Karateka (video game)
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| Karateka | |
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 Commodore 64 cover art for Karateka |
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| Developer(s) | Jordan Mechner |
| Publisher(s) | Brøderbund |
| Designer(s) | Jordan Mechner |
| Engine | Custom |
| Platform(s) | Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari 7800, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, Famicom, ZX Spectrum, Nintendo Game Boy |
| Release date(s) | 1984 |
| Genre(s) | Action |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Rating(s) | N/A |
| Media/distribution | 1 5¼" disk or other, dependent on platform |
Karateka is a 1984 computer game by Jordan Mechner, the creator of Prince of Persia. Karateka was Mechner's first hit game, and was designed while he was attending Yale University. The game was renowned at the time for its realistic animations. In the United States, Karateka was published by Brøderbund. Various versions were licensed to Ariolasoft for publication in Europe.
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[edit] Pronunciation
The title is derived from the Japanese word 空手家 (pronounced [kaɽateka]), meaning 'practitioner of karate'. The title was mispronounced /ˌkærəˈtiːkə/ in a television commercial for the Atari 7800.[1]
[edit] Description
The game begins with an impressive graphic of the fortress of the evil Akuma. Akuma is holding the lovely Princess Mariko. The player must defeat the guards of the castle as well as Akuma's eagle and must eventually face Akuma himself in order to rescue the princess.
Mechner adeptly used character gestures and musical cues to evoke the game's immersive atmosphere. The animations nearly match the quality of the ones seen in Mechner's Prince of Persia five years later.
Combat consists of side views of the two combatants, very much as with a platform game. The hero and the foe fight it out, trading various punches and kicks. Both the hero and enemy can throw three punches and kicks, each at a different height. In the original Apple II version, the height of the blows are controlled with either the joystick, where the type of blow, punch or kick, is specified with one of the two joystick buttons, or the keyboard, where each height of punch or kick had its own key.
The player only has one life, but in lieu of lives, the player has health points, the maximum number of which decreases (eventually reaching only four) as the game progresses; immediately before the battle with Akuma, however, the player's maximum returns to its original level. Receiving blows from the enemy lowers these points, but they can be recovered by resting (not attacking or being struck). The enemy's health points are visible to the player and can likewise be recovered; as the game progresses, the current enemy's maximum health points increase even as the hero's decrease. When all health points are exhausted, the hero or foe is defeated. Unless the protagonist is killed by the falling portcullis – which pierces the hero's body, reduces his health to zero, and leaves a visible pool of blood – the game does not make clear whether the vanquished combatant is killed or merely knocked unconscious.
Before facing Akuma himself, the hero must defeat Akuma's trained bird of prey, which perches on Akuma's arm as does a falcon but bears plumage resembling that of an eagle. The raptor flies toward the hero and attacks; if the hero does not kill it (usually possible only with his shorter-range but faster punch attack), it inflicts two to four often-crucial health points' worth of damage and then flies away, returning after the hero defeats one or more of any further human enemies that remain.
At the successful conclusion of the game, the hero is reunited with Mariko as he frees her from her prison cell. He must then drop his fighting stance and run into her arms. The game concludes with a musical tribute and description of the player's success. If the hero approaches Mariko in fighting stance, she kicks him in the head, killing him in one blow. In the NES version Mariko will accept the player regardless of the stance.
Like many games from its era, and in part because of its short play duration, Karateka did not have a "save game" feature.
[edit] Versions
The game was originally developed for the Apple II. It was later ported to several other systems, including Amstrad CPC, Atari 800, Commodore 64, DOS and ZX Spectrum in 1986. The Atari 7800 port was released in 1987. In 1988, a version for the Atari ST was released. The game was released in Japan for the Famicom in 1984, ported by Soft Pro. An original Game Boy port was done under the name Master Karateka with release limited to Asia.
The Apple II version came on one apparently single-sided disk. As an easter egg, a second version of the game was placed on the flip side of the disk. If one put the disk into the drive upside-down, the game played identically to the first side, except that the game was displayed vertically flipped. According to Mechner, this was done as a joke, causing naive users to call tech support and ask why the game was upside-down. Invariably, they would receive the reply, "take the disk out, insert it right-side up, and reboot".[2]
[edit] Reception
Game reviewers Hartley and Patricia Lesser complimented the game in their "The Role of Computers" column in Dragon #126 (1987), stating "This game has a great plot, animation that'll dazzle your eyes, and player-controlled martial arts action."[3]
[edit] References
- ^ Atari 7800: More Games At Half The Price Commercial
- ^ Forster, Winnie (2005). The encyclopedia of consoles, handhelds & home computers 1972 - 2005. GAMEPLAN. pp. 22. ISBN 3-00-015359-4.
- ^ Lesser, Hartley and Patricia (October 1987). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (126): 82–88.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official link to Karateka on Jordan Mechner's website
- Karateka at MobyGames
- A television commercial mispronouncing Karateka
- Karateka guide at StrategyWiki
