The Karate Kid (video game)

The Karate Kid
Developer(s)	LJN
Publisher(s)	LJN
Platform(s)	NES
Release	1987
Genre(s)	Beat 'em up
Mode(s)	1 - 2 players

The Karate Kid was a game published by LJN for the NES. It is loosely based on The Karate Kid, Part II. Stage 1 is based on the first Karate Kid movie. Widely known for its difficulty, the game only consists of four levels.

Synopsis

The player uses Daniel-san. He must punch and kick ways through a karate tournament, Okinawa, a typhoon, and a festival, all the while harassed by the evil Chozen and his followers.

There are 4 stages.

• STAGE 1: The Karate Tournament
• STAGE 2: Daniel-san in Okinawa
• STAGE 3: The Typhoon Strikes
• STAGE 4: The Last Fight Against Chozen

Gameplay

The game begins with Daniel-san fighting in the All Valley Karate Tournament. He will have to go through four fighters in order to advance to the next stage. The opponent's energy bar increases as the player progresses through them. The final fight is presumably Johnny from the movie.

Daniel then starts the second level which is set in Okinawa. There he must dispatch random thugs who die in one hit while progressing to Chozen at the end of the stage. For every few enemies dispatched Daniel can collect small "C" and "D" symbols that allow him to use Crane Kicks and Drum Punches, respectively. They also replenish a small amount of Daniel's energy meter. There are also a few obvious and not-so-obvious entrances where Daniel can earn Drum Punches and Crane Kicks by either breaking ice-blocks, catching flies with chopsticks or dodging a swinging hammer.

In the third stage of play, Daniel is in a stage that is nearly identical to the first (with some tricky jumps) during a typhoon. The typhoon causes a strong wind to interfere with the player's jumps and various objects (sticks, birds) to fly through the air and threaten the player's energy. They can be hit for extra points, however. The boss is Chozen again and this time there is a girl up on a pole that Daniel must save. Interestingly enough, it is not necessary to beat Chozen, only rescue the girl.

The final stage is the festival after the typhoon. Daniel wears a new outfit for this stage and the random enemies are now tougher, requiring two hits to be felled. There are also enemies with spears who take even more hits to defeat. The final boss, once again Chozen, has a new twist. Now he has Kumiko down on the ground beside him and if Daniel does not occasionally come into contact with her, she will slip off the platform and drown. This will result in a lost life. If Daniel can successfully defeat the boss without Kumiko drowning the player will be treated to a rather short ending. Mr. Miyagi's head appears and is animated to look as if he's talking and saying "You have successfully guided Daniel-San through all the challenges and have become a martial arts master!!!"

Difficulty criticism

There are only four levels in the game, but fans and gamers considered it to be difficult, and considered the ending weak for such a difficult game.

The Angry Video Game Nerd reviewed the game here, describing its difficulty excessively.

External links

• The Karate Kid at MobyGames
• Karate Kid page located at NES HQ
• THE KARATE KID by the Angry Nintendo Nerd