Regarding Karateka - the kid who made that was studying karate at the time and he wanted to make a realistic karate game. So he learned how to program but he didn't know how to animate, so he and his dad filmed themselves in the driveway with an 8mm film camera then did their own rotoscoping of each character and frame. They acted out each of the cutscenes and everything. PatmanQC did a video about it on his channel if you're interested in learning more .
Karate games are a blast and a fun pasttime indeed. The C64 library doesn't disappoint - big fan of these games, the International Karate games and Karateka for me, are so fun and nostalgic! Great series!
@@FloppyDeepDive i put you on my favorit youtuber list and good video. my favorit computer are amiga, c64, atari st. way of exploding fist (c64), international karate (c64, atari st), international karate + (amiga, c64, atari st), karateka (c64, atari st) are good karate games
Nice to have Bruce Lee as an alternative number 1. I preferred IK+ as its what i played most back in the day with friends. Even though it only had one screen/background, it was a great one. The scissor kick and the head butt were my favourite moves. It was also great that you had to place your moves at a specific point to score a hit and thus necessitating a particular move.
I see Bruce Lee as a platformer that happens to have a karate figure in it that can do a kick and a punch and that is it. Other then that I enjoyed the video! 🙂 So here is a Like for you! 🙂
The Way of the Exploding Fist - I didn't get this game until long after I had already played International Karate. I'm sure if I'd played it sooner, i would have enjoyed it more, but as it was, I was disappointed by it. I preferred IK's faster pace. International Karate - I loved this game. I'd say it's the best one-on-one karate fighting game on the C64. I had a pirated copy, but I eventually got a copy of an original disk, patched with a parameter to make it work. It used to load VERY fast. Karateka - I also love this game and have played through it many times One of my favorite tactics is to start to take a step backwards, and then as soon as the enemy starts to follow me, I reverse direction and go right into a side kick. Actually, to be honest, I mostly only ever use the side kick against enemies. Couple things I've noticed: The most times you can kick without returning to a standing stance is three, but sometimes the computer opponents can kick four times in a row. Also, if the computer kicks high and you use a side kick, it looks like it connects with his groin, and he immediately puts his leg down and goes back into a standing stance. He can immediately attack again, but it seems to be the only move that will immediately cancel his series of attacks. IK+ - I actually didn't enjoy this was much as the first game. I didn't like having to fight two opponents at once. Bruce Lee - I liked this game, but always found it frustrating being attacked by two enemies. I enjoyed it the most when a friend too control of the Greem Yammo and we played cooperatively just to see all the screens.
Great video, but you missed Yie Ar Kung Fu. That game was awesome, and could really get your blood pumping as the music intensified near the end of each round. It definitely deserves a top 5 spot. Maybe take out IK2 and insert Yie Ar in somewhere? Other than that one suggestion (and maybe the rankings) I agree with your list. Great job as always. (Is it me, or did it look like Tom make this video just to play this set of games) 🙂
Yie Ar Kung-Fu was Chinese in style and I loved all the different weapons except Blues, no weapon needed there. The intro music was Fantastic and was way longer then you'd expect. If you never just loaded Yie Ar to get your Sid-jam on your missing out.
Lol that game was a strange mix of (few) sprites and petscii graphic sort of nightmere... never understood how to play it, btw it reminds me great memories from my childhood
Awesome list, you know I forget about Way of the Exploding Fist as it looks so similar to IK/IK+. Bruce Lee is definitely one of the best C64 games of all time. Have you played the excellent Master System port?
incidentally Bruce Lee is the only "not karate" game there in the list, it is about kungfu, a total different family of martial arts, anyway im just being nitpicking, very nice video!
I enjoyed this video very much! Now that you have the Atari 800XL, I think you should make some videos comparing games that appeared on both systems. Both Karateka & Prince of Persia are karate games that feel choppy on the C64 compared to the Atari. Even though the Atari was 2 to 3 years older, it's same 6502 chip was clocked at 1.79 MHZ while the Commodore 64's 6502 was clocked at only 0.985 MHZ. That's a remarkable difference of the 6502 chip in the Atari being clocked at 55% faster. Most games one can't tell a difference, but in system intensive games like Karateka, and even more so in Prince of Persia, the difference really shows in game play!
I started doing some comparison when I first got the Atari. You should check those out. Unfortunately my attention span is small and I’m all over the place but always trying to get a little better. Did you see my Many Faces of Karateka and Bruce Lee? Both have Atari on it.
@@FloppyDeepDive I meant that as a joke. Karate Chop is a horrible game on the C64. I liked it as a kid but I was a dumb kid so I didn't know any better. Playing it now, it is really bad. The only good thing about it would be the opening SID tune on the title screen. I just wanted to make a joke.
