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 8bit and 16bit home computers and consoles. 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 graphics are great and the character animation is smooth. The GBA port is technically identical to the Amiga and Atari ST versions. Although the background detail does not change, there is a wonderful animated sunset near a temple. There a few short animations found on the background (birds flying, leaves falling from a tree, fish jumping off the water)! But what is really impressive with this game is its sound! IK+ has fantastic sound effects made of high quality sampling from karate / fighting movies and Bruce Lee style cries. Unfortunately the GBA port cannot reproduce the quality of the awarded music found on the Amiga, a really memorable soundtrack composed by Dave Lowe and performed several years later at the Symphonic Game Music Concert III in 2005 as well!