IK+

Rating
Graphics: 4
Sound: 4
Control: 3
Depth: 2
Overall: 3

IK+

By: Archer Maclean
Published By: System 3
Released: 1987

IK+ (short for International Karate Plus) is a Karate Champ clone with excellent animation. Not only are the characters well animated, the background is brimming with little details! It's almost worth tracking down just as a graphics demo. And it plays a solid game of Karate Champ—with an interesting twist: three fighters at a time.

Overall though, there just isn't that much to the game. While there is some relief in the form of the occasional bonus round, you fight identical opponents in the same location over and over. And while it probably made sense considering the limitations at the time, mastering fighting moves with a one button joystick can be tricky.

Versus fighting games have become much more intuitive and varied since Street Fighter II redefined the genre, making it hard to go back to earlier fighters. As a multiplayer game well suited to the Commodore 64, IK+ is a solid choice, but if you don't have a live opponent I prefer Yie Ar Kung-Fu.

- Ben Langberg

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