Karate Champ

Storyline:
Put on your black belt and challenge your friends or the computer through nine
picturesque settings to become the Karate Champ. Flatten your opponent by
deftly executing the kicks and punches at your command. Sharpen your martial
art skills through the series of karate matches in this super arcade classic.


--From the NES Karate Champ instruction manual.

Overview: Well, the title pretty much says it all. Fight your way through the tournament to become... Karate Champ!

Directions: Was there life before Mortal Kombat? Well yes, but not in this game. Karate Champ comes straight from an arcade game I think, but it got stripped down and wasn't much fun anymore, even for its time. You can play against the computer or a friend, and you have a variety of moves accessed by various combinations of A, B, and the directional buttons. Just try everything and see what happens. Here's an annoying thing: you don't automatically face your opponent, although the computer opponent automatically faces you. You have to do a Jumping Back Kick to turn around (Press Forward and B). Oh yeah, and the controls reverse when you turn around, so you have to memorize both sets. Ugghhhhhh! The music and sounds effects are pretty bad, too. What else... there's an annoying bonus round where someone throws bottles and vases at you and you have to try to break 'em, but it's hard to judge which move will be at just the right height and distance to do the job.