Bruce Lee is fantastic for 2 players and also singleplay but it´s not a Karate game and actually Kung-fu. Flying kick I guess would be karate but there is no move in it that is karate actually. Not to be nerdy but anyway:D I think Exploding fist is the best one and then it´s FIST2 ( The singleplayer scrolling game)
Hello there, maybe you could please help me identify a game I used to play on C64? It was a karate or kung-fu adventure game where the main character traveled overland, solved problems and jumping on tree tops from cliffs. I know it's not much but man every time I think back to C64, I remembered how badly this game kicked my but when I was 12. Now days at 50, I really miss those days now that everyone has moved on. Thanks in advance-Kevin
Bruce Lee isn’t a Karate game though I love it - disqualified or change the title . IK + is objectively the best but I do not like the move set as much as Way Of The Exploding Fist. Why diagonal down to kick diagonally up ? Also I prefer to play this on the Amiga . My Top C64 Karate game is Fist !! More intuitive control and better block and counter attack . BBC version faster if C64 one too slow for you but loses content although still impressive for a 32 K machine !!
Does Kung-Fu Master count as a karate game...since it's technically kung-fu and not karate? Also, would you care to make a gentleman's wager on this Sunday's Eagles/Cowboys game? 😏💸💸
Hmm backup quarterback in Philly. No thanks but I think it will be an awesome game. Can’t wait to show Philly what a real defense looks like! Oh and Kung Fu Master does count!
No way! We don’t let teams get to 20. 21-13 Cowboys. I’m being generous by giving 13. The only team that hasn’t given up multiple TD’s in a game! Parsons is a beast!
One of these things is not like the others. Bruce Lee is great, but it's not Karate, it's Kung Fu. Also it's not much of a "fighter" game either, more puzzle/platformer. Going with "Karate" as generic for any martial art, I'd replace Bruce Lee with Yie Ar Kung Fu to keep in line with the fighting genre.
No offense taken. Thanks for the input. I’ve done it both ways on my videos. I’m still trying to find that fine line. I want to show that it’s on real hardware and not just emulation. Are you saying you would like to see the whole screen just showing the game?
Maybe an introduction by yourself then a quick snippet of you loading then cut to full screen and back to yourself after showcasing the game..again all constructive. Great content btw
Regarding Karateka - the kid who made that was studying karate at the time and he wanted to make a realistic karate game. So he learned how to program but he didn't know how to animate, so he and his dad filmed themselves in the driveway with an 8mm film camera then did their own rotoscoping of each character and frame. They acted out each of the cutscenes and everything.
PatmanQC did a video about it on his channel if you're interested in learning more .
Thanks for sharing! I will check out the video for sure.
Jordan Mechner? No. That was him filming his brother. Where did you come up with this twisted story?
Bruce Lee would be my number one pick also, Number one for all Commodore games!! I remember playing for hours in the mid-eighties!
Agree! It’s simply classic!
Some great games Tom. Love the T shirt also .
Thanks! I had fun making it. Had to wear the Tshirt to represent he greatness of Bruce Lee
Karate games are a blast and a fun pasttime indeed. The C64 library doesn't disappoint - big fan of these games, the International Karate games and Karateka for me, are so fun and nostalgic! Great series!
Thank you CGS! I’m having a blast making these. Appreciate your continued support!
@@FloppyDeepDive i put you on my favorit youtuber list and good video. my favorit computer are amiga, c64, atari st. way of exploding fist (c64), international karate (c64, atari st), international karate + (amiga, c64, atari st), karateka (c64, atari st) are good karate games
Thank you Gaming Lazarus! It’s an honor to be on your favorites list. Thanks for watching!
Nice to have Bruce Lee as an alternative number 1. I preferred IK+ as its what i played most back in the day with friends. Even though it only had one screen/background, it was a great one. The scissor kick and the head butt were my favourite moves. It was also great that you had to place your moves at a specific point to score a hit and thus necessitating a particular move.
IK+ was a blast. You describe it perfectly my friend!
5 great choices there Tom, owned each and every one of those.
Thanks, it is a solid group of games. Did you have originals of each?
@@FloppyDeepDive Yes I did, sadly lost over time ☹️
Awesome. You hit the nail on the head with that ranking 👌
Thanks!! Appreciate you watching
Fantastic video! Improving every day.
Thank you! That’s kind of you to say. It’s definitely a journey.
All great games, I also liked Ninja from Sculptured Software
Ninja is a good choice. Thanks for watching
I also love to play it! #old memories
Hey, thanks for watching. Good luck on your channel.
