[Review] Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues, el juego de la po[CENSORED]r serie (PC, Switch, Xbox One)

[WilkerCSBD]

We are very clear that it is not the current genre in fashion, far from it, but what is quite evident is that the beat 'em up are beginning to resurface ... albeit slowly. After several decades without hardly enjoying any relevant exponent, the one who was once one of the kings of the arcades seems to be beginning to recover some of the lost interest for development studies, with several works belonging to this genre already being the ones that we have enjoyed it for the past few months. And the most recent game of these same characteristics to appear is nothing more and nothing less than Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues, a very juicy license and that we suppose you will agree with us that it lends itself a lot to the style of street fights that it proposes this creation of the small Flux studio.

It goes without saying that the television license has been squeezed to the last consequences, and that includes both the characters that meet throughout the game and their history and background. A narrative that has been created for the occasion and that, for a title of these characteristics, is not badly elaborated ... but come on, we bet that it will not be awarded prizes for its originality or depth either. Fortunately, what does give a lot more of itself is its playability, which after all is what matters. And it is that we are before a good exponent within its genre, which offers a wide handful of virtues that right now we are going to expose, starting with its structure and contents, which have pleasantly surprised us.

Two dojos, two roads
One of the first interesting notes that this production offers us has to do with the choice that needs to be made as soon as you start playing. Yes, we are talking about the dojo we want to belong to and adhere to, the usual Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do being the two available candidates. A choice that has more relevance than you can imagine at first and that is anything but trivial, given that depending on our selection, many important aspects of the game are modified, starting with its own controllable characters. Indeed, each dojo has its unique members and students, from Miguel, Hawk or Johnny to Sam, Tory or Daniel himself. All of them will sound like the followers of the original series, since they become its protagonists.

As we move forward it is possible to meet new characters, being able to alternate their control at any time through the digital crosshead.
But the fact of opting for one or another dojo has much more significance than that linked to its controllable characters. Each one houses various characteristics and general styles that define the fighting style of our characters. In this way Cobra Kai bets on strength, offensive power and fire as elemental power; while in the opposing team the balance, the defense and the power of the ice are their standards. Along with this, each side has its own unique skill tree that allows us to gradually empower our characters, being able to use the coins dropped by the adversaries for this purpose. The latter adds a lot of interest to the title and encourages us to make the most complex combos that we can, since as a reward we receive a greater number of these objects.

At the beginning of the game we have to choose a dojo between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do, a choice that has much more significance than could be expected.
And to end the issue of the duality of dojos, it is also necessary to specify that each one has its own "Campaign", so to speak. The events, dialogues (in English with Spanish subtitles), situations and confrontations are different and even complementary, showing us the general story from two different points of view, a quality that seems very remarkable in a title of this nature. And the best thing about this is that to contemplate the true end of the game it is necessary to overcome the history of both sides, a fact that in addition to giving a special interest to development extends the useful life of the game. A characteristic that denotes the interest and effort that the studio has made when conceiving his work.

It is possible to learn new special attacks, some of them as spectacular as the one you have in the image.
As for the development itself, we are facing an arcade of side-scrolling fights of the old ones in the purest Double Dragon or Streets of Rage style. Whether playing solo or doubles in local mode (it does not integrate online mode), we have to advance through a good number of phases (more than twenty) ending with blows with anyone who thinks of messing with us ... dessert are hundreds of types. The control system is quite simple but offers a good number of possibilities. Jumping, punching and kicking and rolling on the ground to evade the attacks of the adversaries are the basic commands that are integrated into the front buttons, although to this is added the possibility of carrying out special attacks (which need to be recharged after use) plus another more devastating that is only possible when the indicator of our dojo is full. Thanks to this handling we can perform very striking and powerful combos, dodge the attacks of the adversaries (especially those of the toughest rivals) and, as we have already told you, gradually enable new techniques for the characters, which by the way have their own own set of movements.

The plot is exclusive to this title and it is well managed, but it is not the best asset that this fighting arcade has.
The game dynamics that have been captured in this beat 'em up is by no means original, since it is the same formula of advancing and getting involved with blows that we have enjoyed so many times in many previous works. But the theme of the dojos offers the necessary freshness, the handling allows us to carry out a wide number of actions and the fact of being able to complete two different "campaigns" seems enough to make this proposal a very notable exponent within its genre in playable matter. In addition, technically it also fully complies, highlighting the modeling of the protagonists, who are immediately recognizable, as well as the wide diversity of locations that we have to go through.

Of course, it is fair to say that the animations of both the protagonists and some enemies have seemed somewhat robotic in some cases, especially at the beginning (then you get used to it). And as for the sound, the dubbing has been done by the actors of the original series themselves, while the sound effects sound strong enough.