While these days, a title like Street Fighter II is considered a classic, some of the younger fighting game fans out there may not know that there was a generation before even the original Street Fighter that introduced shades of gameplay that would eventually become our beloved genre. Among these was Karate Champ, itself often cited as the foundation for all fighters that would come after it.
Developed by Data East and released in 1984, Karate Champ featured elements both similar and distinct when compared to later titles. Though it boasted a wide array of moves and typical best-of-three sets, it steered closely to realistic martial arts championships by awarding points for clean hits instead of the health bar system that’s now standard.
After launching in arcades, Karate Champ eventually made its way to a variety of home platforms, including the Nintendo Entertainment System and Commodore 64. Recent years have seen ports spring up in Japan by way of the Wii’s Virtual Console and Hamster Corporation’s Arcade Archives on PlayStation 4, the latter of which just arrived in North America earlier today.
If you’re interested in checking out this unique piece of fighting game history, you can purchase Karate Champ on the PlayStation Network for $7.99. We’ve included a short gameplay video below for those of you unfamiliar with the title.
Source: PlayStation Network