Play Shao-lin's Road Online

Shao-lin's Road is a 1985 arcade game from Konami, a side-scrolling brawler that arrived during a time when simple, direct action games dominated the coin-op scene. It doesn't try to be anything more than a straightforward test of reflexes and timing, pitting you against a temple full of enemies with one goal in mind: fight your way to the top.

You control a martial artist climbing a pagoda, moving screen by screen and defeating every opponent before you can advance. Your character uses punches and kicks to knock foes off platforms or stun them, and you can collect energy orbs that let you unleash a powerful screen-clearing blast. The pacing is relentless, with enemies swarming from all sides, and the difficulty ramps up quickly as you face more aggressive fighters and tricky stage layouts. It feels like a constant, tense scramble where one wrong move can cost you a life.