The Karate Kid: Street Rumble Review

The Karate Kid franchise has a long history of success. With Jaden Smith as Dre Parker and Jackie Chan as Mr. Han, the 2020 remake of 1984's The Karate Kid was just as successful as the original. And just like the movie had its fair share of success, the first The Karate Kid game on NES back in 1987 was also a huge success.

GameMill Entertainment became part of the franchise with the release of Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues in 2021, followed by Cobra Kai 2: Dojos Rising the following year. The first game was an unexpectedly solid entry, while the second did terribly. After a couple of years of hiatus, the third entry, The Karate Kid: Street Rumble, is released. While the first two games centered around the Cobra Kai TV series, this game unexpectedly harkens back to the original Karate Kid movie.

At its core, The Karate Kid Street Rumble is a beat 'em up, and the best part is that you can play it in a four-player local co-op. The game features some well-known characters and takes place in familiar settings. There are four playable characters, each with unique abilities and a fair amount of variety. 

As you progress through the game, you'll unlock new game modes, such as boss rush, arcade, and endless wave. Playable characters include Daniel, Ali Mills, Mr. Miyagi, and Kumiko. The gameplay is typical of beat 'em ups in Karate Kid Street Rumble, while the controls are also quite straightforward. There are the usual light, heavy, and grab attacks, and you can also sprint, jump, and execute jump attacks.

But there's also more variety than meets the eye. Holding a heavy attack in the air or on the ground allows you to charge up and do more damage. Interestingly, you can also parry opponent attacks, which turn out to be crucial in boss fights. Even while the parry approach isn't instrumental against the regular enemy waves, it's a trick you should save for the boss encounters since the parrying mechanism was obviously planned around it. It's a thoughtful addition that makes the otherwise button-mashing combat more strategic.

As with the fundamental fighting system, you receive a variety of moves to choose from, which gives you more leeway, but the special signature moves in Karate Kid Street Rumble are the most fun part of the gameplay. The game has a health bar and signature shards underneath the health bar. The shards serve as a shield and will drain before your health does, which requires some strategic thinking. 

When these shards are full, a special ability will be activated. Daniel's signature crane kick, lotus punch, reverse power kick, and spinning kick are his special moves. The other three characters also have their special moves, which are fun. It's up to you whether to use the shards as armor, while you can also use them to launch a special attack.

The game also has a touch of role-playing game elements that add a different dimension as you progress through the chapters. Each character has their own set of skills that may be unlocked as you play the story mode and earn experience points. 

You can unlock additional abilities and upgrade shard slots, allowing you to perform more special attacks. It's not a fully-fledged skill tree where you can select improvements, but it's a neat addition that makes the game more engaging. It sets you on a path to make strides, and when you unlock new moves and powers, you'll find yourself changing your strategy for every fight.

The levels are fun because they feature several well-known spots from the Karate Kid movies, and each one is special in its own way. Across 12 challenging levels, you battle against infamous villains like Johnny Lawrence, John Kreese, Terry Silver, and more. 

Nevertheless, apart from the villains, all these levels are also a bit simplistic; there aren't enough items you can interact with since there are only two pickups: one to restore your health and another to replenish your shards simultaneously. Even if weapon pickups aren't in keeping with the karate kid vibe, I missed having them in other beat 'em ups.

It's not the greatest beat-'em-up out there in terms of gameplay, but it's not bad. The game was designed with a lot of emphasis placed on its replayability. However, the game sometimes does an excellent job of switching things up by adding a chase scenario facing a timed boss encounter. 

There are also situations where you need to break down a barrier during an enemy raid; this offers a sense of urgency and diversity, raising the stakes in intensity. There are also minigames, which aren't precisely ground-breaking since they are just basic button reaction tests.

Initially, The Karate Kid: Street Rumble is an incredibly generous beat 'em up on normal difficulty, while three unlockable difficulty levels will significantly increase the challenge as you go through the game. Like most beat 'em-ups, the enemies are decent, and just the right amount of diversity keeps it interesting. 

Every level starts with the typical fare of enemies, some strong and some with ranged attacks, mini-bosses, and the final boss. While there were a handful of decent boss encounters, almost all of them are rather easy to beat after you figure out their attack pattern. I played the game with my little sister (check out the gameplay below), and she had no trouble in any of the levels. It's something the game does incredibly well for newcomers to this genre.

Visually, Street Rumble: The Karate Kid isn't particularly impressive. Streets of Rage 4 came out in 2020, and its visuals still seem to be the gold standard for the beat' em-up genre. So, I hoped The Karate Kid: Street Rumble's representation would be comparable. The game does just enough to avoid seeming old-fashioned or cheap pixel-style. 

The positives about the visuals are that all the characters and the settings are actual movie references. The animations were very well done, particularly those for the signature moves. While the levels mimic the movie settings, they all look somewhat identical. A bit more variety in the backdrops and more interactable items could sweeten the experience.

While the game's pixel art style still gives a retro vibe, the sound design has not excelled. The sound design is passable but not enough to create a more immersive experience. Yes, there are some nice tracks in the game, but the game seriously lacks audio cues for enemy attacks, which is a crucial aspect for any beat 'em up game. 

There are no audio indicators when you take damage, making it difficult to keep track of what's happening when the action speeds up and enemies swamp the screen. Unless you're looking at your health bar, you won't realize that you're taking damage, and it's something entirely overlooked by the devs. Not to mention the lack of voice acting during cutscenes. Given the possibility of the voice acting to make up for the mediocre graphics, it's a major letdown.

Overall, The Karate Kid: Street Rumble may not be the greatest beat 'em up you were hoping for, but it's still fun to play. Those who loved the movie will find many nostalgic moments since all the characters' personalities are kept intact in the game's presentation. 

The game does lack in terms of visuals, but the gameplay covers that gap by implementing the signature moves. It's an ideal game for newcomers to the genre and for the fans of The Karate Kid franchise. If you've enjoyed Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants, you'll find much to like in The Karate Kid: Street Rumble.