I’m OLD; I grew up when Karate Kid was in the theaters and I’m pretty sure Mom took me to see it when I was little. I remember the whole family watching it when it came out on VHS, it is a pretty big memory in my life. When the YouTube series Cobra Kai dropped I watched the first few episodes, but I refused to pay for YouTube TV. Now that it is on Netflix I plan on binging the whole series very soon.
The Story
Seeing as there are two rival dojos you get to play both sides of the story. You begin in the principal’s office getting scolding for fighting on school grounds. Once this scene ends you get to decide if you want to be Cobra Kai or Miyagi-Do. Seeing as I’m old now I went with Cobra Kai, because, why not, when you grow up you realize certain things.
When you begin the Cobra Kai campaign you play as Miguel who was duped into a fake date. Instead of meeting his crush he is met with some fists of his enemies. You fight your way through levels and other party members join your side so that you can figure out who catfished you. Seeing as this is a beat ’em up, the story isn’t one that will win awards, but it holds the game together and you get to see BOTH sides of the trick date.
The Controls
This game is a beat ’em up, just like Streets of Rage 4 earlier this year. Since that is the last beat ’em up I played I’m going to draw some comparisons since SoR4 was so critically acclaimed. The controls are tight and responsive, and they need to be due to the genre of the game. To punch press X, to kick press Y, to jump press A and to parry press B. If you need to dodge use left stick and B to roll out of the way.
When you run by pressing left stick and holding it you can do some more powerful attacks by pressing X and Y as you collide with enemies. This game has a wide range of attacks, LT and a face button is a special Dojo skill, RT and face button is a personal skill. These skills are special attacks that help when being overrun with enemies. RT and LT is super special attack that fills up and you take down enemies, I used that mostly on bosses or huge hoards of enemies.
As you walk to the right in the level there are a lot of ways you can mess up your opponent. There are environmental areas where if you press RB you will do a special attack that can either one hit or severely damage your foe. LB is pick up and it is ground attack as well, if you pick up a melee weapon RB is throw it and X is heavy attack why Y is light attack. There are a lot of little fighting nuances in the game that make it very interesting.
The Look
This game has the Borderlands look, somewhat life-like, a little cartoony and a lot cell-shady. It is nice and unique look that will last and won’t look like crap in a few years. The main characters resemble their Netflix counterparts with some caricature features.
The enemies actually do have more variety that I thought they would. You fight so many different enemy varieties it literally surprised me. You fight preppies, Karen’s, fat guys and so on. Each of them have their own look, fight set, and perk. Needless to say I was surprised when I found out that later enemies can regenerate their own health. That’s when the difficulty curve suddenly spiked.
It gets frustrating when you have 3 characters on screen that can heal when they want, and 2 other ones wailing on you. Even though you have three dojo members to use at your leisure it can make some of the levels very tough. You change characters by using the D-Pad, and it is awesome being able to play as Johnny sometimes.
Overall
This game is really fun, I think that it would be more fun if I had someone to couch co-op with me, but sadly that isn’t an option for me. The few difficulty spikes and repetitiveness don’t take away any enjoyment from the game. You can plop down, play a level on the map, save and continue on your day. This isn’t a game that you want to play for hours, you will grow weary of it quickly.
There is A LOT of game too, once you beat the opening mission the map unlocks and there are a lot of levels you have to fight your way through as a Cobra Kai and as a Miaygi-Do. It is very unique to play as both sides, it just is kind of boring when it is the same level. I would have liked to have seen some different locations of All Valley, but that’s just me.
If you’re a fan of beat ’em ups or Karate Kid then this is the title for you. If you’re a fan of both you should already have purchased this game before reading this review! You won’t regret picking this up and playing it with a friend or your kiddo who is now enamored with the tale between Johnny and Daniel. It is going to be fun playing this on one television while I fire up the old movies on another television. Yeah, I’m an adult!
This review is based on a review copy of the game provided by the developer
The Review
Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues
PROS
- Controls are tight and fun
- The cell shaded graphics are fun to look at
- The nostalgia and throwbacks are great
CONS
- Very repetitive game
- Random difficulty spikes are very frustrating
