Before all of our comically violent wish-fulfillment fantasies were so thoroughly and realistically slaked by video games, we had manga-based movies like Fist of the North Star. No movie since has equaled FotNS in its post-apocalyptic building-punching, laser body-slicing, or time-delayed reverse skull-cap extruding. Seriously: the Fist of the North Star—this guy, with a beard, named Ken—punches skyscrapers in this movie and they fall down. Basically, Chuck Norris is just the shadow cast on the wall of Plato's cave by Ken. (And maybe Ice-T is somewhere in between Ken and Chuck these days.)

Now, at last, we're getting a Fist of the North Star video game, for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Honestly, the initial gameplay videos (here and here) are a little meh so far. But the game doesn't come out until March, so these are still just previews. And the meh-ness might just be in comparison to the sheer ridiculous awesomeness of the movie. If you never watched it, check out this high-comedy YouTube distillation. (And if you have watched it, no doubt Ken's trademark "yaaAHH-DIDADIDADIDADIDADIDADIDADIDADIDA!" battle cry, at about 1:49, is already seared into your hippocampus.)

The Stranger Testing Department is Rob Lightner and Paul Hughes.