Karateka (video game)
Encyclopedia
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.
'. The title was mispronounced ˌkærəˈtiːkə in a television commercial for the Atari 7800
.
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. 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 also visible to the player. When all health points are exhausted, the hero or foe is defeated (it is never made clear whether the vanquished adversary is killed or merely knocked unconscious).
Typical of games from this era, and because the game was so short, Karateka did not have a "save game" feature.
At one point, the hero must fight Akuma's trained eagle
before facing Akuma himself.
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.
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".
#126 (1987), stating "This game has a great plot, animation that'll dazzle your eyes, and player-controlled martial arts action."
Jordan Mechner
Jordan Mechner is an American video game designer, screenwriter, author, and filmmaker, best known for creating the Prince of Persia video game franchise.- Life and career :Mechner was born in New York City...
, the creator of Prince of Persia
Prince of Persia
Prince of Persia is a platform game, originally developed by Jordan Mechner and released in 1989 for the Apple II, that represented a great leap forward in the quality of animation seen in video games....
. Karateka was Mechner's first hit game, and was designed while he was attending Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. The game was renowned at the time for its realistic animations. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Karateka was published
Video game publisher
A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer....
by Brøderbund
Brøderbund
Brøderbund Software, Inc. was an American maker of computer games, educational software and The Print Shop productivity tools. It was best known as the original creator and publisher of the popular Carmen Sandiego games. The company was founded in Eugene, Oregon, but moved to San Rafael,...
. Various versions were licensed to Ariolasoft
Ariolasoft
Ariolasoft GmbH, later known as United Software, was a German computer game developer, publisher and distributor. It started as the software subsidiary of Ariola Records...
for publication in Europe.
Pronunciation
The title is derived from the Japanese word 空手家 , meaning 'practitioner of karateKarate
is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...
'. The title was mispronounced ˌkærəˈtiːkə in a television commercial for the Atari 7800
Atari 7800
The Atari 7800 ProSystem, or simply the Atari 7800, is a video game console re-released by Atari Corporation in January 1986. The original release had occurred two years earlier under Atari Inc. The 7800 had originally been designed to replace Atari Inc.'s Atari 5200 in 1984, but was temporarily...
.
Description
The game begins with an impressive graphic of the fortress of the evil Akuma. Akuma is holding the lovely PrincessPrincess
Princess is the feminine form of prince . Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or his daughters....
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
Immersion (virtual reality)
Immersion is the state of consciousness where an immersant's awareness of physical self is diminished or lost by being surrounded in an engrossing total environment; often artificial. This mental state is frequently accompanied with spatial excess, intense focus, a distorted sense of time, and...
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
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
. 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
Joystick
A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks, also known as 'control columns', are the principal control in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a center stick or...
, 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. 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 also visible to the player. When all health points are exhausted, the hero or foe is defeated (it is never made clear whether the vanquished adversary is killed or merely knocked unconscious).
Typical of games from this era, and because the game was so short, Karateka did not have a "save game" feature.
At one point, the hero must fight Akuma's trained eagle
Eagle
Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...
before facing Akuma himself.
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.
Versions
The game was originally developedVideo game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
for the Apple II. It was later ported
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
to several other systems, including Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
, Atari 800, Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
, DOS
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
and ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
in 1986. The Atari 7800
Atari 7800
The Atari 7800 ProSystem, or simply the Atari 7800, is a video game console re-released by Atari Corporation in January 1986. The original release had occurred two years earlier under Atari Inc. The 7800 had originally been designed to replace Atari Inc.'s Atari 5200 in 1984, but was temporarily...
port was released in 1987. In 1988, a version for the Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
was released. The game was released in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
for the Famicom
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
in 1984, ported by Soft Pro. An original Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
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".
Reception
Game reviewers Hartley and Patricia Lesser complimented the game in their "The Role of Computers" column in DragonDragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#126 (1987), stating "This game has a great plot, animation that'll dazzle your eyes, and player-controlled martial arts action."
External links
- Official link to Karateka on Jordan Mechner's website
- A television commercial mispronouncing Karateka