Karate Champ (Video Game)
Karate Champ (known in Japan as Karate Dou, loosely translated to "Way of Karate") is a dual-joystick fighting game developed by Technōs and released by Data East for arcades on July 1984 (in Japan) and September 1984 (worldwide).
As an unnamed karate competitor (in white karate gi), players fight one-on-one point-based karate matches against a series of unnamed opponents (in red karate gi) using a variety of offensive and defensive moves (using combinations of both joysticks).
The game is known as the grandfather of the versus fighting game genre, influencing other fighting games of the 80s including Yie Ar Kung Fu, The Way of the Exploding Fist, and World Karate Championship (which Data East sued Epyx over for being too similar).
An updated version of the game, titled Karate Champ - Player vs Player (in Japan as Taisen Karate Dou: Bishoujo Seishun-hen, loosely translated to "Competitive Way of Karate: Beautiful Maiden Edition") was released shortly after. Along with two-player multiplayer, this version updates the computer AI and controls while changing the game's locale and story, as both competitors now fight for the affection of girls around the world.