page_title: Karateka (video game)
section_title: Development
hierarchical_section_title: Karateka (video game) / Development
caption_attribution_description: Jordan Mechner, the creator of Prince of Persia, participates in a panel on the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time film at WonderCon 2010.
context_page_description: Karateka is a 1984 martial arts action game by Jordan Mechner and was his first published game, created while attending Yale University. It was originally programmed for the Apple II, then widely ported. The game was published in North America by Broderbund and in Europe by Ariolasoft. Along with Swashbuckler, Karate Champ, and Yie-Ar Kung Fu, Karateka was one of the earliest fighting games.
  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 fighting game and side-scrolling beat 'em up elements. The player uses punches and kicks to defeat Akuma and his guards and make his way deeper into the fortress.
  A 2012 remake, led by Mechner, was released in 2012 as a downloadable title for the Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and iOS.
context_section_description: Karateka was developed by Jordan Mechner while he was a student at Yale University as a side project between his classes. In learning to program on the Apple II, he had written a clone of Asteroids and a modified version he titled Deathbounce. He submitted Deathbounce to Broderbund, which they declined. They provided Mechner with a copy of Choplifter, then one of the top selling games from Broderbund. Mechner recognized from this game that he could pursue original game concepts instead of having to remake existing titles.
  Using some of the graphic features that Choplifter provided, Mechner focused on a karate-themed game as a result of numerous factors which included his ongoing studies as a film student, his involvement in several film clubs at Yale, and having recently taken lessons in karate at the time. He also drew inspiration from Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock print art, and the cinematic works of Akira Kurosawa, early Disney animated films, and silent pictures; he claimed that such works "convey such powerful emotion and atmosphere without a word being spoken". One of his goals was to combine cinematic techniques with game elements to create a novel experience; from this, Mechner programmed some of the screen wipes used in Seven Samurai as game elements. In reflecting on the game, Mechner stated that he did not consider the game as a "fighting game", but instead that of "a story-based game where the gameplay mechanic is fighting".
  Mechner wanted to create fluid animations within the Apple II's eight frames per second capacity, but this was hampered by the presence of additional on-screen elements, such as one of the palace gates. Mechner found that he could not animate and play music (limited to one-note tones) at the same time, forcing him to adapt to these limitations. To create the animations, he used rotoscoping, the process of hand-drawing cartoons superimposed atop each frame of film of his karate instructor demonstrating various moves. Mechner credits his father with creating the music for the game. Work to complete the game took approximately two years, with Mechner submitting the game to Broderbund during the later part of his sophomore year at Yale.
caption: Jordan Mechner programmed Karateka on his own while a student at Yale.
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