The story of International Karate and IK+ (on the Atari ST) - (Archer MacLean, System 3, Andromeda)

[@jackdaddypfc]

Thanks for bringing back great memories. What a time to be alive 😁

[@mattsmedley.onehandedgamin9029]

Ik+ was the 1st game I ever played on the Atari st. Later I purchased an Amiga A500 when the batman pack was released. Had many hours of playing IK+ with my friends and crying with laughter from headbutts to low blows. Such a fun game.

[@gonzales2011]

One of the true ST gems!

[@hundgirridchannel]

IK+ forever, best ST fighting game.

[@Ray.Norrish]

Nice to get some info on the ST version. It was a great inspiration to me and I could see how it was so far advanced graphically than anything I had on the ST. Definately one of my favourites.

[@luciofulci70]

High-Quality Video, thank you very much. Had so much fun with both of the games on the ST with my friends.. IK was one of the early releases and it truly showed the ST 16Bit-Power. Great background information concerning Andromeda and their programmers. Highly recommended!! 👍👏

[@AtariLegend]

Thanks a lot for the feedback. Nice to read! The whole Andromeda story was a learning experience for me as well. I love the story...

[@badopcode]

International Karate (non-plus) was the first game I owned on the Atari ST. I had the AI completely figured out. How it worked was amazing. It set the bar of what I expected from the Atari ST.

[@IntoTheVerticalBlank]

Incredible job, A.L.!

[@ryzmaker11]

Such a blast from the past! Gaming doesn't get any more authentic than this, blissful and timeless! Thank you for this wonderful video 👏

[@AtariLegend]

Thanks for the nice words.

[@atariexplorer1545]

Cracking game and video, well done again to the Atari Legend team!

[@AtariLegend]

Thanks a lot.

[@TPau65]

I love these history and background stories! Again a very informative, entertaining video! 👍

[@gridleaderretro]

Another great video Marty - they get more slick and professional with each one you make! I owned a Manhole Game and Watch when I was younger but never knew about the connection with the IK+ bonus round!

[@AtariLegend]

Yeah, me neither, yet when you see it, it seems so obvious, right? :-D I remember playing Manhole myself, highly addictive game. Thanks for the comment.

[@daddymulk]

One of my Favourite games on the C64 International Karate, along with IK+ and Last Ninja Series, I used to look at Atari ST version in Local Computer Shop and think wow the graphics look amazing, when i got ST and played the game i wasn't so impressed with the game play as original C64

[@jaxxh6529]

i played the game boy color of karate, and advance for the game boy advance and plus advance

[@burnermitch7528]

Fantastic

[@NeoAnderson101]

Excellent documentary here. Well done 👏

[@yungsamus6662]

Very interesting video thanks for sharing

[@40g33k]

I had IK+ on my C64. What a game! This and The Last Ninja were my faves back then

[@AtariLegend]

Best beat 'em up ever! ;)

[@amirlx]

Awesome video as always.

[@AtariLegend]

Thanks. YOU are awesome!

[@Steril707]

I remember seeing a screenshot of International Karate on the Atari ST with the New York background in a magazine and being blown away.. This looked like true "NEXT GEN" to me back then.. Like something completely out of the future.. And I remember being a bit disappointed about that the 16 bit versions of IK+ barely looked different from the 8 bitters.

[@ataristsnacks]

Thx mate, great job (again!)

[@AtariCrypt]

Ooooooh an AL video is out!!!!!!! ☕

[@kevinallart1594]

Very comprehensive analysis! I only had IK+ on my ST back in the day so it was a complete surprise to see what the original and improved IK looked like on this platform…. The choice of colors made me think of some PC Engine game. Great stuff!

[@jrherita]

High production value as always! Keep up the great work Atari Legend! I love the stories, and of course the background of Atari software and hardware in each of your videos :)

[@AtariLegend]

Thanks a lot for the feedback.

[@UnseenMenace]

Archer was a great coder with a great sense of fun and I loved IK+. Bizarrely I'd never seen the earlier International Karate game and though I agree it looks pretty nice, it's nowhere near as fast and fluid as Archers update of his earlier game.

[@AtariLegend]

I haven't played the C64 version (or atari 8 bit for that matter), but if it plays like IKplus, I have to agree. That being said, the ST version of the original doesn't get nearly the attention it deserves. The history is just fascinating to me...

[@gaminglazarus4343]

@@AtariLegend hi atari legend good start in year 2022 good youtube videos . amiga, c64, atari st are best homecompuer and have classic games .

[@AtariLegend]

@@gaminglazarus4343 Thank you.

[@SuperJim]

Very well produced video! Love your style and attention to details. I honestly spent more time looking at your shots and editing than some of the subject matter

[@AtariLegend]

Haha, thank you. I do my best at making 'deep' content, still, a really nice thing to hear. Thanks a lot!

[@LeGlod]

10:10 Love Nikko Venus Aero-Tuned :)

[@AtariLegend]

Hahaha, nice. This was my first radio controlled car I got at the age of 6...I THINK December 1986 ... St Nicolas ;)

[@jrherita]

OK Saw a peek of Koronis Rift around 7:15 or so; that's a game I really wish the 16-bit computers had received..

[@AtariLegend]

Attention to detail! ;-)

[@AtariCrypt]

Way Of The Exploding fist is probably where I came from (ZX Spectrum) and also Bruce Lee but that was more a platformer. Can't say I've played much beyond those other than Bug Byte's Kung Fu (well, I liked it!) earlier (83?). As for the ST, never really dabbled in any much so this video is an enlightenment for me! Those falling pants.... lol Nice t-shirt!

[@AtariLegend]

Stephen King's IT ftw! ;-) Thanks Steve!

