International Karate

Your Sinclair

Inscrutability 75%

Wince Factor 66%

Versatility 68%

Eastern Promise 79%

Overall 74%

Jonathan Davies 74%

THE COMPLETE YS GUIDE TO BEAT-'EM-UPS A SELECTION OF HISTORIC BEAT-'EM-UPS Beat-'em-ups, eh? They've been oodles of them gracing the Speccy over the years, haven't there? So many in fact that it's easy-peasy to get your Exploding Fists mixed up with your International Karates, and end up with absolutely no idea where you are. But not any more, 'cos here's Jonathan Davies with the Your Sinclair Definitive Guide To Beat-'Em-Ups!! Hurrah! (Or should that be "Hai-arrgh!"?) Before we start, let's get one thing straight - beat-'em-ups are not boring, and if you think they are then you've got it all wrong. On the contrary, they're jolly interesting. And, rather than all being exactly the same, they're highly individual affairs, each with their own subtleties and nuances. To assume otherwise exhibits a total ignorance of the creativity and skill that go into making what has become one of the stalwarts of the computer games industry. So what constitutes a 'beat-'em-up'? Obviously, the beating up of one or more characters is an essential part of the gameplay. Whether this is done with one's hands or a weapon depends on the game. Purists tend to frown upon the use of shurikens, big sticks and other instruments, but it's a sad fact that in these days you're unlikely to rescue your princess without some sort of mechanical assistance. The setting is also important. The summit of Mount Yukahomo is ideal or perhaps the imperial palace of the Dragon master, but an oriental atmosphere is a definite must. In its traditional form the beat-'em-up takes place on a single screen, with your opponents tackling you one at a time. Variations, however, include the scrolling beat-'em-up (with the bonus of tackling two or more adversaries at once) and the full scale flip-screen, multi-level version with add-on weapons, puzzles to solve and an embossment of up to three initials. Whichever incarnation it appears in, a beat-'em-up is not to be taken lightly. A sharp eye, lightning reflexes and an elephantine memory (for learning all those moves) are needed, along with the finest joystick available. THE FIRST EVER BEAT-'EM-UP "That's easy," you exclaim. "Way Of The Exploding Fist!" But you'd be wrong. The first ever beat-'em-up, the father of them all, the seed from which all future offerings stemmed forth, and of which al the others are but pale imitations, was none other than Kung Fu, from a long-forgotten label called Bug-Byte. A very primitive construction, it had all the ingredients of the real thing (including tinkly music). Reviewed in ish 11 of Your Spectrum, it scored 3/5 (times where hard). The rest, as they say, is, erm... oh, well you know. International Karate System 3 While being a shameful copy of Fist in most ways, International Karate managed to introduce a few novel features. The main one was the 'International' bit, which means that the game is played against a series of backdrops representing various parts of the world. Then there was the speech, which is about as successful as always on the Speccy. And finally the bonus screens. Hmm. Other than that, International Karate is about as standard a beat-'em-up as you're likely to see. It doesn't quite have the slickness of Fist, and is definitely lacking when it comes to excruciating crunches and things, but it makes a reasonable attempt at animation which is something. International Karate +, the sequel, startled us all with the introduction of a third character.

A TYPICAL NINJA WARRIOR Finely-tuned hearing. Headband. Sledge-hammer fists. Inscrutable expression. Pyjama bottoms (top optional). Imposing Stance.

EVERY BEAT-'EM-UP EVER RELEASED (Apart from quite a few probably.) Avenger - Gremlin Graphics Barbarian - Palace Barbarian II - Palace Big Trouble In Little China - Electric Dreams Bruce Lee - US Gold Double Dragon - Melbourne House Double Dragon II - Melbourne House Dragon Ninja - Imagine Dynamite Dux - Activision Exploding Fist - Melbourne House Fist II - Melbourne House Gladiator - Domark Human Killing Machine - US Gold International Karate - System 3 International Karate II - System 3 Kai Temple - Mirrorsoft Kendo Warrior - Byte Back Kick Boxing - Firebird Knight Force - Titus Knucklebusters - Melbourne House Kung Fu - Bug Byte Kung Fu Knights - Top Ten Software Kung Fu Master - US Gold Hercules - Gremline Graphics Last Ninja II - System 3 Legend Of Kage - Imagine Legend Of The Amazon Women - US Gold Ninja - MAD Games Ninja Hamster - CRL Renegade - Imagine Renegade III - Imagine Saboteur - Durell Saboteur II - Durell Sai Combat - Mirrorsoft Samurai Trilogy - Gremlin Graphics Samurai Warrior - Firebird Shao Lins Road - The Edge Shanghai Warriors - Players Shinobi - Virgin Street Hassle - Melbourne House Target renegade - Imagine Thundercats - Elite Way Of The Exploding Fist - Melbourne House Way Of The Tiger - Gremlin Graphics Uchi Mata - Martech Vigilante - US Gold Yie Ar Kung Fu - Imagine

