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[Fess]

Commodore fans, come on there are dozens of us! Time to wake up!

This collection went up on Kickstarter, was fully funded in 37 minutes, and now it's finally coming!
September 30 !!

Published and developed by the legendary System 3, one of the last survivors from an old era some here probably missed all together. Don't know who's still there but at least Mark Cale is there heading the studio like always.



Best game music ever!




Internation Karate and IK+ is there as well

Here is the whole collection:

 

[T-0800]

I would prefer an International Karate collection.

 

[violence]

The Tom Cruise movie was actually pretty good

 

[ssringo]

Taken from Steam page. Is this what Karate Champ (NES) came from (or vice versa)? Cool for the folks grew up with this though.

Karate Champ

 

[Darkmakaimura]

I owned the first two on the Commodore 64, yo.

Best video game music ever.

 

[Fess]

I would prefer an International Karate collection.

Internation Karate and IK+ is there as well

Here is the whole collection:

Added to OP

 

[roosnam1980]

great collection
played the hell out of IK+ back in the day

 

[Fess]

Taken from Steam page. Is this what Karate Champ (NES) came from (or vice versa)? Cool for the folks grew up with this though.

Karate Champ

I believe Karate Champ was first. There were several similar games around the same time, borrowing from each other. Exploding Fist was there as well, slower but cool, had you hit a bull in the head by the end

International Karate and Exploding Fist were walking side by side aping each other.

There was IK+, where you fought 2 opponents at once, featuring a cool Van Damme split kick. And Exploding Fist + was the same.

Fist 2 came out as well, extremely different, was a side-scrolling adventure, almost some metroidvania in structure, featuring 1 on 1 fights but you travelled a map finding scrolls. Loved that one!

 

[Fess]

great collection
played the hell out of IK+ back in the day

It was great! Music is legendary for me

 

[clarky]

IK and IK+ were awesome back in the day.

Karate Champ was the first in the arcades I believe with the dual stick controls, also awesome.

Tempted to get this but also don't want to shatter my memories.

 

[SpiceRacz]

NINJA GAIDEN RAGEBOUND

NINJA GAIDEN 4

SHINOBI ART OF VENGEANCE

LAST NINJA COLLECTION

YEAR OF THE NINJA

 

[Fess]

IK and IK+ were awesome back in the day.

Karate Champ was the first in the arcades I believe with the dual stick controls, also awesome.

Tempted to get this but also don't want to shatter my memories.

Do it! I still like them all and play The Last Ninja sometimes, it's not holding up in gameplay but I'm impressed of what they achieved, with the graphics and advanced joystick controls. It was so far ahead of everything else at the time. And the nostalgia is like a time machine to the truly good old days

Last Ninja Remix on the Amiga is actually my favorite, it was a faithful port of The Last Ninja 1, not over the top upgraded, felt like a remaster than anything else. Amazing music! Still have the box and floppies working perfectly. But it'll feel awesome to have these games pop up in the Steam library

And I was (of course!) there to help funding the Kickstarter so I'm waiting for some extra goodies. Early prototype of The Last Ninja 4 for example!

I believe they said in the Kickstarter that they would start working on a HD remaster of TLN1 if they reached some stretch goal, and they definitely did that.

 

[clarky]

Taken from Steam page. Is this what Karate Champ (NES) came from (or vice versa)? Cool for the folks grew up with this though.

Karate Champ

NES Karate Champ was a port of the arcade game. I never played the NES version but looks pretty faithful. IK was inspired by Karate champ, but IK was a much better game (imo).

 

[Fess]

NES Karate Champ was a port of the arcade game. I never played the NES version but looks pretty faithful. IK was inspired by Karate champ, but IK was a much better game (imo).

Karate Champ, International Karate, Exploding Fist. They were extremely similar tbh.
I too liked IK the most. Better music, faster, and was just plain cooler.

Fist 2 is a unique and forgotten gem though!
I played through this for the first time on the full size TheC64. (And snapped the stick on the joystick…)

 

[clarky]

Karate Champ, International Karate, Exploding Fist. They were extremely similar tbh.
I too liked IK the most. Better music, faster, and was just plain cooler.

Fist 2 is a unique and forgotten gem though!
I played through this for the first time on the full size TheC64. (And snapped the stick on the joystick…)

Fist 2, Jesus Christ now there's a blast from the past. Hype was off the charts for mini me back in the day.

Might bite on this then on even if its only for the music on these games. If they chucked in that Bruce Lee game (I know its not related in anyway) so I could smash that little green dudes face I'd bite for sure.

