IK+ – Commodore Amiga

International Karate +, stylized as IK+, is a fighting published in 1987 for the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum. The game would see a port on the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST one year later.  IK+ is a successor to International Karate.

Three karateka fight against each other on a beach, trying to be the first to score six points. After every two rounds, there is a bonus game which is either deflecting bouncing balls or kicking away bombs. Unlike its predecessor, International Karate, there is only one backdrop, but the Amiga, Atari and C64 versions of the game had a number of “background antics”, a Pac-Man would appear, a spider would descend, and a U-boat’s periscope would occasionally be seen in the harbor. The Amiga version is the best of the releases, as it is far superior graphically to the Commodore 64 and edges out the Atari ST version with fantastic music.

If you are familiar with Karate Champ, you will feel right at home here. The left stick performs one action and the button press creates a modifier, allowing for a great deal of combat choices for a single button controller.