IGN's Top 10 Most Influential Games

Karate Champ over Street Fighter II is a complete joke. There is absolutely no intelligent argument to the contrary.

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Originally Posted by Yoshi

Karate Champ over Street Fighter II is a complete joke. There is absolutely no intelligent argument to the contrary.

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Well it goes back to what I was saying before: Are you looking for the original influence or the most direct influence? This list seems to pick and choose which it wants, but Karate Champ is definitely a significant game for the genre. And make no mistake it WAS a vital genre long before SF2.

One game saved the entire arcade industry. It doesn't matter what criteria you use, that's the more influential game.

Unless your criteria is on how many conventions it originated and how widely adopted these conventions were. Then it does matter.

Obviously SF2 was very influential, but it's a different sort of influence, and both are important.

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Originally Posted by Frogacuda

Right, because there was nothing else in the game. It was just a black screen with one guy on it and two joysticks, right?

In fact, Street Fighter wasn't influential either, because no other game has Dhalsim in it.

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The only part of Karate Champ that lived on was the 1-on-1 fighting aspect. But not a shred of the gameplay lived on.

To me, Karate Champ was defined by the originality of it's controls and the unique gameplay that came from those controls.

1-on-1 fighters dropped the Karate Champ controls that defined it.
1-on-1 fighters dropped the 1-hit rounds.
1-on-1 fighters dropped the tournament-style point/half-point system.


Yier Kung-Fu and Karateka are the forefathers of 1-on-1 fighters if you ask me. Karate Champ influenced nothing.

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Originally Posted by Frogacuda

Unless your criteria is on how many conventions it originated and how widely adopted these conventions were. Then it does matter.

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Not when the answer is still the same. At best, Karate Champ influenced a bunch of European-developed games that no one cares about. The entire present-day 2D fighting genre is closely linked to Street Fighter II in nearly every way. It's night and day.

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Originally Posted by Yoshi

Not when the answer is still the same. At best, Karate Champ influenced a bunch of European-developed games that no one cares about.

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And Yie Ar Kung Fu, which in turn influenced Street Fighter.

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The entire present-day 2D fighting genre is closely linked to Street Fighter II in nearly every way. It's night and day.

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And almost all of those conventions were present in SF1, SF2 was just a better game.

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Originally Posted by Cheebs

The only part of Karate Champ that lived on was the 1-on-1 fighting aspect. But not a shred of the gameplay lived on.

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The side-scrolling view, the use of life bars to reach KO...

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Originally Posted by Frogacuda

And Yie Ar Kung Fu, which in turn influenced Street Fighter.

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Was Kevin Bacon in that? I cannot believe we are fortunate enough to have someone to actually argue this point against. Saying that Karate Champ influenced Street Fighter and should receive any credit for the genre's explosion is like saying that some asshole that knocked an apple off a tree influenced Isaac Newton. Karate Champ wasn't even good.

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And almost all of those conventions were present in SF1, SF2 was just a better game.

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Obviously.

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Originally Posted by Frogacuda

The side-scrolling view, the use of life bars to reach KO...

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Karate Champ did not scroll.
Karate Champ had no life bar. It was all 1-hit wins the round.


Like I said, I give Yie Ar Kung Fu or Karateka credit for the genre, but not Karate Champ.

Well I know it didn't scroll I just meant that viewpoint. I thought it used a life bar, though... what am I thinking of then?