I am every bit as much of a sucker for side-scrolling beat-em-ups as I am "Karate Kid"/"Cobra Kai" content, so there was no question that I would adore "The Karate Kid: Street Rumble."
Building off the moderate success of the "Cobra Kai" brawler adaptations, the game takes a "River City Rampage" approach to the 1980s trilogy that fuels my beating heart. From the outset, absurdity reigns supreme. You can start off as Daniel, Miyagi, or, oddly, Ali, as you immediately take to jump-kicking, karate-chopping and round-housing a barrage of faceless minions. As you'd expect, villains such as Johnny, Kreese and Silver await for wall-breaking, crane-kicking slugfests.
This cheery, if unimaginative, approach harkens back to the standard way films and TV shows of the 1980s and 1990s, when the formula was to plop the main character in a side-scrolling hellscape and force them to punch and jump their way out.
While incongruous to the plot, leaving the storytelling to clumsy cutscenes, the style makes for a delightful throwback to the ancient ways.
While a $40 asking price is heavily on the steep side, I'd be lying if I said I had anything but a glorious time with this thin, admittedly rail-thin content.
This game is geared for those in their 40s who seek it as a nostalgia trip, as well as "Cobra Kai" devotees looking to steep themselves in the OG source material. The bare here was low, and the developers barely cleared it. But boy, am I grateful they attempted this delightfully silly and simple tribute to the cheeseball masterpieces from days of yore.
Publisher provided review code.
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