MOVES THAT CHANGED THE WORLD The Roundhouse Like so many other great moves, the Roundhouse first came to light in Fist. The classic blend of balletic poetry and jaw-breaking power makes it a manoeuvre for all occasions. The Sweeping Kick This is the standard move for success in Kung Fu Master, and demonstrates what can be achieved just by waving your leg around in the direction of the foe. The Pile-On This move is unique to the Renegade series, and can cause some alarm when you find your shoulders gripped by one baddie while another lays into you from the front. However, careful placement of elbows and feet can turn the tables in your favour. Decapitation The satisfying result of a cunningly-timed neck-chop during a game of Barbarian is the removal of the enemy's head, which can be greatly to your advantage.

RATINGS As beat-'em-ups tend to transcend all normal ratings systems, we've adopted a special one for the purpose of this guide. The categories ere as follows... Inscrutability: How well does it capture that all-important oriental feel? New York ghetto settings aren't really on. Wince Factor: Do you want to curl up and die every time a knee gets planted in your groin, or is it about as traumatic as a merry jig of morris dancing? Versatility: Is it just left, right, up, down and fire, or does every joystick direction do something radically different? Eastern Promise: What does the future hold? Pride of place in your collection or a dusty grave under the bed?

SO, YOU WANT TO WRITE A BEAT-'EM-UP? It's not as hard as it looks actually. Here are a few essential ingredients... Pain, and lots of it. Agonised grimaces should be accompanied by eye-watering squelching noises when appropriate Music, of the tinkly eastern variety. And why use multi-channels and special effects when you could have authentic, oriental beeping. Pyjamas are the standard attire, along with the obligatory headband. Artwork should be of the poorest quality. Anatomical accuracy is not desirable. Japanese-sounding names often impress. Make one up if you're not fluent, Uchi Mata being a classic example of improvisation of this sort. It shouldn't look like a beat-'em-up, so put it in a nice big black cardboard box. Sequels always look good (be original - try a '+' rather than a 'II'), but no-one ever buys them of course. Animation should be avoided where at all possible. Two frames per sequence is the absolute maximum. Joystick positions should be assigned at random. If they can guess that up, left and fire delivers a low punch, there's no challenge to it. It should be like all the rest, so don't get any funny ideas about using your imagination.

Crash

Overall (Robin Candy) 50%

Overall (Richard Eddy) 47%

Richard Eddy 47%

Robin Candy 50%

KICK HIGH There's been an explosion in martial-arts sims since The Way Of The Exploding Fist, as RICKY EDDY and ROBIN CANDY observe in this good beat-'em-up guide. And the ninjas just won't lie down - all they want to do is... They started three years ago, when Bug Byte revealed an interesting little number called Kung Fu. It was an admirable wireframe attempt to produce a martial-arts simulation - 'probably the most unusual game to be seen on the Spectrum for a long while,' said CRASH in amazement. But sceptics thought the genre would never catch on. It took Melbourne House to show them the way - The Way Of The Exploding Fist, which sold more than 150,000 copies for the Spectrum and nearly half a million across all formats. Since then, nothing's kept the combat games down. They've been grotesque (Barbarian), skillful (Fist) and downright silly (Ninja Hamster). The genre soon caught the nickname 'beat-'em-ups', as the gameplay always involves a player beating up his opponent, whether the computer or another player. And with the advent of the 128s and their improved sound chips, the fighting effects became more hideous - the most disturbing beat-'em-up sounds must be the animal squeals on Ninja Hamster. But most of these martial-arts simulations are so unrealistic, set in pseudo-Oriental fantasy worlds, that it's just harmless surrogate violence - and everyone likes a bit of that. INTERNATIONAL KARATE System 3 68% Issue 24 RICKY: International Karate has just been re-released by Prism at the budget price of £2.99. It's practically the same as The Way Of The Exploding Fist, but much cruder; the only significant visible difference is in the backgrounds, which take you around the world in five screens. There are also bonus screens where you can earn extra points by shattering blocks of wood. But playability is marred by the milliard of keys your fingers have to grapple with. The game's one redeeming feature is the excellent speech as the scores are called out. I wasn't enthralled by International Karate - it's not very addictive or playable. 47% ROBIN: International Karate took a long time to actually appear after it was first announced, and I wasn't impressed when I did see it. It still seems awkward to play, and the graphics are disappointing. 50%

