The Karate Kid (NES) Playthrough

A playthrough of LJN's 1987 license-based action game for the NES, The Karate Kid.

The Karate Kid was released at the same time as LJN's other NES movie tie-in from 1987, Jaws (   • Jaws (NES) Playthrough  ), making it one of LJN's first releases for the console. The game is largely based on the events of The Karate Kid Part II, released a year prior in theaters, though it also borrows elements from the original 1984 film.

The game begins with Daniel competing in the All Valley Karate Tournament from the end of the first movie in a format that mirrors mid-80s 1v1 fighting games.

After he wins the competition, the focus shifts to the second movie's plot as Daniel heads to Okinawa where he has to fight through waves of Sato's men and defeat Chozen. The third stage sees him fighting through more baddies during a typhoon, and the fourth and final stage takes place in the old ruins where Chozen is holding Kumiko hostage.

You can collect special moves by playing the special bonus stages peppered throughout the platforming stages. The number of crane kicks and drum punches Daniel wins in these side games is determined by how many flies he can catch with chopsticks, how many blocks of ice he can break with his with hand, or how many times he can successfully dodge a swinging hammer.

The game feels like it was inspired by Irem's Kung Fu [Master] (   • Kung Fu (NES) Playthrough - NintendoComplete  ) or Vigilante (   • Vigilante (TG16) Playthrough - NintendoCom...  ). The controls are similar: hitting up on the d-pad makes Daniel jump, and while moving, A and B will make him punch and kick. Hitting A or B while standing still triggers the limited use special attacks.

Unfortunately, it doesn't play nearly as well as Irem's classics. The movement is stiff and awkward, the collision detection is unforgiving, and if you get pinned between two enemies, you get juggled back and forth as your lifebar drains.

(Remember that scene from A Night At the Roxbury when the lady gets trapped between the dancing Butabi brothers? It feels just like that. https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxHP53JRx6...)

The haphazard stage design also leaves a lot to be desired. It's often difficult to figure out what parts of the background can be stood on, and sometimes you'll fall through platforms for no discernable reason. The endlessly respawning enemies like to stand in places where you can't hit them, and random objects constantly fly across the screen to hit you at the worst possible times.

Getting to the end of stages three and four often feel as much a product of luck as they do skill. Sometimes you'll sail through without any issues whatsoever. Other times you'll want to throw the controller after the enemies have bounced you into a pit for the umpteenth time. It's all incredibly inconsistent and more than a bit frustrating.

The graphics are reasonably nice, the music is fine, and I appreciate its attempt to follow the film, but The Karate Kid really isn't much fun to play. I remember borrowing it from a friend as a kid, and while I didn't hate it, it was the sort of game that only got played once I'd exhausted everything else on the shelf. That's pretty much the same way I feel about it now.

Unlike Jaws, Atlus handled the development of The Karate Kid themselves, and their inexperience shows. They eventually earned themselves a reputation for making high quality games, but in 1987, they still had a long way to go.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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