Summary
A Pioneer: Before all the fighting games there was KARATE CHAMP!
The Good
This game was an original coin operated title, and when it was popular, it was VERY hard to get a chance to play it at the arcades! It was somewhat inovative, and it's 2 player mode made it a natural for challenges between teenage boys feeling the surges of puberty and tetesterone! If you got good at this game, you got a rep! When it ported to the NES, it was an instant hit. It translated to the home screen quite well!
The game was surprisingly good at detecting your "combonations" required to perform the various kicks, punches, blocks etc. Basically you had a roundhouse kick, a low kick, a backward kick, and punches that if you made the character go low, the punch was a low punch. If not it would be a high regular punch. You could do a flying kick also, as a surprise attack, but look out! if it didn't work it made you vulnerable to a counter kick/punch! This is a fun game for one player, as the AI is not too bad, and it gets better as you progress. It's real strength is as a two player game, providing hours of fun for everyone. We would hold little tournaments.
Lots of fun.
The Bad
The thing that made it great also made it kind of boring. As games went, it was very limited. Basically you kept fighting and fighting.....the backgrounds would change and you had an all too quick bonus round, consisting of punching either a can, bottle or bull coming at you. I guess due to the better than average (for the time) AI, they never had too much left for extravagant storyline, graphics or depth.
The Bottom Line
It is a fun game to have in a collection. It is still fun to pull out of the drawer and play a few rounds. It is a satisfying game to play. A guilty pleasure in smacking down your opponent. Other than the simulated karate moves, there is no gore or blood, and is OK for players 10 to 100!
