Lone Wolf & Cub, first published in Japan in the 1970s, remains one of the most popular and respected manga series of all time. The epic tale of Ogami Ittō, an assassin who travels across Japan with his young son Daigoro, has been turned into a number of movies and TV shows, but strangely, given the combat-heavy source material and country of origin, it’s only ever once been turned into a video game.
That game was released in 1987, and was developed by Nihon Bussan, perhaps best known for their F1 Circus series. An arcade title released only in its home country, it was called Kozure Ōkami (Lone Wolf & Cub’s Japanese title), and while being a relatively simple beat-em-up, did at least feature one cool use of the manga (besides flashing the occasional manga image on-screen): a power-up involved Ittō grabbing Daigoro off his back, throwing him in the series’ trademark baby cart, and racing across the screen, shooting at everyone in his path.
You can see the game in action below.
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