Karate Man Returns!

とんでくるモノを Aボタンでパンチ！ よくあるゲーム？ …かもね。" "(Punch the incoming objects with the A button! It's a common game... right?)

— Karate Man Description (Rhythm Tengoku)

とんでくるモノを Aボタンでパンチ！ 気合とノリで ぶつ飛ばそう！" "(Punch the incoming objects with the A button! With spirit and flow, let's fly!)

— Karate Man Description (Rhythm Tengoku Arcade)

More karate training! We've got an all-new song and all new stuff to throw at you! (No practice)

— Karate Man Returns! Description (Rhythm Heaven Megamix)

Karate Man Returns! (かえってきた カラテ家^?, Kaettekita Karateka), known in Rhythm Tengoku as Karate Man (カラテ家^?, Karateka), is the 1st minigame in Rhythm Tengoku and the 33rd minigame in Rhythm Heaven Megamix. In this game, Karate Joe is training by punching flying objects off-screen. The sequel, Karate Man 2, is unlocked later on in Rhythm Tengoku. It's also a sequel to Karate Man in Rhythm Heaven Megamix.

Gameplay

File:Karate Man Arcade.png

File:Hey baby gameplay.png

The gameplay of this game sees Karate Joe punching flying objects off-screen by pressing the A button. The flow bar (found only in Rhythm Tengoku) is located on the left and acts as an ability meter of sorts, responding to the player's success (see below). Unless the meter is at three or more, Karate Joe cannot punch rocks or bombs; attempting to do so will result in a miss. There are various objects that need to be punched off-screen:

• Pot
• Rock
• Soccer Ball
• Light Bulb (only in Rhythm Tengoku)
• Bomb (only in Rhythm Tengoku)
• Cooking Pot (only in Rhythm Heaven Megamix)

Controls

Button Mode

• A: Punch

Simple Tap Mode

• Tap: Punch

Timing Notes

• Hit: Karate Joe will punch the object off-screen. In Rhythm Tengoku, the flow bar will increase by one if it is not full.
• Barely: Karate Joe will wince as the object lands on the ground just in front of him. The flow bar will decrease by one. A barely counts as a miss.
• Miss: Karate Joe will gasp as the object flies past him. The Flow bar will deplete completely. When punching a rock or a bomb in Rhythm Tengoku, and the flow bar is not high enough, Karate Joe will gasp as the object falls to the ground and his fist will turn red in pain.

Lyrics

Hey! Baby! How's it going?
This beat is non stop.
Hey! Baby! Listen to my phrase.
I can give you
the sense of rhythm.
Oh, Yeah.

Hey! Baby! How's it going?
This beat is non stop.
Hey! Baby! Listen to my phrase.
I can give you
the sense of rhythm.
Awake, baby! Trust me!

This beat is non stop!
New groove in your soul.
Oh, Yeah!
This beat!
You are growing up well.
Hey, Baby!
Hold on to your ambition.
Hey! Oh, Yeah!

Rating Notes

Rhythm Tengoku

Header

• "師匠のおことば" (Master's words)

Try Again

• "きほんが できてない。" (The basics are not set.)
• "つづけざまは ニガテみたいだね。" (It seems you're not good at the successive parts.)

OK

• "う~ん．．．" (Yeah...)
• "まぁまぁ、 かな。" (OK, I guess?)
• "とりあえず．．．" (Anyway...)
• "よしと します。" (You did your best.)

Superb

• "れんぞくパンチに キレがある！" (There is a sharpness to your successive punches!)
• "さいご キマってた！" (You nailed the last part!)

Rhythm Heaven Megamix

Header

• "Mutterings from the Master"

Try Again

• "Your punches lack pizzazz."
• "You can't spell "triple punch" without "trip.""

OK

• "Eh. Passable."

Superb

• "Your punches have some punch."
• "Three cheers for your triple punches!"

Epilogue

Rhythm Tengoku

• Karate Man GBA Try Again.PNG

  "明日が あるさ。" (There's always tomorrow.)

• Karate Man GBA OK.PNG

  "とりあえず、ごはん 食べとこう！" (Let's break for lunch!)

