Karate Champ

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Karate Champ is one of the earliest examples of the one-on-one fighting game, published by Data East Corporation in 1984 and originally developed by a company full of former Data East employees known as Technos Japan (now Million Co. Ltd.).

Gameplay consists of two fighters (one in a white gi and another in a red gi) using karate moves to score successful hits against each other. There is no Life Meter; a player can only win a round by scoring two "points" against his opponent, with the referee judging whether or not a hit is worth a half-point or a full point. The winning player gets to participate in a minigame, and then face off against progressively harder opponents.

A sequel called Karate Champ: Player vs. Player was later released. While the single player-only first game took place largely in a karate dojo, the second game had a variety different locations, and allowed two players to play against each other.

Tropes used in Karate Champ include:

• Brick Break: The other the mini-game in the game itself.
• Kiai: In both games, these are done with digitized voices.
• A Load of Bull: And one that comes in and rushes towards your character in a mini-game!
• Martial Arts Uniform: Both opponents wear a white and red gi respectively.
• Mini Game: There is one where you break random objects heading for you.
• Scoring Points: There are two kinds: one which determines the outcome of the match, and another traditional point-scoring system for the leaderboards, which doesn't have a direct effect on gameplay.
• SNK Boss: The computer opponent, once a player reaches 8th Degree Belt level.
• Ur Example: One of the earliest one-on-one fighting games, predating the original Street Fighter by three years.