[@Flashback-Gamer]

@@AtariLegend there was actually a few martial arts title on the ST, Fist or fury, ST Karate, Thai Boxing all shockingly bad and all worth looking at, at the same time 😬

[@AtariLegend]

@@Flashback-Gamer Indeed, I take a note. ST Karate, definitely would like to learn more about that one also!

[@retropuffer2986]

Very thorough coverage. I was only familiar with Karateka back in the day but that was a solo game.

[@azmodanpc]

Martial arts and Ninja games were all the rage until the late 90s

[@ernohorvath556]

Magyarok a legjobbak 👍🇭🇺

[@CarFul]

This presentation is flashing and jumping and moving with a lot of motion just like the games you are talking about ... it keeps the attention going !! Great job done !!

[@loganjorgensen]

Pretty neat video, hadn't heard about the Hungarian coding scene before. :) I still laugh at NES Karate Champ, like they couldn't do what Smash TV did for a single player arcade experience. I see an Apple II and C64 port too which I'm guessing doesn't have dual-stick as an option either. Many people had a hard time figuring out the arcade game that removing a joystick wasn't going to help any. So really it was a blessing IK and others came around with a design made for one joystick. In retrospect I'd like to sue Data East for sanctioning such rubbish ports of Karate Champ. ;)

[@8bitandmore]

Just came across your channel, enjoying your videos. Great job!

[@AtariLegend]

Thank you.

[@Robmonster]

Why did Archer never receive any royalties from the America release?

[@AtariLegend]

It is a good question, Rob. I don't remember. I do remember it were his exact words as he said it in a podcast somewhere I found on the internet...

[@VintagePeople2022]

good job! You did a really good job. Thanks a lot

[@AtariLegend]

Wow. Thank you!

[@Vretrocomputing]

So beautiful video! So interesting! Well done 😎

[@AtariLegend]

Thank you.

[@radiozelaza]

Why is there a Steven Seagal on the cover of IK+?

[@AtariLegend]

It's a classic actually. I think back in those days copyright wasn't as stricked as we know it today ;)

[@JoanOrfila]

Amazing video and great game, you really did an excellent job. I spent thousands of hours playing IK+ in 2 players mode with my friends, I still don’t know why my parents didn’t kicked me out, my room was something like a zoo in the 80’s. And one of the biggest reasons was this incredible game, one of my favourites, and the best ST fighting tittle. Thanks!

[@AtariLegend]

Didn't we all have a room like that in the good ol' 80's? ;-) Thanks for the comment!

[@Flashback-Gamer]

Another amazing video man, loved and thanks for showing the my Visusl History book in between shots 🍻 I remember seeing International Karate on the ST at a trade show running in all its glory and thinking to myself this is better than what was in the arcades at the time on this new shiny grey computer of the future, and when I eventually got the ST, I think mid 1986, this was one of the first games I ever bought for the ST, I had the 520STf and was a little disappointed at the gameplay, but like you said the visuals where what made it worth the entry fee. The Atari 8-bit version though? Will always be the go to international Karate experience for me.

[@AtariLegend]

Oh man, how I wish I would have been on such a trade show at that period in time, would have been amazing. Thanks for sharing!

[@Flashback-Gamer]

@@AtariLegend yes..it was a computer fair trade show and with Atari based In Ireland and where distributed via a company called "Lendac' they had as you'd expect an amazing Atari stand, and there it was International Karate, Brataccas and Time Bandit, and it was next gen stuff, but what was gas, was all these guys (suits) were only there to sell boxes, they knew nothing about what they were selling. Good old 1980s right there 😂

[@thefurthestmanfromhome1148]

Inspiration is one thing, plagerism is another. Archer claims he took inspiration from the sprites in Melbourne Houses WAY Of The Exploding Fist and Rob Hubbard that he simply took inspiration for the music.. Sorry but Rob plagerised the music by Ryuichi Sakamoto and Archer the sprites from WOTEF. I loved IK on both the A8 and C64, but I'm not blind to the plagerism that created it.

[@thefurthestmanfromhome1148]

Archer has recently claimed in a recent interview, Mark Cale specifically asked him to COPY the Data East game Karate Champ as closely as he could. A curious statement to make after so many years of giving a rather different version of events 🤔 What was the inspiration for International Karate? The first Karate game happened because I was asked to help out with improving the graphics in the early development game being handled by a team. I ended up taking the whole project over and redoing most of it from scratch.

[@zarjesve2]

Amazing as Always!!! :) thank you!! I got answers, after 30 years, to all my question regardin International Karate! IK+ is best fight game ever! We play it today with big pleasure :) Is there maybe interview with Istvan?

[@AtariLegend]

Thanks for the nice feedback, glad to hear you enjoyed it. I had a call with Istvan (you may have seen at the end of the video), but I have shared all the info I got out of him in this video. He is a hard man to reach, but a great guy. I really hope to interview Soltan Toth, although I don't have high hopes. If I find out even more about the game, I will definitely share it on the website or in here! And for me as well, I learned a lot about this game while making the video ;)

[@456gt59]

I spent so much time on both of these games when I was 10 years old....

[@No1BRC]

I played IK+ on my friends Amiga and wanted it so badly on my Atari 😬 I never knew there was a port on it back then😒

[@thehappyvulcan]

Personally, I prefer the older fighting games. Like the point and that you had no "magic". Imagine making a tennis game where they can shoot lightning bolts or fireballs. Why do you have to have a lot of that in martial arts games...

[@MySamurai77]

Inferior to the Amiga version.

[@madigorfkgoogle9349]

what are you talking about? IK+ has better music on Amiga, but better sounds and is faster on ST, the International Karate cant be inferior on ST since there was no Amiga version at all back in the Amiga/ST times...