
STORY / GAMEPLAY
You control Daniel Larusso and participate in several one-to-one karate matches against various opponents. Daniel can use a variety of attack moves, including roundhouse kicks, flying kicks, punches and so on, but some moves are more effective than others. Occasionally between fights, the game includes bonus levels played occasionally after fights, in which you control Mr. Miyagi as he tries to catch a fly using chopsticks (on the Atari ST and Amiga version) or Daniel must break blocks of ice by building up enough force via joystick wiggling (found only on the Amiga version). Well, unlike the film, you have no guarantee of success, and instead must fight your way past all these baddies, most of whom are, at least to begin with, far faster and better than you. Note that, the game also includes a two-player option. The real aim of the game is to progress, and this is achieved by reducing your opponents strength to zero in each match.
The game is really playable as long as you master the controls of course, and is an excellent game for its era!
GRAPHICS / SOUND
Graphics are nicely done on the original Atari ST version, offering some pretty nice constantly changing Japanese background scenes during gameplay, while sprites are not quite as big as they could be, but they are so well animated that this can easily be ignored. While the action is two-dimensional, the body animation is superior, the various kicks and punches are varied and responsive. Note that the Atari ST version offers only 3 fighting settings, and differentiate them occasionally by changing their color palette and some foreground and backdrop details, while the Amiga version, although a port from the Atari ST, offers 11 unique fighting scenes, as well as there is an extra bonus stage on the Amiga (Daniel breaking the ice) missing on the ST..
The sound is also good, having the original the movie's soundtrack Glory of Love, while there are several nice digitized sound effects accompany each punch or hit during gameplay.