International Karate +

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!

To be honest this is a tough game. It's easy on the first two, three rounds (each round is divided into two fighting events among the three fighters). When passing a fighting round a new karate belt is granted! Note that the 8bit Atari version was never released officially and this version is an unfinished port from the C64.

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The Atari 8bit version (XL/XE) is a direct port form the Commodore 64 version and has superb graphics and sound! The background looks great (a nicely done sunset over the sea) with occasionally some animated extra sprites passing by (like birds flying)! This port looks more like a 16bit version (much like the C64 version)! The Atari's sound is great and resembles the C64 version. The in-game music is great while the sound effects are low sampled karate-style effects like kicking and punching!