The game was released in Japan in 2000 as Shin-Ī Ken (シンイーケン), and was brought over to the United States by Andamiro in 2001 as Martial Masters.

It was not ported to other platforms until 2023 when it was released as part of IGS Classic Arcade Collection on Nintendo Switch.

At the end of the Qing dynasty, the government weakened by corruption was attacked by foreign influences.

The setting and characters draw inspiration from Hong Kong martial arts films, specifically Once Upon a Time in China, Drunken Master and Operation Scorpio.

Martial Masters is IGS's third arcade 2D fighting game, with Alien Challenge being their first, The Killing Blade their second, and Spectral vs. Generation being their fourth (in collaboration with Idea Factory).