MAIN MENU Put on your black belt and challenge your friends or the computer through nine picturesque settings to become the Karate Champ. Flatten your opponent by deftly executing the kicks and punches at your command. Sharpen your martial art skills through the series of karate matches in this super arcade classic. SELECTING GAME OPTIONS Press Space during the demostration game to enter the options menu. Press space to toggle options. Press return to accept option choice. After you have made all your option choices the game will begin. USEABLE KEYS DURING GAME PLAY [F1] - Quitm and return to demo mode. [F3] - Sound On/Off. [F7] - Pause/Unpause OPTION DECRIPTIONS White Player Choose whether this player is human or computer controlled. Red Player Choose whether this player is human or computer controlled. Matches Choose number of matches between 1-20. Computer Skill Choose the computers skill level between 0 (easy) - 9 (hard). Review Options Start game of review previous options. At the end of your game, the demo game will appear again. The final scores of your most recent game will be represented throughout the demonstration game. Press the space bar again to return to the option menu. GAME PLAY: Two Players Throughout a series of karate matches at various locations, your objective is to flatten your opponent as often and as quickly as you can, by deftly exe cuting the kicks and punches at your command. Each match consists of a series of rounds at nine picturesque settings. Two points win a round and two rounds (out of three) win a match. The winner of each match earns the exclusive right to earn bonus points before the next match begins at another location. One round lasts for 30 seconds or until one player gets two points. Some falls earn a full match point, some a half point. The first player to score two points, or the player with more (match) points when the clock runs out, wins that round. The Referee The referee begins all rounds, decides if a fall merits a full match point or half point, and determines the winner of a round where neither opponent has scored two match points after 30 seconds have elapsed. The referee will award the round to the player who has earned the higher number of match points. Ties If the clock runs out and each opponent has earned an equal number of match points, the referee will award the round to the player who has scored the higher number of "score points", based on the value of his kicks and punches. (See Scoring for the distinction between "match points" and "score points".) One-player version In the one-player version, you are the white player and the computer is red player. Game play is the same as in the two player version, except that you can choose the various degrees of difficulty. You can also expect the computer to get smarter and faster at the more competitive levels of the game. THE CONTROLS: You can control the players with the joysticks. All actions controlled by joystick are dependant on the direction the karate player faces. Not on whether your player is white or red. If your players direction reverses, the joystick directions also reverse. JOYSTICK CONTROLS: For all moves, you must push the joystick in the direction of the desired move. For some moves, you must also press the fire button at the same time. Without fire button pressed and player facing right. Joystick directions are opposite when player is facing left: [LEFT] - Block/Walk Forward [LEFT+UP] - Backward Somersault [UP] - Jump [UP+RIGHT] - Forward Somersault [RIGHT] - Walk Forward [RIGHT+DOWN] - Low Kick [DOWN] - Squat [DOWN+LEFT] - About Face/Back Kick With fire button pressed and player facing right. Joystick directions are opposite when player is facing left: [LEFT] - Back Round Kick [LEFT+UP] - Jumping Back Kick [UP] - Jumping Side Kick [UP+RIGHT] - Upper Lunge Punch/Round Kick [RIGHT] - Middle Lunge Punch/Front Kick [RIGHT+DOWN] - Front Foot Sweep [DOWN] - Squatting Reverse Punch [DOWN+LEFT] - Back Foot Sweep SCORING: There are two kinds of points to be earned: Match points and Score points. Match points counted in units of a "half" and "full" and are used to determine the winner of each round. Score points are counted in hundreds and are based upon the kind of kick or punch you scored with. While two match points wins a round, the player who wins the most matches at the end of the pre-selected number of matches, wins the game. All kicks and punches has two score point values, and some have two match values. You get the higher values only when you execute that move perfectly and within the optimal distance from your opponent. Only game playing experience can teach you what that optimal distance is. KICKS - Match Points - Score Points Jumping Back Kick - Full/Half - 1000/500 Jumping Side Kick - Full/Half - 1000/500 