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Game info |
|  | International Karate + |  | Genre | Fighting | Developer | System 3 | Publisher | System 3 | Released | 1987 | Rating
 | Graphics: | 7.0 | Sound: | 7.0 | Gameplay: | 9.0 | Overall: | 8.0 |
| Reviewed by | ndial | International Karate + (aka IK+) is a karate fighting game produced by System 3, back in 1987, for the three 8bit home-computers, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum. In 1988 IK+ was developed for the Atari ST and Amiga (1 Disk 3.5") and became one of the best fighting games for the 16 bit home computers. In 2003, following the retro-gaming trend, Maclean's Ignition Entertainment released IK+ for the Game Boy Advance and PlayStation in Europe. |
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Review |
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 STORY / GAMEPLAY
Three Karatekas are fighting on the same screen (and the same backdrop), in order to further their belts and skills. After gaining some points there are frequently two bonus games where you must either kick bombs away (before they explode) or you deflect fireballs holding a shield. A second player can join the game and the third is controlled by the CPU. The first of the three players to score six points is the winner and is awarded extra points for every second left. The player with the lowest score at the end of the round is out of the game. One of the most impressive aspects of this game is that punches and kicks are fast and furious, I mean really fast! There are twelve attacking moves and a handful of defensive styles at your disposal. Some details are taken directly from the original International Karate, plus a lot more, such as reverse face kick, double head kick (for hitting both fighters) and so on. IK+ is one of the best and more fun to play fighting games for the 16bits home computers. Win points, get the highest belt and become the new karate master! IK+ is everything a fighting game should be. It is intense, spectacular, loud and great looking!
GRAPHICS / SOUND The ZX Spectrum version looks good with nice visuals and smooth enough sprite animation. All Karatekas move and act nicely and the background is cool, although it has a single scene (a sunset over the sea) with occasionally some animated extra sprites (like birds flying)! Some details from the 16bit versions are clipped on the ZX (and CPC), such as the tree standing at the very right side of the screen! Sound-wise the game is great when running on a 128k Spectrum and includes a great tune during gameplay but no sound effects at all (whilst the 48k version has sound effects and no music).
GAMEPLAY SAMPLE VIDEO
On our video below you may watch the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64 versions. | |
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Screenshots |
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Gameplay sample |
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Comparable platforms |
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Hardware information |
| ZX Spectrum CPU: Z80 @ 3.5 MHz MEMORY: 16 KB / 48 KB / 128 KB GRAPHICS: Video output is through an RF modulator and was designed for use with contemporary portable television sets, for a simple colour graphic display. Features a palette of 15 shades: seven colours at two levels of brightness each, plus black. The image resolution is 256x192 with the same colour limitations. SOUND: Early models (48k) had sound output through a beeper on the machine itself. This is capable of producing one channel with 10 octaves. Late models (128k) fetured a three-channel audio via the AY-3-8912 chip, MIDI compatibility
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 | 3bit RGBi 15-colors palette (15 on screen) | |
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