The Karate Kid: Street Rumble demanded a little extra ‘wax on, wax off’.
The beat ‘em up genre has seen quite a resurgence in the past couple of years with some outstanding titles. Streets of Rage returned in a big way in its fourth installment, arguably the best Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game released two years ago in the form of Shredder’s Revenge, the return of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, etc.
The Karate Kid franchise is alive and well again thanks to the hit show Cobra Kai, which is worth checking out. In addition to the show, Flux Games would develop Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues. Unlike previous titles in the franchise, such as the titular NES title, Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues met with positive reviews.
The Karate Kid: Street Rumble switches things up by taking us back to the past with a retro aesthetic reminiscent of the beat ‘em ups of yesteryear. How does it stack up to its predecessor? Odaclick Game Studio, based in Cordoba, Argentina, developed The Karate Kid: Street Rumble.
Although not much is known about the team itself, they do have a portfolio that consists mainly of mobile games and yet-to-be-released titles such as Misplaced and Starsheep Sheepman. The Karate Kid: Street Rumble looks to be their biggest release yet.
As I mentioned earlier, The Karate Kid: Street Rumble is a beat ‘em up inspired by the greats of the genre, such as Double Dragon, River City series, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Karate Kid is a great universe to pull from for a game in this genre. It is a wonder that there aren’t as many games in the Karate Kid series as its source material is ripe for a fighting game or two.
The Karate Kid: Street Rumble follows the original series protagonist, Daniel LaRusso, and his friends along the way as you play through the events of the original Karate Kid trilogy. Many classic moments are covered, such as the Halloween chase scene from the first movie, the showdown between Johnny and Daniel, Miyagi and Kreese, etc. I wish characters were wearing their movie scene-accurate attire for these certain moments.
It was out of place for Daniel to be fighting Johnny in his casual wear instead of wearing his white gi. Nevertheless, it is a minor nitpick that doesn’t detract from the gameplay experience. On the topic of scenes from the films, the stills you view between levels look incredibly cheap and add nothing of value to set the scene for the level to follow.
Many games of the beat ‘em up genre opt for the 16-bit inspired graphics of the SNES and Sega Genesis to home in on that retro feel, and The Karate Kid: Street Rumble is no exception. The sprite work involved in the game looks quite pleasant to the eye, especially the dojo level in the thunderstorm. The way the greenery would sway in the savage winds and the way the rain fell stood out to me.
Each character’s sprites are a perfect size and represent each playable character and villain true to their film counterpart in the form of pixel art. It doesn’t quite stick the landing compared to its contemporaries, such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge and Streets of Rage 4. Each character comes alive in the former and the latter in ways that The Karate Kid: Street Rumble can’t quite measure up to.
Characters lack expression in The Karate Kid: Street Rumble, which is a shame because characters like Mr. Miyagi and Daniel are not as expressive in the films. The roster of playable characters is a fine representation of the original trilogy. Of course, you can play Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Miyagi among Daniel’s first few love interests, Ali Mills (First film) and Kumiko (Part II).
The Karate Kid: Street Rumble allows up to four-player co-op, which is much appreciated and a staple feature of games in the genre. It’d be neat if they added Johnny or Kreese as playable characters just for fun, but that remains to be seen. Unfortunately, one of my biggest gripes with The Karate Kid: Street Rumble is in the gameplay. It feels like it is almost there, and there is certainly a good time to be had here, but it needs some remedying.
The Karate Kid: Street Rumble looks and feels like a fun beat ‘em up on the surface; the technicalities and deeper mechanics of the gameplay are where the game falters. The lack of proper knockback essentially means it is extremely easy to “juggle” opponents in the air and keep them there until they are defeated. This was even on medium difficulty, which should have provided at least a little bit of challenge.
There is a special moves meter located directly below the health bar, and it fills up quickly after defeating just a few enemies. Within a matter of moments, you already have easy access to powerful moves and can perform them in succession, quickly pulverizing any enemy. Easy combo loops and quick special meter replenishment make the game a breeze, even on harder difficulties.
In addition to that, your special meter acts as an auto-block where you take no damage as long as you have enough meter filled up. Your character can take abuse, and you still won’t receive damage. Granted, you will lose meter as you get hit, so when it runs out, you will get knocked back, and your health will decrease as a result. With the meter being so easy to replenish, you will almost always have an auto-block available.
Odaclick should remove this auto-block system entirely and increase knockback on enemies so that there is a deeper challenge, as most novice players can easily plow through the story in under a few hours. It is so close to being a worthy contender amongst The Karate Kid: Street Rumble’s contemporaries but misses the mark with some mechanics that can easily be fixed up with a patch.
In between the game’s main levels are mini-games that combat you against the CPU if you don’t have a friend to play with. It seems they are just there as filler and don’t add anything of value to the overall package. It was cool to see the famous sunset scene from the original where Daniel performs his famous crane pose on top of the log at the Leo Carrillo State Beach in mini-game form, but outside of that, I could take it or leave it.
The Karate Kid: Street Rumble does get it right in the sound department. The Chiptune soundtrack encapsulates the 80s well and aligns with most beat ’em-up games like it. I didn’t find any song particularly memorable, but it was serviceable and pleasant to listen to. Bonus points would have been in order if Odaclick was able to score Joe Esposito’s “You’re The Best Around” from the first film in 16-bit chiptune glory; alas, that did not happen, unfortunately.
The Karate Kid: Street Rumble features a solid list of extra modes and goodies to enjoy. Aside from the story mode, you can find all the mini-games from the main game compiled in one place: boss rush mode, endless mode, and arcade mode.
The Karate Kid: Street Rumble has a short story mode, so it is nice that Odaclick incorporated various ways to replay the game multiple times with four distinct characters. Head over to the extra content section to listen to all the music featured in the game on the music player.
All the artwork featured in The Karate Kid: Street Rumble is viewable in the artbook, and Odaclick left a nice little message at the end of the artbook, which was a classy touch. For the price of admission, The Karate Kid: Street Rumble had to feature these options because it is not a friendly price point, considering its contemporaries feature a richer game for less money. At a staggering $39.99 price point, it is just not worth the content featured in the game.
For reference, you could pick up the MARVEL vs. CAPCOM Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics for $10 more and have access to vastly more content and games to play. For hardcore Karate Kid fans, your money is better spent on Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues, which features more playable characters, better gameplay, and 3D graphics if that is more your speed.
The Karate Kid: Street Rumble almost has what it takes to be a classic beat ‘em up. I hope the team at Odaclick continues to update the game with more content and fixes some issues above, such as the core gameplay mechanics, which is a big issue. The game is still worth a try if it goes on sale if you are a massive fan of the genre and the films. For now, The Karate Kid: Street Rumble needs a bit more “wax on, wax off” action.