THOSE BEAT-'EM-UPS IN FULL The Way Of The Exploding Fist Fist II Gladiator Yie Ar Kung Fu Yie Ar Kung Fu II International Karate The Way Of The Tiger Amazon Women Kung-Fu Master Ninja Uchi Mata Barbarian Kick Boxing Ninja Hamster Renegade Sai Combat

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Sinclair User

Overall 4/10

Tony Dillon 4/10

Label: Endurance Games Author: System 3 Price: £2.99 Memory: 48K/128K Joystick: various Reviewer: Tony Dillon Eons ago, a man underwent a strange phenomenon. His fist exploded. Many of his tribe called programmers saw this wondrous sight and decided to try it themselves. They were not very good at it. They ended up in pain with cries of "Yie-ar-kung-fu" or "Ninja- Master". So the exploding fist reigned supreme. Then rival tribe celled System 3 decided to cash in on the trend, launched it's own version of Fist, "International Karate", and rather inevitably it also failed miserably. Now years later International Karate is back. What a shame - it's still no good. On the plus side, like Fist, it has 16 moves including a variety of kicks and punches, and some goodish backdrops. Nice looking game, but a mite too easy to complete for my liking.

C&VG (Computer & Video Games)C+VG Blitz Game

Graphics 9/10

Sound 8/10

Value 10/10

Playability 9/10

MACHINE: Spectrum SUPPLIER: System 3 PRICE: £6.50 Well, it's finally here, after much singing and dancing (PCW Show). Will it topple Exploding Fist as karate champ or not. Let's compare the two. Exploding Fist characters are nicely drawn and excellently animated. However, although not bad, the animation and graphics are not quite up to that standard. The backgrounds on Fist were colourful and ornamental, but on International Karate they are colourful, recognisable and superb. The gameplay on Fist was good with only one life, whereas with International Karate it is the best of three fights on each round and after each round a bonus screen can be attempted which consists of, on the first bonus screen, a wood block smashing attempt with bonus points for each block smashed and, on the second bonus screen, smashing or avoiding flying objects. Sound on the Fist was limited to spot effects which were good but sparse, International Karate boasts great spot effects, music and excellent clear speech which announces the start, the scores and the results of the contest (a bit like Jimmy Hill). Altogether the package is a winner with its international backgrounds and terrific speech. If you already have The Fist this may not be on your list. However, I've got both and play them equally.

Your Sinclair

Graphics 8/10

Playability 5/10

Value For Money 8/10

Addictiveness 7/10

Overall 7/10

Luke C 7/10

System 3 £6.50 Reviewer: Luke C With so many games based on the thrills and spills of the old Kung Fu movies, International Karate is definitely a worthy attempt at being the best. Animation's fine, but the backdrops of the various countries you fight in get pretty boring after a while. But then graphics isn't what the games all about. Clobbering your opponent hard and fast's the aim of the game... International Karate has its Bruce Lees positively leaping all over the shop! The fighters can choose from sixteen different movements but, as you can imagine, the logistics of carrying out these sophisticated moves - especially in a two-player bout! - is more than a set of weary fingers - or even a jaded joystick - can contemplate. The judge of the fight announces - yes, the program speaks... and it's almost understandable too! - the scores, and puts the players back to the starting grid if the fighting gets too silly. It's an enjoyable game - but getting the maximum out of your fighting figure is a little difficult. All the same, it's fairly addictive and, if you just restrict yourself to a well- chosen routine of kicks and punches, you can generally get good enough to fight your way through the levels.

