The Way of the Exploding Fist 1985

Is it still worth playing?

You take part in a series of one on one karate matches overseen by a wise old expert in the background, moving up to a more difficult opponent after each win. It is a 1985 fighting game for the Commodore 64, based on Japanese martial arts. The backgrounds change as the player progresses: a dojo, an outdoor field with snowy mountains and volcanoes, a Buddha statue or pagodas. There is no energy bar. Any move that connects ends the round. A loosely timed or borderline kick or punch earns a half yin-yang icon and a well-executed move a full icon, and two complete icons end the bout. This scoring system is known as shobu nihon kumite. A match decided by two clean strikes is still a simple contest to follow today.