Remember International Karate? No? Don’t feel bad, neither do I. But Finish photographer Sameli does, and he’s got the pics on his Flickr to prove it.

This one’s called International Karate ++. Read the Wiki to find out why the title’s so clever.

Here’s the International Karate Wiki entry:

International Karate is a 1986 karate computer game for the ZX Spectrum, MSX, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and Atari 8-bit family of computers. It was first published by System 3 in Europe, and then in the United States of America by Epyx as World Karate Championship. A version of this game was later released for the Atari ST and the PC (utilizing 4-color CGA graphics). In 2000, a Game Boy Color version known as International Karate 2000 was released, with several enhancements, and another version based on it was released in 2001 for the Game Boy Advance, as International Karate Advanced. In 2004 it would be “re-released” as a title on the C64 Direct-to-TV, and in 2008 the C64 version was released as a title on the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console.^[1] The game was programmed by Archer MacLean, and the music was by Rob Hubbard.

International Karate and World Karate Championship are identical except for the difference in game speed – the latter is tuned for the American NTSC television system.

A sequel to this game called International Karate + was released a year later.

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 kumite 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.

Controls

The title utilizes the standard one-button joystick, allowing players to execute a variety of karate 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” maneuvers to change direction.

Lawsuit

Video game publisher Data East sued System 3 and Epyx for publishing World Karate Championship, and by extension, International Karate, which was nearly identical to its arcade game, Karate Champ. International Karate used the same coloured fighters, and had the same points system. Initially Data East won the lawsuit, obtaining a permanent injunction against Epyx, In., and an impoundment that restrained Epyx from further sale or distribution of World Karate Championship, as the court found that the work violated and infringed upon Data East USA’s copyright on its game Karate Champ; Epyx was required to recall from both customers and distributors all copies of the infringing work.^[2] The decision was appealed to a higher court, who reversed the decision, stating that while the game was similar, it was not identical, and that one game company can not monopolize 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.^[3][4]

Hmm… I had no idea Archer MacLean was involved with this. Now I’m even more curious to hunt this game down, especially if karate de-pantsing is one of the game’s mechanics, but I doubt it.