Just played Bruce lee yesterday, awesome game
Agree! It is my favorite
I see Bruce Lee as a platformer that happens to have a karate figure in it that can do a kick and a punch and that is it. Other then that I enjoyed the video! 🙂 So here is a Like for you! 🙂
Hey Thanks John! Appreciate you watching and the like.
That's a great list! I absolutely love the International Karate Series. So sad Archer McLean passed away too soon recently...
Yep, he did fantastic work!
This is an area where the system excelled
Yes, incredible Karate games!
Excellent selection right there!
Thank you sir!! Appreciate the support!
The Way of the Exploding Fist - I didn't get this game until long after I had already played International Karate. I'm sure if I'd played it sooner, i would have enjoyed it more, but as it was, I was disappointed by it. I preferred IK's faster pace.
International Karate - I loved this game. I'd say it's the best one-on-one karate fighting game on the C64. I had a pirated copy, but I eventually got a copy of an original disk, patched with a parameter to make it work. It used to load VERY fast.
Karateka - I also love this game and have played through it many times One of my favorite tactics is to start to take a step backwards, and then as soon as the enemy starts to follow me, I reverse direction and go right into a side kick. Actually, to be honest, I mostly only ever use the side kick against enemies. Couple things I've noticed: The most times you can kick without returning to a standing stance is three, but sometimes the computer opponents can kick four times in a row. Also, if the computer kicks high and you use a side kick, it looks like it connects with his groin, and he immediately puts his leg down and goes back into a standing stance. He can immediately attack again, but it seems to be the only move that will immediately cancel his series of attacks.
IK+ - I actually didn't enjoy this was much as the first game. I didn't like having to fight two opponents at once.
Bruce Lee - I liked this game, but always found it frustrating being attacked by two enemies. I enjoyed it the most when a friend too control of the Greem Yammo and we played cooperatively just to see all the screens.
Thank you for checking out a lot of my videos and commenting. Love to hear other people's experiences with the games. It was a great read for me.
My tip five:
5. Karate Champ
4. Fist 2
3. Karateka
2. Bruce Lee
1. Exploding fist.
They are all great! Good list.
Great video, but you missed Yie Ar Kung Fu. That game was awesome, and could really get your blood pumping as the music intensified near the end of each round. It definitely deserves a top 5 spot. Maybe take out IK2 and insert Yie Ar in somewhere?
Other than that one suggestion (and maybe the rankings) I agree with your list. Great job as always.
(Is it me, or did it look like Tom make this video just to play this set of games) 🙂
Lol, you figured me out! Yie Ar was good. I considered it. I even played it but had to make the tough choices. 🤣
No way !!! Ik+ definitely over Yie Ar
Yie Ar Kung-Fu was Chinese in style and I loved all the different weapons except Blues, no weapon needed there. The intro music was Fantastic and was way longer then you'd expect. If you never just loaded Yie Ar to get your Sid-jam on your missing out.
Fun video, Exploding Fist was one of the first games I bought for my C64 and I still love it.
Thanks, Im trying to pick up an original copy of it myself.
that intro scream would startle people haha
Yeah, you knew we'd only need the music.
Still, I'm shocked that #1 wasn't The Attack of the Phantom Karate Devils!
Lol that game was a strange mix of (few) sprites and petscii graphic sort of nightmere... never understood how to play it, btw it reminds me great memories from my childhood
Lol Phantom Karate Devils was so buggy back in the day but I still loved it. Now as number 1? I don’t think so but in top 10 it could have a spot.
Yie Ar Kung Fu would be in my top 5! Nice selection though!
It would be my number 6 for sure!
Awesome list, you know I forget about Way of the Exploding Fist as it looks so similar to IK/IK+. Bruce Lee is definitely one of the best C64 games of all time. Have you played the excellent Master System port?
incidentally Bruce Lee is the only "not karate" game there in the list, it is about kungfu, a total different family of martial arts, anyway im just being nitpicking, very nice video!
I said Karate/Kung fu in the video to cover all the bases. lol. Thanks for watching!
I enjoyed this video very much! Now that you have the Atari 800XL, I think you should make some videos comparing games that appeared on both systems. Both Karateka & Prince of Persia are karate games that feel choppy on the C64 compared to the Atari. Even though the Atari was 2 to 3 years older, it's same 6502 chip was clocked at 1.79 MHZ while the Commodore 64's 6502 was clocked at only 0.985 MHZ. That's a remarkable difference of the 6502 chip in the Atari being clocked at 55% faster. Most games one can't tell a difference, but in system intensive games like Karateka, and even more so in Prince of Persia, the difference really shows in game play!
