I, like many of you, have to be in utter shock that our beloved 1984 film The Karate Kid is not only extremely relevant in 2024 thanks to the badass show Cobra Kai, but that the OG film itself is still producing video games that are retelling the original story from all 3 films…sort of.
The Karate Kid: Street Rumble is a classic pixel art beat ’em up as one could tell at first glance. This is fine. The fights all take place at memorable locations from the films such as the high school, soccer field, beach, etc.
While some are more recognizable than others none of the locations are particularly memorable visually. This doesn’t mean they look bad, which they don’t, but they just don’t pop! When compared to another beat ’em up such as TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge.
The storytelling is told in the form of still images with letter box dialogue. Again, this is fine. If you are someone looking to pick this game up, I’m sure you weren’t expecting full voice acting but I think it would have been cool if they added some audio clips for the films.
The soundtrack is also a bit on the bland side but once again it’s not like they were going to obtain the licensing rights for many of the songs in the films. But if you do enjoy the tracks, there is a jukebox that can be found in the “extra modes” on the main menu. On the upside, the character designs are adorable and all the characters are very detailed to look like their real-life counterparts.
The Karate Kid: Street Rumble supports up to 4-player couch co-op. There is no online co-op which I find odd and disappointing. I think all beat ’em up games should offer local and online play and I don’t understand the reasoning behind not including it. The 4 playable characters are:
- Daniel LaRusso
- Mr. Miyagi
- Ali Mills
- Kumiko
The game plays and feels like a beat ’em up game should, which is great. You have your light and heavy attacks, along with the ability to jump and perform jump attacks. Double tap in a direction to sprint or walk up to an enemy and upon making contact you can perform a grab/throw attack. There is also a dodge button which I rarely pressed.
Each character moves quickly so even during boss battles against other iconic villains from the films such as Johnny Laurance, and John Kreese (to name a few) you can simply move out of the way before they attack. Now if you do time the dodge, it does allow you to dish out another quick combo so there is a reason for it. I just didn’t find it necessary, at least not on normal difficulty.
And OF COURSE, the crane kick is in the game as Daniel’s signature move. Each character starts with one and as you progress can unlock additional signature moves. To perform a signature attack you need to fill the gauge which can be found under your character’s health bar in the top left corner.
Pull off combos and successfully dodge attacks to fill up the gauge. Once filled press (RB) to perform the signature. The other signature you unlock can be performed by pressing in different directions on the d-pad along with (RB). There is a good amount of moves you can perform and a mini-game that has your character challenge one of the other heroes in a DOJO battle to see who can deliver the most successful combos.
Another new feature that has pretty much become a mainstay in modern beat ’em up is the ability to revive a downed ally. This can also be performed in The Karate Kid: Street Rumble by holding down (LB) while next to your downed ally.
After a few seconds, they will be up and ready to dish out a karate beating. As you progress and complete the game a few additional modes will unlock such as mini-games, boss rush, endless, and arcade which in turn produces a good amount of replayability.
Overall, The Karate Kid: Street Rumble is a decent beat ’em up with great character models, smooth animations, and a couple of additional game modes that will keep you playing once done with the main story. While the presentation isn’t AMAZING, it gets the job done resembling key locations and triggering the nostalgia feels you have for the films. My only real complaint is the lack of online co-op.
This review was written based on a digital review copy of The Karate Kid: Street Rumble for Xbox Series X provided by GameMill Entertainment.
