Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues Review – More Than A Nostalgic Retread

Cobra Kai doesn’t just continue the story of the films – it also creates fully fleshed out characters that somehow also feel true to the cliched players of a cheesy 80s morality play. It subverts viewer expectations with a quality that doesn’t sacrifice the fun inherent to The Karate Kid. It’s fitting that Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues, from developer Flux Games and publisher GameMill Entertainment, pulls off this same trick, then, at least when it comes to what players expect from beat ’em ups and licensed games.

For those unfamiliar with the show, Cobra Kai tells the story of typical bully Johnny Lawrence decades after losing in the tournament at the end of The Karate Kid. While the show starts with the character extremely down on his luck, the game is set around the second season, which has Johnny established as the leader of a revived Cobra Kai dojo and in fierce competition with Miyagi-Do and the LaRusso clan. Players can choose between both factions, playing through a story that is almost identical save for a few character switches to help things make sense.

Brawlers are typically considered simplistic games where players mash on buttons to grind through levels. Cobra Kai uses every input on an Xbox controller outside of the right stick, letting each character perform up to eight special moves and a range of normal moves with fighting game inputs. It even finds a way to implement the view button to bring up information about each character’s assigned power-ups. There are item pickups, a host of different enemy types, and a bevy of finicky but satisfying environmental moves dubbed “badass attacks.”

Players manage all of this through both per-character and dojo-specific skill trees that upgrade over time to create unique builds of each fighter. There are probably one too many systems at work here, but those willing to put in the effort will find depth in the combat system and plenty of variety when it comes to choosing attacks and timing out counters. Cobra Kai also features an extended campaign, with 28 missions to complete throughout the game and an ultimate boss to unlock once players complete the whole story with both dojos. While there is a lot of variety to be had, it still doesn’t carry things through that much content, eventually inviting the dull repetition that infects even some of the best games in the genre.

Flux Games made a great decision by having Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues step beyond the realm of the show and present over-the-top moves that would only make sense in a video game. Hawk in the show has a prominent back tattoo of his spirit animal, so Hawk in the game can summon flaming wings on either side of him to clear away enemies. In fact, all of Cobra Kai has flaming punches and kicks to match their aggressive attitude and all of Miyagi-Do have ice moves that put up walls and create platforms to set up aerial counters. The enemies players face can stretch a little far, but there are some clever additions, like a soccer mom that works as a summoner by complaining into her phone to summon more goons.

The one area where Cobra Kai truly falters is in its presentation. Even when considering its $40 price point, the character models, artwork, and polish throughout the game feel rough. Attacks sometimes clip through enemies and the environmental attacks require precise placement that forces players to jam on the button to pull them off. The cartoonish art style works most of the time, but it really sticks out when it doesn’t, reminding players that what they’re playing is from a smaller studio and not a Netflix-equivalent giant.

Those who are able to look past the less than stellar visuals and a few awkward line reads will find a beat ’em up that stands with the best on offer in 2020. While Streets of Rage 4 is the king of the simplistic arcade style it helped create, Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues feels like a genuine effort to create a beat ’em up with the length and substance of a modern console game. While it does get repetitive, it takes far longer than most to get there, and that’s a big victory for some game based on a nostalgia trip.

Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues is available now on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. An Xbox One copy of the game was provided to Screen Rant for the purposes of this review.

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