International Karate is a fighting game developed and published by System 3 for the ZX Spectrum in 1985 and ported to various home computers over the following years. In the United States it was published by Epyx in 1986 as World Karate Championship.

It was the first European-developed game to become a major hit in the United States, where it sold over 1.5 million copies. However, it drew controversy for its similarities to Karate Champ (1984), which led to Data East filing a lawsuit against Epyx. International Karate +, a successor which expanded the gameplay, was released in 1987.

The core game is a two-dimensional, one-on-one, versus fighting game. Players take on the roles of martial artists competing in a kumite tournament. Rather than wearing down an opponent's health, the goal is instead to score single solid hits. After each hit, combat stops and both combatants are returned to their starting positions. Depending on how well players hit their opponent, they score either a half-point or a full point. Matches can be quite brief, as only two full points are required to win, and a point can be quickly scored just seconds after a round begins.

In single-player mode, successive opponents increase in difficulty from novice white belts to master black belts. Play continues as long as the player continues to win matches. Between fights, bonus mini-games focusing on rhythm and timing appear, including one in which the player must break a number of stacked boards using the fighter's head. As in newer games in the genre, starting specifically with Street Fighter, the fights take place against a variety of backdrops (eight in total) representing different locations in the world: the Mount Fuji (Tokyo, Japan), the Sydney Harbour (Sydney, Australia), the Statue of Liberty (New York, USA), the Forbidden City (Beijing, China), the Christ the Redeemer (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), the Palace of Westminster (London, England), the Parthenon (Athens, Greece), and the Great Pyramid of Giza (Cairo, Egypt).

The title utilizes the standard one-button joystick, allowing players to execute a variety of karate techniques. Unlike modern 2D fighting games, players do not turn around if the opponent is behind them and must instead execute one of three "turn-around" maneuvers to change direction.