Karate Champ

Karate Champ
Arcade flyer by Mitsuru Adachi
Developer(s)	Technōs Japan
Publisher(s)	Data East[5]
Platform(s)	Arcade, Apple II, Commodore 64, Nintendo Entertainment System, Famicom Disk System
Release	Arcade JP: May 1984[3] WW: September 1984[1][2] Apple II, C64 NA: October 1985[4] NES NA: December 1986 FDS JP: July 22, 1988
Genre(s)	Fighting
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Karate Champ (カラテ・チャンプ, Karate Chanpu), originally known as Karate Dō (空手道, "The Way of the Empty Hand"), is a fighting game developed by Technōs Japan and released in arcades by Data East in 1984. A variety of moves can be performed using the dual-joystick controls using a best-of-three matches format like later fighting games. The game was commercially successful, especially in the United States where it was the highest-grossing arcade game of 1985 and the best-selling home computer game up until 1989. Karate Champ established and popularized the one-on-one fighting game genre, for which it is considered one of the most influential games of all time.

An updated version that allows two players the option to compete against each other was released in 1984 under the title Karate Champ — Player vs Player (対戦空手道 美少女青春編, Taisen Karate Dō: Bishōjo Seishun Hen, "The Competitive Way of the Empty Hand: Pretty Maiden Edition"), featuring a multiplayer mode and more varied gameplay. It was released for the arcades shortly after the original during the same year, also published by Data East. This version was released internationally as Karate Champ (the original single-player version was exclusive to Japan),^[1] and would serve as the basis for the home versions of Karate Champ.