In the 80s and 90s everyone wanted to learn karate. A friend of mine in the neighborhood had a bigger brother who was really good. He was the coolest kid in the block. He had a motorbike and he and his friends trained karate in the backyard. I was always amazed when they did flykicks on a big sack which one of them was holding up.
Anyways, back to the game. International Karate was so cool, because the movements of the players was so real. This was played on a commodore 64 so it was not usual to have a smooth flow that was similiar to reality. You could punch a guy in the belly and he dropped to the ground as if he lost the air out of his lungs. Trip the guy with low kick and knock your enemies with headbutts. The hardest move on Int karate 3 was the double kick. You could play against a friend and computer at the same time, so if you managed to coordinate your enemies it was possible to jump up in the air and splitkick both players in the head. Just like Jean Claude van Damme, but in the air!!
And as usual in the karate world, you have to break brick stones with your head.. which gained bonus points. Now to what I never understood until xbox brought this on.. why would you play for points when the only thing was to reach a highscore to show off for your friends? Today gaming has actually improved by giving rewards for points. Gears of war 2 and Rainbow six vegas shows this excellently by unlocking cool gadgets and videos/posters for finding secret items or killing enemies in special ways. That was totally unretro of me to say gaming has improved :P
Also, if you were spectating an int karate game you could search the horizon for a flying bird or watching a small spider climb down a tree. Nothing that adds to gaming experience, but totally cool!!
International Karate c64
International Karate+ c64
(There are so much more cool vids with music etc so just keep clicking on youtube)
Music 4/5
Gaming 5/5
