The popular Netflix TV series, based on the popular 80s movies, now has a videogame. In Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues, up to two players can choose from a variety of characters from the TV show to battle it out and determine which dojo — Cobra Kai or Miyagi Do — reigns in California.
Full disclosure, I only ever made it through Karate Kid II. I never saw the third movie, or the remake that featured Jackie Chan from a dozen or so years ago. I love the first two movies, but I never had enough interest to watch the popular Netflix series. So, unlike GI Joe: Operation Blackout that I recently reviewed, I didn’t have much inherent interest or bias on this game as I felt for that one. Regardless, even though I don’t identify with the Cobra Kai license here, I certainly do identify with the side-scrolling brawler genre. My favorite arcade games were always brawlers, from Final Fight to Ninja Turtles, Vendetta, the list goes on. As you’ve probably noticed, the past year or two has seen a much welcomed revival of the genre, with old games being remade, and sequels, like Streets of Rage 4 being released to much acclaim.
Cobra Kai
All that aside, I wasn’t sure what to expect with this game, but I was came away somewhat impressed. There’s a surprising amount of depth to the gameplay that really boosts the value of the game and combats a lot of its flaws. The experience begins with players choosing which dojo they want to align with. After that, the story begins, and depending on which dojo you chose, players begin with a different character. The first mission of the Miyagi path has Sam fighting through dozens of punks at the local Mini Golf and Arcade. This acts as a tutorial mission that covers a lot of the gameplay elements. Standard moves include punches and kicks, with an emphasis on combos, but players can also parry and dodge roll attacks, too. These defensive tactics aren’t common for the genre at all, so it was pretty refreshing to see them added here. Using parry and dodge correctly leads to a more robust experience too, especially as parrying attacks has your character throwing the bad guys towards the screen, a hat-tip to the timeless Konami classic, TMNT: Turtles In Time.
Players can also grab, vault over, and throw enemies, and use environmental objects as well. Objects can be as large as cars that you can slam bad guys into, or as small as cans or a bat to wield. Plus, every character has Personal Skills to unlock and upgrade, as well as Dojo Skills, plus an Ultimate Attack. Further still, enemies that you have knocked to the ground and be attacked while they’re down, with stomps and elbow drops. This turns out to be a pretty good thing, as many enemies felt like they could sustain a bit too many hits, making them feel spongy, so being able to pile on helped finish them off a bit sooner.
Another cool concept is being able to change between up to four characters instantly, as you discover them in the story. Each character, besides having their own look and true-to-show voice acting, has their own personal moves as well as their own life meter, and you can even do some combos while switch characters. Gameplay stresses varied combos as well, with higher combo scores netting you more points and healing. Power-ups that you can purchase in between levels at your dojo and collectibles (there are about 100 of these) are also on what is a surprisingly deep menu for a licensed brawler.
Cobra Kai
All of these gameplay elements sound great, and for the most part they are, but the gameplay suffers from some pretty tough flaws. For me, the most troubling issues are the clipping and strange and/or braindead AI. Clipping happens a lot — and many times I found myself punching and even walking right through enemy characters. Graphically, characters kind of look paper thin, and the amount of clipping between them really hammers that home, which is unfortunate. This looseness contributes largely to some of the iffy aiming and collision detection that taints the experience some as well. At times, it can be difficult to register a hit or a ‘grab’ action because of just a general lack of polish. Additionally, the AI are also really awkward at times; they will walk around and through you, but fail to actually attack until you do. This happens more than I could overlook, but some patching could help. I would also add to my list of cons by saying I didn’t get really ‘get’ the use of additional animations and silliness that is found in the special moves. Sam and Daniel use a lot of ice attacks for example, like they’re literally calling up spikes of ice from the ground in their attacks. To me, it just didn’t fit in with what is otherwise a pretty cool 80s atmosphere.
As far as presentation goes, Cobra Kai is mixed. The graphics are just ok; mostly cel shaded, but the clipping and a lot of the animations of the combat and movement is alright, not great. The graphics often felt as flimsy as the action did at times. Framerates stay high and overall its fine, I can’t say I was impressed. I did appreciate the visual cues that made the game more accessible to a more casual group of players, I think that was a wise move by Flux and I liked the various indicators that made parrying and dodging more consistent.
The audio is pretty good — lots of great tunes to compliment both the action on screen and the slower times, like when you’re browsing through upgrades and things at the Dojo, or if you’re on the Map deciding where to go to next. Title screen song is solid, too. I read that the voice-acting was accurate to the actors from the show, but some of the voices are really deadpan and I thought did the game more of a disservice than not. Overall, the presentation is mediocre, but sufficient.
Cobra Kai
One area I didn’t get to spend as much time in as I would like is local two player. What little I did play of this mode made up for some of the game’s flaws, as most couch co-op games do. It’s not that the flaws suddenly disappear, no, it’s just that playing alongside someone else helps hide these flaws and the experience is just more enjoyable. Anyway, a golden rule in gaming is that the side-scrolling brawler genre is always best played with a buddy or three if the game supports it. Even if you do play Cobra Kai single player, there’s a lot of game here (beyond the aforementioned elements) in terms of amount of levels, the fact that the campaign can be replayed with both factions, and the surprisingly large amount of upgrades and collectibles there are.
In sum, Cobra Kai: The Saga Continues is a better game than you would expect, with a lot more gameplay elements than just about any brawler I have ever played. While most of these elements are done well, there are a few glaring, persistent flaws that temper the experience dramatically. Still, for fans of the TV show or for brawler aficionados, it’s worth checking out.
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