Today I decided to play a game of Karate Champ on my new iPad before beginning my studying for the day. When loading the iPhone app I was informed that an iPad version, Karate Champ XL (revolutionaryconcepts.net), was available for only $4.99.
Revolutionary Concepts did an amazing job of recreating the arcade feel of Karate Champ, but they also added a few other nice features. Specifically, you can host a network game or join a network game. Also, if you only have one iPad you can play a split-screen game. Note that you can play either two-player game over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.
In the Settings menu option you can switch on Large Mode, Scanlines, and Alt Facia. Also you can choose between Easy, Med, and Hard for a difficulty level.
In the Instructions menu option you can read all about how to play Karate Champ XL which is self-explanatory. If you hit the red button the game will be paused, and some menu choices will be presented to you. Note that the green button is for Continue, and the red button is for End Game.
I tapped on Start Game from the menu options, and then I chose one-player to begin a game. You can go to the Practice menu option, once you have chosen Start Game, to practice all the moves available in Karate Champ XL. Just like the arcade version of Karate Champ, you can practice all of the moves with the left and right controller sticks. I would recommend doing that to get a good feel for these virtual controller sticks.
Here I played a one-player game. :)
Here I played a two-player game with my wife over Wi-Fi (on two iPads), and we also played the double-screen option on one iPad.
I absolutely love Karate Champ XL. This accurate recreation of the original Karate Champ brings back a lot of memories, and I specifically remember all the quarters I used to throw into the arcade version. Sigh... Those were the days.
I recommend Karate Champ XL game to anyone that has an iPad. You will have a lot of fun and save a lot of quarters in the process. :)
Overall Score: 5/5
This game was reviewed on an iPad (third version) running iOS 5.1.1.
