Beyond Kung-Fu (Irem, 1987) — background emulation progress from km-z.4h

[leosgc1]

Hi,

I've been working on the missing background graphics in Irem's Beyond Kung-Fu.

A functional decoding/consumption model for the background data stored in the original km-z.4h ROM has now been recovered and integrated into a private MAME development build.

The stage backgrounds are generated at runtime from the original ROM data rather than from manually reconstructed tilemaps. Scrolling, dynamic background elements, and the background clear/restore lifecycle are now working in the cases tested so far.

Current MAME gameplay:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJkNmFXWFzc

Original PCB references used for visual validation:
– Higher-quality recording, covering approximately the first four stages:
[French PCB video link]

– Lower-quality full-game recording, covering all eight stages:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw55No8b4Wc&t=3s

These are recordings of the original PCB running and have been used as visual references throughout the reconstruction.

This does not claim recovery of the original internal MCU firmware or its historical implementation. The current implementation is a functional model intended to reproduce the PCB-visible background behavior from the original km-z.4h data.

A few fine adjustments and regression tests are still being completed. Once the implementation and documentation are ready, I intend to prepare the technical material for review by the MAME team.