Review Polymega Collection Vol. 2 - Karate Champ Review (Polymega)

The second in the Polymega Collection series focuses on two of Data East's most famous fighting game franchises, Karate Champ and Fighter's History.

In total, there are 15 different games included in this package – Karate Champ (arcade, NES, Famicom Disk System), Karate Champ PvP (arcade), Way of the Karate (Japanese arcade version), Fighter's History (arcade, SNES, Super Famicom), Karnov's Revenge (arcade, Neo Geo, Neo Geo CD) and Fighter's History Dynamite (arcade, Saturn, Neo Geo, Neo Geo CD) – but some of those are simply ports or regional variants of the same game.

The original Karate Champ was developed by Technōs Japan and published by Data East in 1984. It is considered to be one of the most influential fighting games of all time and laid the foundations for the one-on-one combat genre, even though it lacks health bars (it's all about landing the first hit) and special moves. A player-vs-player update was then released, which allowed two people to fight each other. Even though it's crude by modern standards, it's still very playable – and the two-joystick control system offers a surprising amount of depth.

Sadly, the NES and Famicom Disk System ports are pretty terrible. While both have the two-player option that was missing from the original arcade release, they lack the nuanced controls and appealing presentation. At least the FDS version has some nice music, but beyond that (and perhaps pure nostalgia), these won't hold your attention for long.

Moving on to Fighter's History, this is where things get very interesting. Outside of being a surprisingly decent one-on-one fighting game for 1993, it's infamous for triggering a lawsuit between Data East and Capcom, with the latter claiming that Fighter's History infringed on its Street Fighter II copyright. The case was ultimately won by Data East and, as such, makes this title an interesting historical footnote. You get the original arcade version on this collection, as well as the SNES and Super Famicom home ports.

Fighter's History Dynamite (also known as Karnov's Revenge) drops the six-button control system for a simplified four-button setup, as it was produced for SNK's Neo Geo platform. The introduction of unique "one-two" combo attacks is a nice touch, and the series' "weak point" mechanic – where targeting a particular part of your opponent's body can stun them – is retained. While this is arguably the apex of the franchise, it's not quite in the same league as some of the '90s better brawlers.

Sadly, the 1995 Super Famicom exclusive Fighter's History: Mizoguchi Kiki Ippatsu!! isn't included here. While it's hardly an essential entry, it would have made the collection feel more complete. Also, as we mentioned with the Asteroids collection, the fact that there's very little in the way of supplemental material represents a real missed opportunity.

Interestingly, Polymega Collection Vol. 2 - Karate Champ comes with two discs. The first includes all of the games apart from the Neo Geo CD version of Fighter's History Dynamite / Karnov's Revenge. This comes on its own disc, which can be used in real Neo Geo CD hardware.