If you always wanted to kick-punch like The Karate Kid Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), his frenemy Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), or many of the other classic characters fromThe KarateKidseries' spin-offCobra Kai, boy is it the day for you!Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continuesarrives today (!) for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One, and you can check out the first trailer above.
As the press release puts it:
“The game contains dialogue featuring the voices of Ralph Macchio and William Zabka. Players can swap between eight playable characters seamlessly in battle, each with their own unique upgradeable attacks, combos and skill trees. Players can also face fierce enemies and bosses in hard-hitting brawls, and explore the Cobra Kai universe across 28 story missions.”
I haven’t had a chance to play it myself, but it feels like a title that’s definitely for the hardcore fans of the franchise who want to pick up anything and everything related to it. The gameplay looks pretty sketchy when it comes down to it, but I have to admit that the sights and the sounds of the brawler are legit.
Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continuesalso features an original score byCobra Kaiseries composersLeo BirenbergandZach Robinson. The new game is inspired by and based on the popular Netflix Original Series. Along with the game’s debut, an accompanying soundtrack album will be released by Madison Gate Records. The game and the soundtrack album will give fans added excitement as they get ready forCobra Kai’s third season, which premieres exclusively on Netflix on January 8th.
Made in collaboration with the series' showrunners, the game delivers an original two-fold story from dueling perspectives complete with character-driven cutscenes and a classic 80’s inspired score from Birenberg and Robinson.
“If you take a listen to “Strike First,” “Mall Fight,” or “Hallway Hellscape” off our series soundtrack albums, you’ll immediately hear how the music of Cobra Kai is intrinsically linked to retro video game soundtracks,” says Robinson. “We grew up playing side-scrolling brawlers like Streets of Rage, Double Dragon, Final Fight, and Power Rangers, and the music of those games is a huge influence to the show’s sound.”
“When we were approached to score the Cobra Kai game, we were incredibly excited, both as composers and gamers, to awaken the snake and fully embrace the score’s video game-inspired roots,” added Birenberg. “The sound of the game expands on the show’s 1980’s-influenced, heavy metal and synthwave palette, but draws further on the video game soundtrack ethos created by composers such as Kazunaka Yamane and Nobuo Uematsu. We composed over 25 new tracks each with its own personality and flavor depending on the level they accompany.”
In conjunction with the video game, published by GameMill Entertainment, a 25-track soundtrack album will be released today as well, featuring all-new, original music scored by the composers of the hit Netflix Original Series. Starting at noon ET today,you can listen to the game soundtrack through your favorite music streaming service, and in the meantime you canfind out more about the game here.
About Zach Robinson:
Zach Robinson is an LA-based composer, music producer, and electronic musician. Zach is most known for co-composing the score to the mega-hit seriesCobra Kai, a sequel series to the classic Karate Kid film franchise. In 2009, he founded the project D/A/D, which has been heralded as one of the pioneers of modern synthwave. Over the past few years, Zach has composed the music for theImpractical Jokersmovie, Kevin Hart action-comedy Die Hart, Norwegian Sitcom Oljefondet, and the ABC pilot The Hypnotist’s Love Story.
About Leo Birenberg:
Leo Birenberg has catapulted to the forefront of TV and film music, now one of the industry’s most sought-after composers. Currently, Leo’s music is featured in Dreamworks’ new Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny, Netflix’s mega-hit series, Cobra Kai, Hulu’s coming-of-age comedy PEN15, and Adult Swim’s Tigtone. Working across a variety of genres and platforms, he has also scored Fox’s Son of Zorn, TruTV’s Adam Ruins Everything, Seeso’s Take My Wife, Comedy Central’s Big Time in Hollywood, FL, and the critically acclaimed documentaries In Search of Greatness and Red Army. He recently scored the indie smash-hit Plus One, which won the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival Audience Award.
AboutCobra Kai:
In the highly-anticipated return of two iconic characters, the arch-rivals from the legendary Karate Kid film series reunite over 30 years after the events of the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament. Now living in the affluent hills of Encino, Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) leads an enviable life with his beautiful family, while running a successful string of car dealerships throughout the valley. Meanwhile, his high school adversary, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), whose life has taken a rocky turn, seeks redemption by reopening the infamous Cobra Kai karate dojo. Their lives inevitably become intertwined and the rivalry is reignited, setting forth the next generation of “karate kids” in COBRA KAI. COBRA KAI is written and executive produced by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg via their production company, Counterbalance Entertainment. COBRA KAI is produced by Overbrook Entertainment in association with Sony Pictures Television.
