RemakeKaratekaNov 7, 2012New production

Release
1984
Critic score
70/100
Platform families
1
Editorial overview
What it is
Karateka is a 1984 beat'em up video game by Jordan Mechner, and was his first game created while attending Yale University. It was originally programmed for the Apple II, and was later ported to several other home computers and early gaming consoles. The game was published in North America by Brøderbund, and in Europe by Ariolasoft.
The player controls an unnamed protagonist who is attempting to rescue his love interest, the Princess Mariko, from Akuma's castle fortress. The game exhibits a combination of a side-scrolling platform and fighting game elements. The player uses punches and kicks to defeat Akuma and his guards and make his way deeper into the fortress. The game, as with most at the time of development, lacked checkpoints or the ability to save the game, making it a challenge to complete in a single sitting.
Karateka has been well-received, particularly for its realistic animations used for the game's characters. The game was considered a breakthrough success for Mechner, and would eventually result in his development of the Prince of Persia franchise. A high-definition remake, spearheaded by Mechner, was released as a downloadable title for the Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, with planned ports for the iOS and Wii U systems.
Play styles
Single player
More like this
Jordan Mechner · Brøderbund Software
Connected releases
2
Game data from IGDB
Perspective
Side view
Themes
Action
Languages
1 supported
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Atari 7800
Gen 3

Atari 8-bit

PC-9800 Series

Commodore C64/128/MAX

ZX Spectrum

Android

Atari ST/STE

iOS

DOS

Apple II

Family Computer
Gen 3

Amstrad CPC

MSX