 

[RagnarokIV]

Awesome games, got some fond memories of them along with Sho Kosugi movies. Curious to go back to them after so many years and how they hold up.

 

[Touch fuzZy. get BizZay]

 

[Trunx81]

I have the full album, totally worth it!

Last Ninja has one of the most iconic soundtracks of the C64 era. Part 3 had the first intro sequence I ever saw and it blew me away (again with a killer tune).
Gameplay is hard, think tank controlls with bad genometry. Still managed to play through the second (and best) one.
Too bad that a fourth game was teased but never released.

IK+ on the other hand: I prefered fist, but it´s great gameplay.
I bought the GBA conversion and it´s one of my go-to games for quick sessions to scratch the itch. Graphics are quite bad, but the gameplay remains unbeaten (pun intended)

 

[Fess]

Fist 2, Jesus Christ now there's a blast from the past. Hype was off the charts for mini me back in the day.

Might bite on this then on even if its only for the music on these games. If they chucked in that Bruce Lee game (I know its not related in anyway) so I could smash that little green dudes face I'd bite for sure.

Fist 2 is like the Dark Souls of the 80s! Extremely difficult. I only got through it on TheC64 because I could use a save state. In some fights you can exit the room when you just see the opponent lifebar go up and uuup and uuuup. Easy peasy, reenter and try again until you see a shorter life bar. But it's not possible everywhere so you can literally play for an hour and then it ends because of one fight. The black panters are brutal too if you're not ready for them.
Love the music, especially in the cave, it's one of those tunes that never left my head.

But Fist 2 isn't on this collection so be vary of that, it's just System 3 games. The Last ninja trilogy, plus Remix, International Karate and Bangkok Knights, which was brutal for a 1 on 1 fighter when showing the opponents mashed up face heh

Don't know what Ninja Family is… Maybe some lore about Armakuni and Kunitoki?

 

[clarky]

N

Fist 2 is like the Dark Souls of the 80s! Extremely difficult. I only got through it on TheC64 because I could use a save state. In some fights you can exit the room when you just see the opponent lifebar go up and uuup and uuuup. Easy peasy, reenter and try again until you see a shorter life bar. But it's not possible everywhere so you can literally play for an hour and then it ends because of one fight. The black panters are brutal too if you're not ready for them.
Love the music, especially in the cave, it's one of those tunes that never left my head.

But Fist 2 isn't on this collection so be vary of that, it's just System 3 games. The Last ninja trilogy, plus Remix, International Karate and Bangkok Knights, which was brutal for a 1 on 1 fighter when showing the opponents mashed up face heh

Don't know what Ninja Family is… Maybe some lore about Armakuni and Kunitoki?

Never heard of Ninja Family, I don't think its a game. On the Steam page it shows this image, without the mysterious Ninja Family, maybe its just the term for the 3 OG games?

 

[Fess]

Part 3 had the first intro sequence I ever saw and it blew me away

Omg yes I forgot about that! That intro was so cool on the Amiga. The hype for LN3 was probably the most intense in my life, I remember reading a magazine with screens showing sprites until it fell apart.
Didn't meet my expectations though. But I only played it on the Amiga, I'm hoping they include all versions here so I can try the C64 version.

Too bad that a fourth game was teased but never released.

Might've been for the best, I don't think it could compete with Ninja Gaiden or anything modern with ninjas tbh.
It's included in the Kickstarter though so I imagine there will be talk about that soon. If nothing else you'll hear about it from me!

 

[Fess]

N

Never heard of Ninja Family, I don't think its a game. On the Steam page it shows this image, without the mysterious Ninja Family, maybe its just the term for the 3 OG games?

The pic with Ninja Family is also from the Steam page but yeah you might be right that it's just a label for all the ninja games.

 

[Sintoid]

I'm not playing againg that jump into the rocks session in Last Ninja 1 ever again

I loved every game is in that collection when they came out but selling them again now I think is a terrible idea
Maybe this collection can be a thermometer to test how much fans still remember and love this IP to plan a proper remake/reboot/whatever but those games in that state are way too old to be appriciated nowadays.

And I recently bought Head Over Heels and Zak Mckracken just to understand what kind of player I am

 

[xrnzaaas]

So this is PC only? Man I'd love to go back to International Karate.

 

[Fess]

I'm not playing againg that jump into the rocks session in Last Ninja 1 ever again

It was annoying but it's also pixel perfect, once you learn where to stand you can't miss, there is no randomness. Goes for rocks in the river, swamp and pillars. Smoke bomb for the dragon as well. It's just classic old fashioned trial and error

Tip: Always press the button between the jumps to reset the animation so you know you're at the right spot.

