Karateka (1984)

at August 18, 2023

 

Karateka is a 1984 martial arts action game by Jordan Mechner and is his first published game, created for the Apple II while attending Yale University. The game was published in North America by Broderbund and in Europe by Ariolasoft. Along with Karate Champ and Yie-Ar Kung Fu (both also released in 1984), Karateka is one of the earliest martial arts fighting games. It was inspired by Japanese culture (Ukiyo-e art, Akira Kurosawa films, and manga comics) and by early Disney animated films and silent pictures.

The player controls an unnamed protagonist attempting to rescue his love interest, Princess Mariko, from Akuma's castle fortress. The character walks and runs from left to right through a linear, side-scrolling level, dealing with attackers and obstacles, while moving deeper into the fortress. Each encounter with an enemy is one-on-one, as in a fighting game. Cinematic cuts show Mariko's situation and Akuma's actions prior to the player reaching them.

Karateka was ported to the Amstrad CPC, Atari 8-bit family, Atari 7800, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Nintendo Entertainment System, ZX Spectrum, MSX, and Game Boy. Mechner led a 2012 remake, released in 2012 for the Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and iOS.