of the North Star licensed game in Japan. The Fist of the North Star has remained fertile ground for games in Japan, recently being made into a PlayStation 2 and arcade fighting game by Guilty Gear studio Arc System Works in 2007.

For more on Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.