Best of the Best: Championship Karate on NES is one of those fighting games that actually makes you feel like you're learning something. You start ranked 16th—which, let's be honest, is kind of a slap in the face after all that "lifetime of training" talk—but climbing the ranks feels satisfying. The 55 moves aren't just flashy animations; you really have to time your blocks and counters or you'll eat a spinning kick to the face.

What surprised me was how much the training mode matters. You can't just button-mash your way to the top—your fighter's stats improve based on how you drill them, so skipping practice means getting wrecked by later opponents. The graphics hold up weirdly well for an NES game, especially the way fighters react to hits with these exaggerated staggers that make every landed punch feel heavy.

It's janky in that classic 8-bit way, but there's depth here if you're willing to dig into it. Just don't expect mercy from the CPU after rank 10.