Yeah! Take the best bits of International Karate, add an extra opponent, a couple of new moves, new music and tweak the playability and you’ve got the incredible International Karate +! The feel is superb, and the three player free-for-all is incredibly frenetic, providing more violent fun than anything else I’ve played. […] A tenner is a high price to pay for a fighting game, but they don’t come any better than this classic in the making.
Ever since Karate Champ, those one-on-one fighting games had been the thing. Most followed pretty much the same rules set by this arcade classic. And all too quickly, the whole niche felt stuck in a dead end. IK+ did not get the genre out of this, either. But for sure it is the crowning jewel of this phase which, in retrospect, should be called the karate age.
What had defined those karate games of the 1980s was the rather static fighting model. The fighters, only distinguished by the colour of their clothes, carefully approached each other under the watchful eye of a referee. One single successful hit, and froze the action, points were awarded and it was back to initial position. This sequence repeated until one had scored sufficiently. IK+ yanks this up to a highly fluid level. In no less than two additional dimensions. Without sacrificing the rather tactical feeling the previous games had.
First, it does not interrupt the action after a hit. Hits still award points, but the fight just goes on. Not by trampling on a man down, of course. This is still honourable karate, after all. Rather, you’ll turn around and face the third contestant.
Third contestant? That’s right, there are three fighters competing simultaneously. Which intensifies the action immensely. Suddenly, there is the challenge not to be surrounded. Which way to face first? How to escape from such a predicament? And even when not surrounded: landing a hit against one opponent may get you dangerously close to the other.
All this makes IK+ a game of exact spatial control. The controls allow for one kick or hit per joystick direction (plus button), i.e. eight different ones. Seven, considering that one is not an attack, but a backwards flip to escape. In addition, you can walk left or right. Though your fighter will not just turn around like that. He will happily walk backwards if commanded so. Rather, turning is also part of specific moves.
It effectively means blind button mashing will not win a fight. Observing the opponents' moves, acting and reacting in the right way at the right time is key. Different moves having different ranges, the perfectly exact collision detection – even accounting for the super smooth animation frames – knowing by muscle memory which direction does what ensures a point victory. Any careless second is immediately punished. Especially since each round is short, so two hits can easily determine the winner.
The highly demanding gameplay is what makes IK+ such an enduring classic. It requires training, but that learning phase is already highly entertaining. It needs concentration and focus, but also great reflexes and intuition. A bit like real karate, I imagine. Good graphics and little gags are just the icing on the cake.
What happened after this game? The competition released a solid, but slightly inferior carbon copy. Though it was really the end of the line for the karate games. Almost unnoticed, at the height of this sub-genre, Yie Ar Kung-Fu had been released. Showing the way of a very different take on one-on-one fighting. With freakier characters. Dishonourable, dirty tactics. Life energy-based victory instead of a hit scoring system.
Budokan came a couple of years after, indicating a transition. Finally, after the phenomenally successful Street Fighter II, the fantasy-themed fighters had won and there was no turning back anymore. Though then, none of this took away from the enjoyment which you can get out of IK+. Even if it may need some introductory words to younger generations of players who are not used to this sort of fighting game anymore.
Archived Thoughts
Thoughts by Mr Creosote (16 Aug 2003) – Amiga (OCS)
How can one improve International Karate? Hard question. Most changes and additions would just screw the concept up. Everybody knows examples of great first parts of a series which got spoiled completely in the sequel.
Not so with IK+. It keeps the original concept of scoring points by hitting the opponent and getting to the next level through that. It still has all identical fighters. It still has some referee/mentor type guy awarding the points. It still has these incredibly easy controls.
Where is differs from its forefather is the less static gameplay. Instead of pausing the fight each time someone has been hit, it continues. Pretty boring with one of the fighters lying around on the floor, isn’t it? Not at all, because there is still another opponent standing!
IK+ throws you into a fight with two other guys. Nobody is ‘allied’, everyone is fighting for himself. The one who scores best wins the round. The one who scores worst is kicked out. So you don’t have to actually win every round to get to the next level which adds to the fairness immensely. Sometimes, it is even smarter to let yourself be thrown down if you’re struggling for the second place to end a round.
The two player mode is even more fun now, with the two human players usually ganging up against the sole computer-controlled fighter at first and then fighting amongst themselves for the victory. That way, both humans usually stay in the game longer than in IK+.
The small, but effective changes push IK+ high above its predecessor. It’s the best fighting game ever! It’s very accessable, it’s extremely motivating and it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Just try the infamous “t”-move and you’ll know…