Difficult to confirm now but I believe it was easier on cassette btw. You could always start again from the level you got Game Over on with the life count you had reaching there. So you could try over and over until you learned how to do it. On diskette I think it load you back to the beginning when all lives are gone.

 

[Sintoid]

It was annoying but it's also pixel perfect, once you learn where to stand you can't miss, there is no randomness. Goes for rocks in the river, swamp and pillars. Smoke bomb for the dragon as well. It's just classic old fashioned trial and error

Tip: Always press the button between the jumps to reset the animation so you know you're at the right spot.

Difficult to confirm now but I believe it was easier on cassette btw. You could always start again from the level you got Game Over on with the life count you had reaching there. So you could try over and over until you learned how to do it. On diskette I think it load you back to the beginning when all lives are gone.

I know how it worked, that's why I'm not going down to that compromises
Being "pixel perfect" with all that control lag and imprecision was too much frustrating, tape or disk
We evolved since then, some games and tv shows should remain untoched in our memories

 

[RAIDEN1]

The Ninjas are kicking 2025's ass!

 

[clarky]

So this is PC only? Man I'd love to go back to International Karate.

All formats!

 

[Fess]

So this is PC only? Man I'd love to go back to International Karate.

It'll come first on PC but it'll be out everywhere very soon. They're doing final touches on the Switch version. Compatible with Switch 2 as well.

I bought a game bundle for Switch from their store - Impossible Mission, Dropzone, Pinball Arcade. Old release from my understanding but everything plays nicely on Switch 2 so they seem to know what they're doing there.

 

[Trunx81]

Omg yes I forgot about that! That intro was so cool on the Amiga. The hype for LN3 was probably the most intense in my life, I remember reading a magazine with screens showing sprites until it fell apart.
Didn't meet my expectations though. But I only played it on the Amiga, I'm hoping they include all versions here so I can try the C64 version.

it was sooo good. But yes, the game after that wasn´t so great, especially coming from the second one.
When emulators became popular, I played the NES version on my Nokia Symbian phone, lol.

And remember, this was the common input method (if you didn´t have a Competition Pro Extra <3). I can still hear the clicking in my head.

 

[Sintoid]

And remember, this was the common input method (if you didn´t have a Competition Pro Extra <3). I can still hear the clicking in my head.

You mean The Albatros, right?

 

[Fess]

I know how it worked, that's why I'm not going down to that compromises
Being "pixel perfect" with all that control lag and imprecision was too much frustrating, tape or disk
We evolved since then, some games and tv shows should remain untoched in our memories

The annoyance is valid but it's no Prince of Persia, the LN games are actually extremely responsive, like when you use the sword and fire+up you can pretty much hit as fast as you can move the stick. Try finding a modern game that let you do that.

It's just that jumping, picking up things, kicking and the forward thrust will kick off a longer multi frame animation that can't be cancelled. Have to wait it out.

But a well-animated modern game is not snappier, then you have long turning animations and acceleration/deacceleration etc. They might let you cancel a move though, or give you control in the air during jumps, at least sometimes.

 

[Sintoid]

The annoyance is valid but it's no Prince of Persia, the LN games are actually extremely responsive, like when you use the sword and fire+up you can pretty much hit as fast as you can move the stick. Try finding a modern game that let you do that.

It's just that jumping, picking up things, kicking and the forward thrust will kick off a longer multi frame animation that can't be cancelled. Have to wait it out.

But a well-animated modern game is not snappier, then you have long turning animations and acceleration/deacceleration etc. They might let you cancel a move though, or give you control in the air during jumps, at least sometimes.

Nah, I'm ok remembering when I was 15 and I finished it, too many water passed undet that bridge
Maybe someone will make a real remake but until then I have my C64 and Amiga Tapes and disk to remember a great chunk of gaming history

 

[Fess]

And remember, this was the common input method (if you didn´t have a Competition Pro Extra <3). I can still hear the clicking in my head.

Tac-2
For everything tight and arcadey.

Wico Command Control
For everything else and for games with secondary action. I still have one from the 80s working like it's never been used, the build quality is out of this world.

 

[Fess]

Maybe someone will make a real remake

No maybe needed, one of the Kickstarter stretch goals was an HD remake of TLN1 !

 

[clarky]

it was sooo good. But yes, the game after that wasn´t so great, especially coming from the second one.
When emulators became popular, I played the NES version on my Nokia Symbian phone, lol.

And remember, this was the common input method (if you didn´t have a Competition Pro Extra <3). I can still hear the clicking in my head.