• Karate Man GBA Superb.PNG

  "こんなに ブッとばしちゃった！！" (You sent all of this flying!!)

Rhythm Heaven Megamix

• Karate Man 3DS Try Again.PNG

  "Maybe this would go better if I practiced on that mountain...."

• Karate Man 3DS OK.PNG

  "Focus... Focus..."

• Karate Man 3DS Superb.PNG

  "I am ALL ABOUT this karate thing!"

Rhythm Item

Cooking Pot

There is no name.	There is no title.
File:Sprite 3DS Rhythm Item Cooking Pot.png.png	There is no description.

Skill Star

The Skill Star can be collected when you hit the rock at the very end of the minigame.

Appearances

• Karate Man Arcade.png

  Karate Man
  Remix 1
  Remix 6
  Remix 7
  Remix 8

• Karate Joe 2 (GBA).png

  Karate Man 2

• Karate Man Arcade Remix 8.png

  Remix 8

• Karate Man Tempo Up gameplay.png

  Karate Man Tempo Up!
  Remix 1 Tempo Up!

• Karate Man Story gameplay.png

  Karate Man

• Hey baby gameplay.png

  Karate Man Returns!
  Right-Hand Remix

• Karate Man Returns! Honeybee.png

  Honeybee Remix

Karate Man 2P

とんでくるモノを Aボタンでパンチ！ 気合とノリで ぶっ飛ばそう!" "(Punch the incoming objects with the A button! Let's go with the flow!)

— Karate Man 2P Description

Template:Game-Nav Template:Minigame infobox Karate Man also appears in the 2P mode of Rhythm Tengoku (Arcade) where it is referred to as Karate Man 2P (カラテ家 2P^?, Karateka 2P). It plays the same as the 1P version, except it has a split screen display to accommodate the second player. As a consequence of this design, the flow bar remains off screen.

• Karate Man Arcade2-P.PNG

Trivia

• Karate Man has become rather well-known for being the first ever rhythm game in the franchise. This has allowed it to make it into the next three games in the series, all with new mechanics.
• Karate Man is one of the three games to return in each installment of the series, the others being Built to Scale (Polyrhythm in Tengoku) and Samurai Slice.
• The name Karate Joe may be based on Knuckle Joe from the Kirby series. Both use their fists and feet (see Karate Man Kicks!), their first names are fighting-related and they end with "Joe".
• Like the other games in Stage 1, this game reappears in the arcade version as part of the Extra stage, where it is sped up with new orchestration.
• This is the first game in the Rhythm Heaven Series to include vocals. Interestingly, the game's lyrics are given as part of the "Rhythm Haiku Collection" reading material rather it's own lyrics card. Its name is labeled "Karate Rhythm".
  • Additionally, this is the only game in the entire series to use its practice music as part of the actual game.
• The audio gasp for missing the object in Rhythm Tengoku may override the thrown object cue. This may cause problems if trying to play the stage without looking at the screen.
• Missing a single object will result in an automatic OK in the Tengoku version.
• The Rhythm Heaven Megamix version is slightly changed from the original, as the light bulbs were replaced by other objects and the "Hit 2!" cue near the end was changed to "Hit 3!". The bomb at the end of the aforementioned cue was replaced with a cooking pot. The flow meter is not present in this game, so Karate Joe can punch rocks without hurting his fist like he did in the GBA version. Also, he punches mostly left-handed, instead of always punching with his right.
• Karate Man is one of the few games that gained a sequel/threequel in Megamix. The others are Air Rally, Figure Fighter, The Clappy Trio, Rhythm Rally & Flipper Flop.

Video

Rhythm Tengoku	Rhythm Heaven Megamix
File:Rhythm Tengoku Perfect Play Stage 1-1 - Karateka-0	File:Rhythm Heaven Megamix - Karate Man Returns! (Perfect) (English)

In Other Languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	帰ってきた カラテ家 Return of Karate Man
French	Super karatéka
Spanish	El regreso de Kárate Killo
Italian	Il Ritorno di Karate Ka
Korean	돌아온 격투가 Return of the Fighter