Karateka
1984 · Fighting · Apple II
Overview
Karateka (1984) is Jordan Mechner's rotoscoped Apple II martial-arts game, in which a lone fighter climbs to Akuma's fortress to rescue Princess Mariko.
Deep Dive
An unnamed hero climbs a mountain to the fortress of the warlord Akuma, who holds Princess Mariko prisoner, fighting guards one at a time along the way. The fighters move with unusually lifelike animation, and the game cuts away to scenes inside the fortress, showing Mariko and Akuma before the player arrives. The finale contains a famous trap: approaching Mariko in a fighting stance gets the hero killed by a single kick, while approaching her peacefully completes the rescue.
Developer Story
Mechner made Karateka while studying at Yale and submitted it late in his sophomore year. Broderbund released it for the Apple II in December 1984, and it sold more than 500,000 copies by 2000. Mechner's next game was Prince of Persia.
Did You Know?
- Mechner created the animation by drawing over film of his karate teacher, a technique called rotoscoping.
- Putting the Apple II disk in upside down made the game play upside down — a deliberate Easter egg.
Sources & further reading
- Karateka (video game) — Wikipedia
