Thanks to the revival of beat ’em ups in general, it’s no wonder we’ve seen many franchises from the genre come back from the grave. Whether it’s longstanding franchises like Streets of Rage or TMNT, many of these beloved series have released some of their best games yet. Despite this, I never expected a movie IP from the ’80s to come in and take a crack at it! Did GameMill Entertainment take some serious feedback from the Cobra Kai games? Let’s find out together.
So, on first boot, we’re greeted by a title screen and UI that very much has that 80’s karate vibe. While it’s very minimalist, it still gets the point across. And for those who are brand new to the genre, it has a How to Play section that tells you everything you need to know about the controls.
All the usual hallmarks of beat ’em ups are here and accounted for with things like light and heavy attacks, running and aerial maneuvers, and, of course, super moves or, as the game calls it, Signature Moves. These moves work via a focus bar that fills up by dishing out damage to all the baddies. In addition to allowing you to deal Signature Moves, this bar also acts as a shield, so if you’ve got a good amount of focus, the next hit you sustain will cost you a bit of your focus meter. As a result, balancing both your focus and the number of times you get hit is crucial.
Also, you only have access to one Signature move per character, but after every stage, you get XP based on how many enemies you beat up and the grade. Not only will that XP get you those awesome moves, but you’ll also unlock buffs like more HP and things like that. As an added bonus, you’ll even see a nice set of combos to help players get started with learning the battle system.
While there are some pretty cool modes that I’ll get to in a minute, the real star of the show is the Story Mode, as all three of the original Karate Kid moves have transitioned into game form! If you’ve yet to see these classics, don’t worry because the storylines are also here, with dialogue from the movies. In this mode, I wasn’t too fond of the animated still images, as they were distracting and felt distanced from the game itself. Thankfully, the 16-bit pixel art is the exact opposite because all the iconic locations and characters from the movies look fantastic in this style!
In The Karate Kid: Street Rumble, Daniel Larusso isn’t alone. Kumiko, Ali Mills, and the iconic Mr. Miyagi join him as playable characters. A perfect fit for four-player co-op, which is also present and accounted for here. As for how each character controls, Daniel is the most balanced of the bunch since he’s not too fast nor too slow, the Ryu of sorts, which is appropriate given the fact one of his specials is basically a Hadoken.
Kumiko, on the other hand, is very light on her feet due to her dancer aspirations; those skills turned out to be transferable to becoming a dual-wield fan warrior! Kumiko isn’t the only lady here since Ali decided to join in on the fray Chun-Li style. To my surprise, Ali felt heavier to play than Daniel and Kumiko, but she was still plenty of fun to take down enemies with. Last but definitely not least, Mr. Miyagi, as far as I can tell, is the bruiser in this game since he’s the slowest out of all four characters. However, he’s still pretty swift, even when packing a punch. It did take me a bit of time to get used to his playstyle, though, so he might not be everyone’s cup of tea. But come on, this is THE Mr. Miyagi we’re talking about here; who doesn’t want to at least try out his character?
When you don’t feel like reliving the iconic Karate Kid moments in Story Mode, some fun minigames are also based on iconic Karate Kid scenes. For example, one minigame has you and Mr. Miyagi catching flies with chopsticks. There’s also a boss rush mode, an endless mode that loops the game forever till you die, and a classic Arcade mode that plays the game like a traditional tough-as-nails beat ’em up game.
Last but not least, when you feel like taking a breather and looking at some quality art, or if you want to listen to some of the game’s tunes, make your way over to the Extra Content section. However, I advise you to do that after you beat the game because that section contains spoilers.
Beat ’em up games aren’t as common as they used to be, so games like this are special in my book. While The Karate Kid: Street Rumble may falter from things like no online play and subpar cutscenes, it’s clear as day that this game was a labor of love from Odaclick Game Studio and their love for the Karate Kid/Cobra Kai series.
The beat ’em up genre has come a long way since the ’90s. While it may not have exactly innovated itself over the years, it doesn’t need it, largely since games like this can be made with an undying passion for the genre. Hopefully, a patch that adds online play will come in the future. I’d personally love to experience The Karate Kid: Street Rumble with friends online, and I feel like games like this need online play to have any staying power. In the future, I certainly hope we continue to see more legacy IPs like The Karate Kid get the beat ’em up treatment!
Disclaimer: GameMill Entertainment provided Final Weapon with a PlayStation 5 copy of The Karate Kid: Street Rumble for review purposes.
