International Karate
Encyclopedia
International Karate is a karate
fighting game
created and published by System 3
for various home computer
s. Of these versions the 1986 releases for Commodore 64
and Atari 8-bit computers
, created by Archer MacLean
with music by Rob Hubbard
, stand out for their good playability and overall high production values. Although conceptually identical, the ZX Spectrum
version, created by a different team and released some months earlier in November 1985, is inferior.
Epyx
licensed and published the game in the US as World Karate Championship in April 1986. Except for a new loading screen and necessary tuning for the American NTSC
television system, the US releases were unchanged.
International Karate +
a successor which expanded the gameplay through the introduction of an additional - although not player controllable - karateka, was released in 1987
. Through the unauthorized release of International Karate + Gold in 2001, this player was made controllable using a joystick adapter
.
tournament. Rather than wearing down an opponent's health, the goal is instead to score single solid hits. After each hit, combat stops and both combatants are returned to their starting positions. Depending on how well players hit their opponent, they score either a half-point or a full point. Matches can be quite brief, as only two full points are required to win, and a point can be quickly scored just seconds after a round begins.
In single player mode, successive opponents increase in difficulty from novice white belts to master black belts
. Play continues as long as the player continues to win matches. Between fights, bonus mini-games focusing on rhythm and timing appear, including one in which the player must break a number of stacked boards using only his or her head.
As in newer games in the genre, starting specifically with Street Fighter
, the fights take place against a variety of backdrops (8 in total) representing different locations in the world.
techniques. Unlike modern 2D fighting games, players do not turn around if the opponent is behind them and must instead execute one of three "turn-around" manoeuvres to change direction.
port. Another port exists for the MSX
platform.
A version for the Atari ST
home computer was created by Andromeda Software and released in 1986. The port to the PC
, published the same year, utilised CGA
graphics and therefore was reduced to four colours.
In 2000, a Game Boy Color
version, created without input from Archer MacLean, was released as International Karate 2000. It sported some enhancements, and was the basis for International Karate Advanced released in 2001 for the Game Boy Advance
.
The C64 version saw re-releases in 2004 as a title on the C64 Direct-to-TV
, and in 2008 on the Wii
Virtual Console
.
for infringement of copyright, trademark, and trade dress. The dispute was about similarities to the 1984 arcade game Karate Champ
and its home computer adaptations published in 1985. International Karate used the same coloured fighters and had the same points system. The initial trial at the District Court for the Northern District of California
began on 28 October 1986. In his decision of 28 January 1987, the court dismissed the allegations of trademark and trade dress infringement but found Epyx guilty of infringing upon Data East USA's copyright on Karate Champ. Data East obtained a permanent injunction against Epyx, Inc., and an impoundment that restrained Epyx from further sale or distribution of World Karate Championship. Epyx was required to recall from both customers and distributors all copies of the infringing work.
The decision was appealed the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
, who in November 1988 reversed the decision, stating that while the game was similar, it was not identical, and that one game company can not monopolise one entire sport.
As a result, Melbourne House
did not sue System 3 nor Epyx, as the game The Way of the Exploding Fist
is also very similar to both of these games.
Karate
is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...
fighting game
Fighting game
Fighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...
created and published by System 3
System 3 (software company)
System 3 Software Ltd is a British video game developer and publisher.Founded in 1983 by Mark Cale, the company has been responsible for many critically acclaimed videogame experiences, most notably The Last Ninja series, Myth: History in the Making, Impossible Mission, Constructor, Street Wars,...
for various home computer
Home computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
s. Of these versions the 1986 releases for Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
and Atari 8-bit computers
Atari 8-bit family
The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers manufactured from 1979 to 1992. All are based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU and were the first home computers designed with custom coprocessor chips...
, created by Archer MacLean
Archer MacLean
Archer MacLean is a British video game programmer.- Beginnings :He is the author of such titles as Dropzone and International Karate, which he developed for the Atari 400/800 but were ported to other systems. Archer also created the sequel to International Karate, IK+ which was developed for the...
with music by Rob Hubbard
Rob Hubbard
Rob Hubbard is a music composer best known for his composition of computer game theme music, especially for microcomputers of the 1980s such as the Commodore 64...
, stand out for their good playability and overall high production values. Although conceptually identical, the ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
version, created by a different team and released some months earlier in November 1985, is inferior.
Epyx
Epyx
Epyx, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. The company was founded as Automated Simulations by Jim Connelley and Jon Freeman, originally using Epyx as a brand name for action-oriented games before renaming the company to match in 1983...
licensed and published the game in the US as World Karate Championship in April 1986. Except for a new loading screen and necessary tuning for the American NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
television system, the US releases were unchanged.
International Karate +
International Karate +
International Karate +, often abbreviated as IK+, is a karate fighting video game published in 1987 by System 3 for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC. The Commodore version was released in the USA under the title Chop N' Drop.-Gameplay:In the game, three karateka fight against each...
a successor which expanded the gameplay through the introduction of an additional - although not player controllable - karateka, was released in 1987
1987 in games
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and table-top role-playing games published in 1987. For video and console games, see 1987 in video gaming.-Game awards given in 1987:...
. Through the unauthorized release of International Karate + Gold in 2001, this player was made controllable using a joystick adapter
Commodore 64 joystick adapters
Commodore 64 joystick adapters are hardware peripherals that extend the number of joystick ports on the Commodore 64 computer. The additional joysticks can be used on games with dedicated support for the specific adapter....