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Crash

Use of Computer 75%

Graphics 71%

Playability 57%

Getting Started 61%

Addictive Qualities 67%

Value For Money 69%

Overall 68%

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Producer: System 3 Retail Price: £6.50 Language: Machine code Author: The System 3 Team The flavour of the moment seems to have a definite bias towards the oriental. System 3's long awaited, and somewhat overdue Karate simulation finally joins the ranks of combat games, which are all the rage on the Spectrum just now. International Karate is another beat em up fought against backdrops depicting famous cities around the world, rather than in an oriental setting. The game scenario itself is very simple - it's a battle between two Karate masters played over three rounds; the first to win two rounds wins that bout. The idea is to outscore your opponent in each round within the 30 second time limit. If you win, bonus points are awarded according to how much time remains on the clock at the moment of victory. The game allows you to play either one or two players. If you're playing single player then the computer takes control of the opposition. As in such fighting games, there are a multitude of movements available - a total of sixteen punches and kicks - with which to terrify and generally damage your opponent. Moves are made using different combinations of key presses, using a total of nine keys for each player. The competition is overseen by a judge, who monitors the skills of the combatants and starts each fight by shouting 'begin' in very clear speech - and in case you don't quite catch the command, the words are also printed on the screen in a speech bubble above the judge's head. The battle then ensues and the players have to try to knock down their opponent. The judge bursts into speech again when one of the players achieves a 'knockout', announcing his decision as to whether a full or half point has been awarded. The first player to reach two points wins the round - and if neither combatant clocks up two points, the winner is the fighter with the most points. The player who's the first to win two out of the three bouts is then allowed to tackle a bonus screen. The first bonus screen is a woodblock-kicking exercise where you have to try to break as many pieces of wood as possible, with points awarded according to the amount of firewood you create. The second bonus screen, tackled by the winner of the second round is a sort of dodge 'em/ punch 'em screen. A variety of objects is thrown from either side of the screen and you have to destroy them by punching or kicking them into oblivion. Again, bonus points are collected according to the amount of damage you wreak. When the bonus screen stage is completed, the winner is transported to another part of the world where the battle resumes and you can find yourself scrapping away in Rio, New York, London and Sydney. COMMENTS Control keys: Player 1 W to jump, E lunge punch, D walk forward, C chest kick, X foot sweep, Z crouch punch, A walk backwards, Q back lunge punch, W and S flying kick, E and S front somersault, D and S front kick, C and S front side kick, X and S back crouch punch, A and S back side kick, A and S roundhouse, Q and S back somersault. Similar arrangement for player two. 7 to quit game Joystick: Ram Turbo Keyboard play: could have been a lot better Use of colour: reasonable Graphics: nice backdrops, shame about the rather crude characters Sound: excellent speech, and some good effects Skill levels: gets harder!

Sinclair User

Overall 5/5

Chris Bourne 5/5

Publisher: System 3 Software Price: £6.50 Memory: 48K Joystick: Kempston, Sinclair Yes, it's another karate game. International Karate follows the same format as Melbourne House's Way of the Exploding Fist, and was set to be released at about the same time. Here, finally, is the much talked-of rival to the Fist - and it's pretty good. The 16 actions are similar to those in Fist and controlled in the same way - eight with, and eight without, the fire button pressed down. They include somersaults, sweeps, a variety of kicks and punches, the spectacular flying kick, and the full Monte roundhouse routine. Scoring is according to the standard system as well - 30-second bouts, with two full points determining the winner. Bonus points are scored depending on the speed with which you demolish your opponent. The animation is excellent, and the fighters have a rather more sporting look about them, as opposed to the Melbourne House emphasis on oriental mystery. International Karate is a tournament-based game in which you travel the globe for each stage in the championships. Melbourne House may have the slight edge in animation design, but international Karate has the best backdrops - including a different set on each side of the tape. We found international Karate about as tough to beat as Fist, but then again, we've had you lot writing into complain that Fist was too easy. There is really so little to choose between the two programs that it all boils down to style and presentation. Melbourne House wins the laurels for elegance and simplicity of design, but you can't escape the fact that International Karate costs over £2 less. On that basis, System 3 offers better value for money, and had it been released first we would have given it a Classic award. You may spot differences between the two which we regard as unimportant, but which you feel tip the balance. So try to see both games before you make up your mind - but one of the two ought to be on everybody's shopping list this Christmas.

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