Back Round Kick - Full/Half - 1000/500 Round Kick - Full/Half - 600/300 Back Kick - Full/Half - 400/200 Front Kick - Full/Half - 200/100 Low Kick - Full/Half - 200/100 Front Foot Sweep - Full/Half - 400/200 Back Foot Sweep - Full/Half - 200/100 Low Kick - Full/Half - 200/100 Low Kick - Full/Half - 200/100 PUNCHES - Match Points - Score Points Upper Lunge Punch - Full/Half - 1000/500 Squatting Reverse Punch - Full/Half - 800/400 Middle Lunge Punch - Full/Half - 400/200 Middle Reverse Punch - Full/Half - 200/100 Clock Score The winner of a round also gets 100 points for each second remaining on the clock. Bonus Screen Scoring At the end of each match, the victor has an opportunity to gain some bonus points. Any one of three screens will present you with an intriging challenge. You may have to flatten a furiously flung flower pot, split wooden blocks in two, or knock out a stampeding bull. Bonus points per pot - 200 Bonus points per block (firsy nine) - 100, tenth block - 2000 Bonus points per bull - 2000 If you survive the first challenge, you'll get a chance to do it again, up to maximum of five times per bonus situation (except boards). Unless of course you get flattened first. HELPFULL HINTS 1. Mastering Your Moves Master your moves by playing a two-player game against a non used human opponent. Your opponent's player will remain static, and you can learn the different characteristics of your moves. Learn which moves execute quickly, which work best in close range or long range, and how to quickly move out of reach of your opponent. You can block moves only if your opponent is attacking you. 2. Properly Executing Moves To fully execute a selected kick or punch, you must hold the joystick/button combination long enough to register. Releasing the move too early resuls in a half executed move, and leaves you vulnerable to counter attack. 3. Faking Moves By proper timing, you can move and then cancel it before it fully executes, by only holding the move for a split second, the effect is as if you "faked" the move. 4. Holding Moves And Blocks You can hold certain moves by holding the move sequence continually (not kicks or somersaults). This will freeze your player in the last frame of action. Such a strategy may be good in certain situations, but not in others. For instance, prolonged squatting may be a good defence if a plaayer is repeatedly attacking your face, but holding in a block move could soon become ineffective if your opponent selects a different move that cannot be countered by your current block, not all moves can be blocked, In such cases, the only the appropriate actions are a jump or somersault. 5. "Speeding Up" Moves You can't "store up" a sequence of moves, nor can you "speed up" the execution of your kicks and punches ny quickly selecting several moves all in a bunch. With proper timing and manipulation of your joystick, however, you can smoothly execute two moves in a row (different ones). 6. Selecting Between Two Possible Moves Notice that on the joystick diagram, there are four instances where selecting the exact same joystick position can result in one of two possible moves actually being executed. In three of these instances, namely the "Upper Lunge Punch/Round Kick" moves, the "About Face/Back Kick" moves, and "Middle Lunge Punch/Front Kick" moves, the computer will choose which move to execute based on your distance from your opponent. If you are relatively far away, the first move (i.e. before the slash) will be executed; if near the second move (i.e. after the slah) will be executed. The final instance, namely, "Block/Walk Backward" is more subtle, since it is not based on the proximity of your opponent, as it is on the timing of your selection as compared to the action chosen by your opponent. 7. Blocking/Walking Backwards One of the most important techniques to master is executing the subtle difference between walking backwards and blocking. The computer logic is designed to operate so that if you select the "block/walk backwards" move and a punch is coming, your player will block the punch. If no punch is coming your player will walk backwards, For example, if you're close to your opponent and he has decided to execute a punch, selecting to block the punch will only work if you select the move after he has started to execute his punch. If you select the walk backwards move before your opponent begins executing his punch and he is close enough to hit you, your going to get clobbered. Furthermore, if you've already been walking backwards and your opponent attacks with a series of punches, you're likely to get flattened unless you re-execute the move with more exquisite timing. If you don't re-execute the move so that you can block the punch, you'll just keep walking backwards until you get clobbered.