God Hand

The best thing that ever happened to God Hand’s main character, Gene, was getting his arm chopped off by some nefarious bandits. Because after that he acquired the power of the God Hand and went off to punch the faces off everyone he met.

And he kicked too, and suplexed, and if he was really lucky he got to spank girls’ bums. But if he was unlucky a demon would appear and utterly destroy him.

God Hand is a tough game, even on the medium difficulty, but it’s also incredibly fair. And yet at the same time, the better you do at it the more difficult it gets. This mechanic fits in well with the crazed world Gene and the rest of the characters inhabit – from fat cigar-chomping bad Elvis impersonators to super-sentai midgets, there is always some weirdness just around the corner, and in front of you, and usually behind you too. But thanks to the amazing dodge system and a massive array of different attacks, not to mention the ultimate power of the God Hand you have the skills and techniques need to crush the huge assortment of enemies.

Of course it didn’t sit well with everybody. While most people enjoyed the humour, the fighting and the skill required to beat the game (and more on the Hard difficulty setting) there were always gong to be detractors – one big gaming site famously gave it 3 out of 10. But for those who embraced it found it to be one of, and if not, the best scrolling beat-em-ups released at that time. And it still lives on in their hearts. Hence this opportunity to get all misty-eyed and discuss it on our forum.

And just to refresh your memory, here’s a video of someone playing it incredibly well:

The amusing Japanese TV advertisement:

And of course the, SPOILERS!, the incredible end credits and theme song: