Kabuki - Quantum Fighter Nintendo

Kabuki: Quantum Fighter is a side-scrolling action and platforming game for the NES from HAL and Human Entertainment. Released in 1990, it followed a string of similar games within the genre and became somewhat of a cult classic with references found in popular culture and other games. For example, there is a scene in Soldier of Fortune during which the game can be seen in the background being played by one of the characters.

The game takes place in the 2050s, when a rapidly mutating computer virus has infected the defense software that protects the entire planet. To resolve the problem, Colonel Scott O'Connor is chosen to use the Image Transfer System; an untested technology capable of converting the human mind into binary data and transferring it into a computer.

However, because the ITS is untested, the effects on the human mind are unknown. When Scott's psyche materializes inside the computer system, he is rendered as a kabuki actor. The player must take control of O'Connor and guide him through six levels of intense combat in order to reach the heart of the system and a final confrontation with the virus itself high above Earth in an orbiting satellite.