Sinclair User


Karate Ace

Publisher: Star Games
Machine: Spectrum 48K/128K

 
Published in Sinclair User #79

Karate Ace

Seven martial arts games in one package! How could any average violent lunatic resist? Although many of these titles have appeared on budget labels, it's a fair bet that there will be enough in Gremlin's Star Games Karate Ace package to attract most lovers of kung-fooey.

Melbourne House's Exploding Fist was the original, and in some ways is still the best; classic two-player multi-move action. Uchi Mata from Martech wasn't such an immediate success; it involves too much strategy and too little violence.

Kung Fu Master from US Gold is a coin-op conversion, more of an arcade game than a simulation as you kick your way through a wizard's henchmen. Gremlin's Avenger, too, is a bit arcade-y, a sort of cross between Gauntlet, and er, Gauntlet, with four-way scrolling. The sequel Way Of The Tiger is a bit like Melbourne's Fighting Warrior; a series of encounters on a horizontally-scrolling background.

US Gold's Bruce Lee is a classic platforms-ladders-and-kicking game with dozens of screens and nicely-designed graphics, while the final title, Gremlin's Samurai Trilogy, is a three-part sim in which you have to master Kendo (stick-fighting), Karate and Samurai (sword-fighting) in order to reach the rank of Warlord.

A nicely-chosen selection, then, with no turkey amongst them, and at a decent price.