Fans of The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai have seen plenty of video game adaptations lately of varying degrees of quality. Thankfully, the latest game based on the martial arts franchise — The Karate Kid: Street Rumble — is pure charm and is fun from start to finish. Based on the original trilogy of films, you’ll get to relive all of your favorite moments in the series.
The Karate Kid: Street Rumble is a pretty straightforward beat ’em up with local co-op support up to four players. Combat is relatively robust, as you can chain together weak and strong attacks into combos and then build up a meter to unleash signature attacks, like the crane kick. There are a few nitpicks about the combat, though, as enemies tend to take a few more hits than would be preferable, and character movement can feel stiff, but the game’s overall charm makes up for the shortcomings.
The gameplay also gets better as you continue playing. Finding a character you like is important as each plays differently and has their own strengths (I preferred Daniel LaRusso due to his speedy combo attacks). Once you find one you dig and stick to using them, you’ll begin leveling up and gaining access to more abilities and also becoming more powerful. It’s a fun system and adds a lot of replayability as you can try to max out all of the playable characters.
Due to the real movie trilogy dropping off in quality, the game is a bit frontloaded. The best moments are going to happen in the first section of the game where you relive the first movie. Thankfully, some interesting level gimmicks keep the other two games feeling fresh. In addition to standard beat ’em up levels, there are also some fun mini-games that let you relive moments like catching a fly and learning how to do a crane kick. These aren’t anything too incredible but add a quick high score chase to the experience and are a fun way of breaking up the gameplay.
Once you’re done taking care of the Cobra Kai, you’ll unlock a boss rush, arcade mode, and an endless mode. Developer Odaclick Game Studio did a really good job of making sure this has a good bit of replayability and extra content. Beat ’em ups are typically just a few hours long, and this is no exception, but there’s plenty to do after credits wrap.
The Karate Kid: Street Rumble Review: Final Verdict
Thanks to a lot of charm and reverence for the original trilogy of films, The Karate Kid: Street Rumble winds up being a really fun beat ’em up. Fans of The Karate Kid can’t go wrong by picking up this nostalgic beat ’em up, especially if they have loved ones to play with, as co-op is a blast. This is a great licensed surprise that was clearly made with love.
SCORE: 7.5/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 7.5 equates to “Good.” A successful piece of entertainment that is worth checking out, but it may not appeal to everyone.
Disclosure: The publisher provided a digital PS5 copy for our The Karate Kid: Street Rumble review. Reviewed on version 1.001,000.