.
Gameplay
The core game is a two-dimensional, one-on-one, versus fighting game. Players take on the roles of martial artists competing in a kumiteKumite
Kumite means sparring, and is one of the three main sections of karate training, along with kata and kihon. Kumite is the part of karate in which you train against an adversary, using the techniques learned from the kihon and kata....
tournament. Rather than wearing down an opponent's health, the goal is instead to score single solid hits. After each hit, combat stops and both combatants are returned to their starting positions. Depending on how well players hit their opponent, they score either a half-point or a full point. Matches can be quite brief, as only two full points are required to win, and a point can be quickly scored just seconds after a round begins.
In single player mode, successive opponents increase in difficulty from novice white belts to master black belts
Black belt (martial arts)
In martial arts, the black belt is a way to describe a graduate of a field where a practitioner's level is often marked by the color of the belt. The black belt is commonly the highest belt color used and denotes a degree of competence. It is often associated with a teaching grade though...
. Play continues as long as the player continues to win matches. Between fights, bonus mini-games focusing on rhythm and timing appear, including one in which the player must break a number of stacked boards using only his or her head.
As in newer games in the genre, starting specifically with Street Fighter
Street Fighter (video game)
is a 1987 arcade game developed by Capcom. It is the first competitive fighting game produced by the company and the inaugural game in the Street Fighter series...
, the fights take place against a variety of backdrops (8 in total) representing different locations in the world.
Controls
The title utilises the standard one-button joystick, allowing players to execute a variety of karateKarate
is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...
techniques. Unlike modern 2D fighting games, players do not turn around if the opponent is behind them and must instead execute one of three "turn-around" manoeuvres to change direction.
Stages
- Mount Fuji (Tokyo, Japan)
- Sydney Harbour (Sydney, Australia)
- Statue of Liberty (New York, USA)
- Forbidden City (Beijing, China)
- Christ the Redeemer (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
- Palace of Westminster (London, England)
- Parthenon (Athens, Greece)
- Great Pyramid of Giza (Cairo, Egypt)
Ports, variants, and re-releases
The Spectrum version was used as the starting point for the Amstrad CPCAmstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
port. Another port exists for the MSX
MSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
platform.
A version for the Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
home computer was created by Andromeda Software and released in 1986. The port to the PC
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
, published the same year, utilised CGA
Color Graphics Adapter
The Color Graphics Adapter , originally also called the Color/Graphics Adapter or IBM Color/Graphics Monitor Adapter, introduced in 1981, was IBM's first color graphics card, and the first color computer display standard for the IBM PC....
graphics and therefore was reduced to four colours.
In 2000, a Game Boy Color
Game Boy Color
The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
version, created without input from Archer MacLean, was released as International Karate 2000. It sported some enhancements, and was the basis for International Karate Advanced released in 2001 for the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
.
The C64 version saw re-releases in 2004 as a title on the C64 Direct-to-TV
C64 Direct-to-TV
The C64 Direct-to-TV, called C64DTV for short, is a single-chip implementation of the Commodore 64 computer, contained in a joystick with 30 built-in games. The design is similar to the Atari Classics 10-in-1 TV Game...
, and in 2008 on the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
.
Lawsuit
After the release of World Karate Championship in the US in late April 1986, Epyx was sued by competing video game publisher Data EastData East
also abbreviated as DECO, was a Japanese video game developer and publisher. The company was in operation from 1976 to 2003, when it declared bankruptcy...
for infringement of copyright, trademark, and trade dress. The dispute was about similarities to the 1984 arcade game Karate Champ
Karate Champ
Karate Champ, known in Japan as is a arcade game developed by Technos Japan Corporation for Data East. It is one of the first fighting games, and has been believed to be the first to use today's common side-perspective...
and its home computer adaptations published in 1985. International Karate used the same coloured fighters and had the same points system. The initial trial at the District Court for the Northern District of California
United States District Court for the Northern District of California
The United States District Court for the Northern District of California is the federal United States district court whose jurisdiction comprises following counties of California: Alameda, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San...
began on 28 October 1986. In his decision of 28 January 1987, the court dismissed the allegations of trademark and trade dress infringement but found Epyx guilty of infringing upon Data East USA's copyright on Karate Champ. Data East obtained a permanent injunction against Epyx, Inc., and an impoundment that restrained Epyx from further sale or distribution of World Karate Championship. Epyx was required to recall from both customers and distributors all copies of the infringing work.
The decision was appealed the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is a U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Alaska* District of Arizona...
, who in November 1988 reversed the decision, stating that while the game was similar, it was not identical, and that one game company can not monopolise one entire sport.
As a result, Melbourne House
Melbourne House
Krome Studios Melbourne, originally Beam Software, was a video game development studio founded in 1980 and based in Melbourne, Australia. The studio operated independently from 1987 until 1999, when it was acquired by Infogrames, who changed the name to Melbourne House...
did not sue System 3 nor Epyx, as the game The Way of the Exploding Fist
The Way of the Exploding Fist
The Way of the Exploding Fist is a 1985 fighting game by Gregg Barnett of Beam Software. Originally developed on the Commodore 64 and published in June 1985 by Melbourne House, ports were made for Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, Acorn Electron and Commodore 16...
is also very similar to both of these games.