System 3
£6.50
Reviewer: Luke C
With so many games based on the thrills and spills of the old Kung Fu movies, International Karate is definitely a worthy attempt at being the best.
Animation's fine, but the backdrops of the various countries you fight in get pretty boring after a while. But then graphics isn't what the games all about. Clobbering your opponent hard and fast's the aim of the game... International Karate has its Bruce Lees positively leaping all over the shop!
The fighters can choose from sixteen different movements but, as you can imagine, the logistics of carrying out these sophisticated moves - especially in a two-player bout! - is more than a set of weary fingers - or even a jaded joystick - can contemplate.
The judge of the fight announces - yes, the program speaks... and it's almost understandable too! - the scores, and puts the players back to the starting grid if the fighting gets too silly.
It's an enjoyable game - but getting the maximum out of your fighting figure is a little difficult. All the same, it's fairly addictive and, if you just restrict yourself to a well- chosen routine of kicks and punches, you can generally get good enough to fight your way through the levels.
International Karate
System 3
While being a shameful copy of Fist in most ways, International Karate managed to introduce a few novel features. The main one was the 'International' bit, which means that the game is played against a series of backdrops representing various parts of the world. Then there was the speech, which is about as successful as always on the Speccy. And finally the bonus screens. Hmm.
Other than that, International Karate is about as standard a beat-'em-up as you're likely to see. It doesn't quite have the slickness of Fist, and is definitely lacking when it comes to excruciating crunches and things, but it makes a reasonable attempt at animation which is something.
International Karate +, the sequel, startled us all with the introduction of a third character.
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