Quickshot 2. I Remember those fucking things having little silver contacts on the board inside them. So after a decent session on Decathlon they would get stuck and you'd have to crack the bastard open and use a pin to free them up.

Competition Pros where near indestructible with the microswitches in comparison

 

[Fess]

Competition Pros where near indestructible with the microswitches in comparison

I hated the Competition Pro buttons. Felt mushy.

The Wico Command Control, Red Ball, Three Way were indestructible in my experience. But again, felt mushy, no distinct directions or lovely button mash smatter noise. But they couldn't break.

Tac-2 ruled them all with the metal platter buttons, felt like mashing buttons in the arcades.
Until they were full of oxide and you had to rub them to get them working again…

 

[clarky]

I hated the Competition Pro buttons. Felt mushy.

The Wico Command Control, Red Ball, Three Way were indestructible in my experience. But again, felt mushy, no distinct directions or lovely button mash smatter noise. But they couldn't break.

Tac-2 ruled them all with the metal platter buttons, felt like mashing buttons in the arcades.
Until they were full of oxide and you had to rub them to get them working again…

Not familiar with either of those.

The Wico looks like an analog stick?

That Tac-2 looks nice, first time seeing one. Is that from the states or was it available in the UK?

Edit: looks like it was, strange I never saw one, but then again it was a very long time ago.

 

[Trunx81]

Quickshot 2. I Remember those fucking things having little silver contacts on the board inside them. So after a decent session on Decathlon they would get stuck and you'd have to crack the bastard open and use a pin to free them up.

Competition Pros where near indestructible with the microswitches in comparison

Competition Pros where another level in build quality. A german C64 mag always made a "fall test" with the Joysticks from 10 meter hight and the little clear bastard survived every time.
My brother got one for Christmas and played through Ninja 2. First game he bested in his life. He´s proud to this day about that achievement.

 

[clarky]

Competition Pros where another level in build quality. A german C64 mag always made a "fall test" with the Joysticks from 10 meter hight and the little clear bastard survived every time.
My brother got one for Christmas and played through Ninja 2. First game he bested in his life. He´s proud to this day about that achievement.

Mine survived Daley Thompson's Decathlon. No other controller to this day can claim that accolade.

 

[willothedog]

it was sooo good. But yes, the game after that wasn´t so great, especially coming from the second one.
When emulators became popular, I played the NES version on my Nokia Symbian phone, lol.

And remember, this was the common input method (if you didn´t have a Competition Pro Extra <3). I can still hear the clicking in my head.

clicking? I remember the quickshot 2 just had contacts for input; it was the mighty quickshot 2 turbo (red colour way) that had the clicky micro switches.

Mine survived Daley Thompson's Decathlon. No other controller to this day can claim that accolade.

I preferred hypersports, gotta get that 45 degree on the triple jump.

 

[clarky]

clicking? I remember the quickshot 2 just had contacts for input; it was the mighty quickshot 2 turbo (red colour way) that had the clicky micro switches.


I preferred hypersports, gotta get that 45 degree on the triple jump.

Yeah that was a good one. Shooting the pigeon out of the air on the Javelin was always bragging rights.

The Games series were quality also, although they were not so much button mashers.

 

[Trunx81]

clicking? I remember the quickshot 2 just had contacts for input; it was the mighty quickshot 2 turbo (red colour way) that had the clicky micro switches.

you´re right, I had the Quickshot 2 turbo in red. That stick was quite the sucker, literally: Stick it to a surface and it took me some time to lift it up again.
Played through Ghosts n Goblins, Turrican 2 and many more with it. Golden times.

 

[roosnam1980]

we need more game compilations from.......................
-core design
-team17
-psygnosis
-gremlin graphics
-DMA design
and many other dev/publishers of that era.

 

[Trunx81]

we need more game compilations from.......................
-core design
-team17
-psygnosis
-gremlin graphics
-DMA design
and many other dev/publishers of that era.

as well

 

[Windle Poons]

Turrican, x out, z out, giani sisters came out for modern platforms. What else do you want from Rainbow Arts?

 

[Trunx81]

Turrican, x out, z out, giani sisters came out for modern platforms. What else do you want from Rainbow Arts?

To be on top
Katakis
Black Gold

 

[xrnzaaas]

All formats!

That's awesome, it's gonna be a day1 purchase just for IK and IK+.

 

[WilliamSBirkin]

Backed this back in 2024.

Can not wait for it!

 

[Diseased Yak]

Wow, awesome! Buying the hell outta this.

The memories...