International Karate |
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Developer: System 3.
Publisher: System 3 (Europe) Epyx (USA).
Release date: November 1985
Format: Amstrad, Atari, Commodore, MS-DOS, Gameboy.
My first real gaming memory is of walking into my two older brother’s room at around seven years of age and seeing them playing International Karate on the Commodore 64. I sat quietly on the edge of the bed watching with excitement, intrigued at what I was looking at. Having only recently watched The Karate Kid I couldn't wait to have a go. After sitting patiently for what seemed hours they let me try it out. The music, the colours, the action, it amazed me. It’s safe to say I was hooked. Back then we only a standard and robust one-button joystick that could take all kinds of punishment, and believe me it did.
Set over eight stages, Mount Fuji, Sydney Harbour, Statue of Liberty, Forbidden City, Christ the Redeemer, Palace of Westminster, Parthenon, Great Pyramid of Giza. The goal in single player was to take on opponents that will increase in difficulty as you go along, from white belts to black belts. It could get very frustrating but equally enjoyable. I loved the unforgiving nature of the game; if you lose you're done and back to the start you must go. Between fights you also had fun mini-games, one in particular which the player must break a number of boards sounds simple now but felt like the most important thing in the world back then.
Eventually my brothers trusted me enough and show me how to load the game up on my own; there was no stopping me except for the painfully long load up. Every spare minute I had was spent obsessively playing it, trying to beat the game and eventually getting good enough to beat my brothers more times than not. It wasn't just the game I loved; it was the opportunity for me to bond with my two older brothers by finding something we all liked equally. Since one of my brothers passed away, whenever I think of International Karate I also think of him and all the good times the three of us had together, not just playing computer games but of that time in my life when everything was fun and pressure free. So there you have it, that’s why I love International Karate.Good times indeed.
Publisher: System 3 (Europe) Epyx (USA).
Release date: November 1985
Format: Amstrad, Atari, Commodore, MS-DOS, Gameboy.
My first real gaming memory is of walking into my two older brother’s room at around seven years of age and seeing them playing International Karate on the Commodore 64. I sat quietly on the edge of the bed watching with excitement, intrigued at what I was looking at. Having only recently watched The Karate Kid I couldn't wait to have a go. After sitting patiently for what seemed hours they let me try it out. The music, the colours, the action, it amazed me. It’s safe to say I was hooked. Back then we only a standard and robust one-button joystick that could take all kinds of punishment, and believe me it did.
Set over eight stages, Mount Fuji, Sydney Harbour, Statue of Liberty, Forbidden City, Christ the Redeemer, Palace of Westminster, Parthenon, Great Pyramid of Giza. The goal in single player was to take on opponents that will increase in difficulty as you go along, from white belts to black belts. It could get very frustrating but equally enjoyable. I loved the unforgiving nature of the game; if you lose you're done and back to the start you must go. Between fights you also had fun mini-games, one in particular which the player must break a number of boards sounds simple now but felt like the most important thing in the world back then.
Eventually my brothers trusted me enough and show me how to load the game up on my own; there was no stopping me except for the painfully long load up. Every spare minute I had was spent obsessively playing it, trying to beat the game and eventually getting good enough to beat my brothers more times than not. It wasn't just the game I loved; it was the opportunity for me to bond with my two older brothers by finding something we all liked equally. Since one of my brothers passed away, whenever I think of International Karate I also think of him and all the good times the three of us had together, not just playing computer games but of that time in my life when everything was fun and pressure free. So there you have it, that’s why I love International Karate.Good times indeed.
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