The Karate Kid: Street Rumble (Format: multi. Publisher: GameMill)
WITH Italian-American underdogs being trained for glory by elderly nut-jobs and sequels picking up right after the original’s final fight, it’s easy to see how The Karate Kid was just Rocky in pyjamas - indeed, both the original films shared the same director.
When Will Smith trousered the franchise rights to gift his horrible offspring a starring role in the 90s remake, Karate Kid fans had every right to believe the 80s touchstone had been sullied beyond repair - but then the franchise was waxed to a high shine by Cobra Kai, a YouTube then Netflix-backed nostalgia-fest that turned blonde baddie Johnny into a modern-day fish-out-of-water hero which has just launched its sixth and final season.
However, Cobra Kai never dies: currently in the works alongside next year’s cinematic reboot for The Karate Kid starring Ralph Macchio and Jackie Chan is The Karate Kid: Street Rumble, a retro side-scroller celebrating the original trilogy in all its glory (of love).
Given the original series was riding high at a time of side-scrolling martial arts classics from Double Dragon to Final Fight, it seems odd that The Karate Kid never made much of a dent in the videogame world. The only true franchise fodder was an 8-bit butchering for the NES in 1987, and a Karate Kid 2 game for the Amiga, memorable only for its fly-catching minigame. Hopefully, third time’s the charm with Street Rumble.
Inspired by the 1984 original film′s classic mix of martial arts and child slave labour rather than Cobra Kai (which has already spawned two games), GameMill has turned the Gen X favourite into a 16-bit-style beat-’em-up, set for release on PS4, PS5, Xbox, Switch and PC on September 20.
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Following the main events of the entire 1980s trilogy, as Cobra Kai try to destroy Miyagi-Do across locations ranging from Topanga Beach, West Valley High, Cobra Kai Dojo and the All Valley Tournament, its side-scrolling action will be familiar to gamers who pumped coins into the likes of Streets of Rage and Double Dragon.
While you can play solo, multiplayer allows up to four players to smack the smirks off blonde bullies at once, each doling out signature moves like the crane kick. Daniel Russo, Mr Miyagi, Ali Mills and Karate Kid II’s love interest, Kumiko, are all playable across the game’s 12 stages, with boss fights featuring a rogue’s gallery of classic franchise baddies, including Johnny Lawrence, scowling sadist John Kreese and pony-tailed sleazebag Terry Silver.
Here’s hoping it sweeps the leg of the universally awful 80s tie-ins that went before it and catches the bluebottle of nostalgia in the same way Cobra Kai did. In the meantime, fire up Pete Cetera on the ghetto blaster and get ready to wax on, wax off and wax nostalgic.
