Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues is a Beat 'em Up video game based on the Web Original series Cobra Kai, developed by Flux Game Studio. It was released on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on October 27, 2020, and Windows on January 5, 2021.
The story is centered on Demetri and Hawk recalling the events from their own perspectives and is based on the two seasons of the show that were out at the time.
A sequel, Cobra Kai 2: Dojos Rising, was released on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X and Series S on November 8, 2020.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Badass:
- Obviously Johnny and Daniel were never able to manipulate fire and ice in the Karate Kid canon.
- Several characters who don't do any fighting in the show appear as bosses, such as Yasmine, Tom Cole, Armand and Sid (although in Sid's case, he's a Flunky Boss who doesn't attempt to fight back if you attack him directly). None of them have suddenly gained any martial arts aptitude, but many of them either found some... creative means to fight you on your level, can summon hordes of dangerous backup to do the fighting for them (Armand in particular summons the stage's midboss near the end of the fight), or fight in dangerous areas with numerous stage hazards.
- Some other characters who did get into fights during the show also appear as bosses, notably Cruz, Trey, and Derek (the third thief who whacked Robby with an oar). These guys may have ended up on the wrong end of a Curb-Stomp Battle in the series, but in this game? They take a lot more punishment before going down.
- Alternate Continuity: The game clearly does not share continuity with the show, as it adapts the events of season 2 in Broad Strokes, but with the additions of Daniel and Johnny putting aside their rivalry for good, Kreese being defeated a lot earlier, and an Early-Bird Cameo from Shawn Payne, introduced in season 3, that implies he was sent to juvie for a very different reason than in the show.
- Boss Rush: The final stage sees you fighting all but one of the non-Rivalry bosses you've fought thus far on your way to the confrontation between Johnny and Daniel.
- Composite Character: Moon doesn't appear in the game, so Yasmine takes on some of her Granola Girl characteristics.
- Devil in Plain Sight: Even if you know basically nothing about the series, Kreese's in-game design doesn't even try to hide how he's almost certainly not on the up-and-up, and he's indeed the True Final Boss.
- Early-Bird Cameo: With the obvious exception of one Elite Mook mid-boss, every single mid-boss AND boss fight during the Clue and Rivalry stages is a character from the two seasons of the show that existed at the time. The only other apparent exception to this, Shawn (the mid-boss fight at the mall), is actually from the THIRD season, which was in production at the time. Funnily enough, the game makes mention of how 'he ain't going to juvy' - he's captured by security following the boss fight in the mall, and in the show itself, that's EXACTLY where he's met. Though, no word on whether it was due to tagging and starting fights at a mall. However, it is revealed in Season 4 that Shawn was sent there for brutally assaulting a former friend to protect his younger brother, Kenny.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: After everything they've been through for the past 34 years and now, Johnny and Daniel have successfully defeated Kreese together, and they've decided to put an end to their rivalry once and for all - as long as neither of them thinks about attacking the other's dojo.
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: The story treats certain boss fights as if they were fought one-on-one between specific characters (e.g. Sam vs Tory at the school), but the gameplay allows you to choose between up to four playable characters in your chosen dojo and swap between them during the fight, which can lead to odd out of character situations like Miguel fighting Sam and Daniel or Johnny entering the High School in the middle of the day to fight a bunch of teenagers.
- Incompletely Trained: During the True Final Boss battle, Kreese will promptly be showing Johnny that he kept a few of his Cobra Kai techniques for his own, exclusive use, on top of the special moves the two share. Once Kreese gets his second wind (and half his life bar back), letting him whiff a specific one of those techniques a few times is the only way to ensure his undoing.
- Lighter and Softer: The game's story is basically a Saturday-Morning Cartoon version of the events of Seasons 1 and 2 of the show (mostly 2, with some Production Foreshadowing for 3 at the time), and while several parts of the game's story match up with that of the show - the mall hosts a confrontation between Demetri and Hawk, the All Valley Arena ends in a rematch between Miguel and Robby, and even the big brawl at the school is accounted for (though discounting the mooks you'll be fighting on your way there, the only story-important characters who get a kicking are mid-boss Mitch/Chris and boss Tory/Sam, in stark contrast to the show) - everything turns out much better for everyone involved, and Kreese is dealt with far earlier than he is in the series.
- Mythology Gag: Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do's ability to conjure fire and ice respectively references Johnny and Daniel's association with these motifs in the films and TV series. Johnny drives a Pontiac Firebird which is destroyed by Daniel's cousin Louie when his biker gang burns it, and he later punches through a bunch of flaming bricks during the Valley Fest demo. Daniel famously broke six blocks of ice with a chop in The Karate Kid Part II, and attempts to do the same in the show before being upstaged by Johnny's aforementioned demonstration.
- No-Sell: During the final battle with Kreese, you'll have to mix up a combination of punches, kicks, jumping attacks, and special techniques as he'll start nullifying damage from each of those once he's taken enough total damage from a given attack type. At least he makes it clear to you when it happens. You have to get a little creative once he's seemingly completely shut out your offenses.
- Supernatural Martial Arts: Both Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do utilize this; the former use fire-themed attacks while the latter use ice-themed attacks.
