Chinese Karate

STORY / GAMEPLAY
The game is a classic martial arts fighting game in which you compete in a series of One-Vs-One karate matches. The game has up to 10 different fighting moves including jumping kick, roundhouse kick and a variety of punches and kicks, high and low. The tournament has six fights and you control the combatant in white, battling an opponent in red. Typically, in each fight you must bring the opponent's health bar to zero before your own is depleted. Be noted that there is a timer and when this goes to zero, the winner will be the fighter with the most health left. The opponent's difficulty level gradually increases as you progress to the next stages. Also, between fights, you engage in a bonus game in which you have to break flying balls or vases for bonus points (a detail we also saw to the mighty International Karate+). Chinese Karate is a good and playable fighting game to keep your interest, especially if you are a Karate Kid, Budokan and International Karate fan!

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The Atari ST visual details and color palette are certainly good. The sprites move nicely with many frames per move whilst there is no background scrolling (just static drawings). There are also a few animations on the background (like birds flying) but nothing special actually. The Atari ST version uses fewer colors than the Amiga (28 Vs 42), but still are more than the ST's 16-colors default. The sound on the ST version has sampled sound effects (much like the Amiga version) but unfortunately no in-game tunes.