Chuck Norris Superkicks

Chuck Norris Superkicks was published by Xonox in 1983 for the Atari 2600, and it holds a curious place in history: it is one of the earliest martial arts video games, released a year before Karate Champ reached the arcades, and an early experiment in selling a game on a celebrity name. Norris himself appears only as a small figure in black trousers, but the box made sure you knew exactly who you were playing.

The game alternates between two views. From above you guide your fighter along a winding path toward a monastery where he is to learn the secrets of the masters. Ambushes wait along the way, and each one switches the screen to a close-up, one-on-one fight. You get high and low kicks, a spinning move and a block, and every won encounter moves you up a ladder of colored belts, from white toward black.

Everything is squeezed by a merciless time limit. Linger on the road or lose too many fights and the monastery stays out of reach, so the real opponent is the clock — progress means memorizing the route and fighting economically.

Honestly, this is a thin game even by Atari 2600 standards. The fights repeat quickly, opponents barely differ, and the whole experience rests on a few minutes of mechanically similar action. It is far more interesting as an artifact: it shows what fighting games looked like before Karate Champ and International Karate, and how early the industry discovered licensed celebrities. When the Norris license lapsed, Xonox simply renamed the game Kung Fu Superkicks and kept on selling it.

As a curiosity and a quick challenge it still earns a few rounds, especially if the prehistory of fighting games interests you. You can try it on oldgame.cz right in your browser, no installation needed.