I started doing some comparison when I first got the Atari. You should check those out. Unfortunately my attention span is small and I’m all over the place but always trying to get a little better. Did you see my Many Faces of Karateka and Bruce Lee? Both have Atari on it.
@@FloppyDeepDive No, I will check those videos out now!
Awesome picks!!! Would The Last Ninja be considered a karate game?
Thanks! I didn’t include it on my list of possible candidates.
Exploding fist is number 5?!
Yep
Bruce Lee is the best. A short while back Bruce Lee 2 was released. Made by fans. Have you covered that game?
I have not covered Bruce Lee 2. Maybe need to dive into it! Thanks for watching !
Missing Karate Chop. Best game everz.
I only had room for 5. It just missed. Thanks for watching.
@@FloppyDeepDive
I meant that as a joke. Karate Chop is a horrible game on the C64. I liked it as a kid but I was a dumb kid so I didn't know any better. Playing it now, it is really bad. The only good thing about it would be the opening SID tune on the title screen.
I just wanted to make a joke.
Lol ok I didn’t want to crush you if you loved it.
@@FloppyDeepDive
Nah..I just meant it as a funny joke and nothing more
Bruce Lee is fantastic for 2 players and also singleplay but it´s not a Karate game and actually Kung-fu. Flying kick I guess would be karate but there is no move in it that is karate actually. Not to be nerdy but anyway:D I think Exploding fist is the best one and then it´s FIST2 ( The singleplayer scrolling game)
Bruce Lee is awesome with 2 people. I tried to cover myself in the video saying Karate/Kung Fu games. lol.
What about Phantom Karate Devils :)
Lol, we all remember that one too well! I wanted it to be great.
Hello there, maybe you could please help me identify a game I used to play on C64? It was a karate or kung-fu adventure game where the main character traveled overland, solved problems and jumping on tree tops from cliffs. I know it's not much but man every time I think back to C64, I remembered how badly this game kicked my but when I was 12. Now days at 50, I really miss those days now that everyone has moved on. Thanks in advance-Kevin
I don't know the game but will keep an eye out. Thanks for Watching!
@@FloppyDeepDive I figured it out a day or so afterwards. It was Fist-II.
what, no Attack of the Phantom Karate Devils lol.
lol, I did play it. I remember wanting to really like it as a kid. I tried to play it with all its bugs. Thanks for watching!!
I used to go to sleep on the desk waiting for Exploding Fist to load for 5 minutes, and that awful intro scared the hell out of me every time.
Lol! It is a fright scream
Bruce Lee isn’t a Karate game though I love it - disqualified or change the title .
IK + is objectively the best but I do not like the move set as much as Way Of The Exploding Fist. Why diagonal down to kick diagonally up ? Also I prefer to play this on the Amiga .
My Top C64 Karate game is Fist !! More intuitive control and better block and counter attack . BBC version faster if C64 one too slow for you but loses content although still impressive for a 32 K machine !!
Thanks for Watching!
Where am i
You’re in the jungle baby!
I'm shocked at no Yie ar Kung Fu in top 2 nevermind top 5
Too many good ones!
Does Kung-Fu Master count as a karate game...since it's technically kung-fu and not karate? Also, would you care to make a gentleman's wager on this Sunday's Eagles/Cowboys game? 😏💸💸
Hmm backup quarterback in Philly. No thanks but I think it will be an awesome game. Can’t wait to show Philly what a real defense looks like! Oh and Kung Fu Master does count!
Haha...28-17 Birds. Write it down...🦅🦅🦅🦅
No way! We don’t let teams get to 20. 21-13 Cowboys. I’m being generous by giving 13. The only team that hasn’t given up multiple TD’s in a game! Parsons is a beast!
So, what you are saying is one dude is going to hold the whole Eagles offense in check? Get right outta town, Tom...🤣
One of these things is not like the others. Bruce Lee is great, but it's not Karate, it's Kung Fu. Also it's not much of a "fighter" game either, more puzzle/platformer. Going with "Karate" as generic for any martial art, I'd replace Bruce Lee with Yie Ar Kung Fu to keep in line with the fighting genre.
I can't argue with that. Thanks for watching.
Your videos would be better if we could see more of them games and less of the back of your head..constructive criticism no offence meant.
No offense taken. Thanks for the input. I’ve done it both ways on my videos. I’m still trying to find that fine line. I want to show that it’s on real hardware and not just emulation. Are you saying you would like to see the whole screen just showing the game?
Great I do love the video's, keep up the great work 👍
Maybe an introduction by yourself then a quick snippet of you loading then cut to full screen and back to yourself after showcasing the game..again all constructive. Great content btw