In my opinion, IK+ is the best martial arts game ever created. I grew up with the Sinclair Spectrum (the richer families having the C64 ) and played Way Of The Exploding Fist daily, yet it's nothing compared to IK+ and the gameplay is everything.
This game consists of only one screen but I used to drool at the graphics and luscious background back in the olden days. It's a one or two player game with the remaining opponents being computer controlled. Points are given for the various kicks and punches available and you have to score more than the losing player (in the time allowed) to stay in the game.
In my opinion, IK+ is the best martial arts game ever created. I grew up with the Sinclair Spectrum (the richer families having the C64 ) and played Way Of The Exploding Fist daily, yet it's nothing compared to IK+ and the gameplay is everything.
This game consists of only one screen but I used to drool at the graphics and luscious background back in the olden days. It's a one or two player game with the remaining opponents being computer controlled. Points are given for the various kicks and punches available and you have to score more than the losing player (in the time allowed) to stay in the game. This results in the strategy of kicking the hell out of the
computer controlled opponent in two player mode and even allowing your friend to hit you just so you both stay in play! once the round is over you progress to the next level with a new colored belt and new computer controlled fighter(s).
The action is fast and furious as the speed increases as each round progresses. It's very addictive and winning or losing becomes a matter of luck almost in the latter rounds, but you never become bored with having to start again. You don't have to be an action/fighter fan to enjoy IK+ (I'm certainly not), it's just so fun to play and every retro gamer should try it. How it didn't achieve more fame is beyond me as I've never heard of a person who didn't love the game.
Being easy to learn, you can get stuck in immediately and the desire of "well, i'll just play one more game" is very high - even over twenty years after it's release. Whilst being knocked down results in you being stunned for a few precious seconds, as with the original game, secret key presses can be entered to momentarily stun your opponents such as making their trousers fall down. Quite odd, but funny.
I must have wasted hours playing this game when things like homework etc were probably more important. Certainly not as fun though, it's one of just a few games that I’ll carry in my memory forever as being impossible not to enjoy.
