Karate Champ

Karate Champ, released in Japan as Karate, is a 1984 fighting game developed and published by Data East for arcades. The player utilizes dual-joystick controls to input various moves, in order to defeat enemies in a best-of-three matches format. 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. It 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), and would serve as the basis for the home versions of Karate Champ.