Random Game O' the Day: Karateka

[digitalpress]

The DP Random Game Generator has chosen Karateka. I'm very sorry to say that it has chosen the Atari 7800 version of said game.

The rest is up to you. What do you think about this title? Feel free to compare the terrific computer versions to the 7800 if it helps get your point across.

DP Guide sez:

Karateka (Atari 7800, by Atari) $5/R2 -
Developed by IBID Inc. In remaining true to form, this version is just as horrible as all the other versions that came after the Atari 8-bit. EASTER EGGS: Hidden in the actual ROM code is the message: "Mommy and me are one. The End." #CX7822.

http://www.digitpress.com/dpsightz/atari7800/karateka.gif

[Gamereviewgod]

I spent 10 minutes with this one, couldn't figure out the controls to save my life, got ticked off, threw it across my room. End of story. :angry:

[Kid Fenris]

I remember watching my cousin breeze through the Apple II version in its entirety, and I was never once interested enough to play it myself. It just seemed tiresome and repetitive, and when I finally got around to trying out the game later on, my suspicions were confirmed. Perhaps the other versions were better.

All the same, I'll give the programmers credit for that trick at the end with the princess. After an otherwise bland game, it was a hilarious surprise.

And what's up with that secret message? Is Karateka some sort of Freudian fable?

[davidbrit2]

Wait, what happens at the end? Feel free to use black text for spoiler hiding. Heh. And yeah, the Atari 7800 version was a disaster.

[Darth Sensei]

I've never played this version. I enjoyed the C64 version tho.

[digitalpress]

Wait, what happens at the end? Feel free to use black text for spoiler hiding. Heh. And yeah, the Atari 7800 version was a disaster.

Black text answer below.

When you finish off all of the bad guys, eagle and end boss, you greet the princess at the end, in the room where she was being held. The funny thing is, that if you WALK to her, she throws a quick kick to your groin area... and YOU DIE! You HAVE to run to her to end the game properly.

AMAZING!

By the way, I love the Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit versions of the game. They are repetitive but no more so than other classic-era titles, and the game actually does have cut-scenes and a story which makes it kinda fun. But the abysmal 7800 version not only slowed the game down to a crawl but the controls are VERY unresponsive. I've never played the Apple version, I wonder if that falls on the very good or very bad side by *my* definitions.

[IntvGene]

I needed the keyboard to play this game. I just couldn't handle the joystick controls, so that basically took out all of the non-computer versions. This was just another 7800 disappointment.

But, the computer versions were awesome. What a game! This was the first (or one of) cinematic experiences for me in gaming history. I loved it. I also remember falling off the cliff at the start of the game, as a joke. I also remember the bowing.

This game was Broderbund at its finest.

[zmeston]

All the same, I'll give the programmers credit for that trick at the end with the princess. After an otherwise bland game, it was a hilarious surprise.

ProgrammER, singular. This was the early '80s, after all. Karateka was created by Jordan Mechner, who went on to do Prince of Persia, the all-time classic platformer. He had nothing to do with the weak Prince of Persia 3D, but he IS involved with the utterly amazing PoP: The Sands of Time.

-- Z.

[bargora]

When I first fired up Karateka for my 7800, I just figured that it was one of those games that required a second joystick or a keypad or something, seeing how I couldn't even beat the first guy.

What was interesting in retrospect is that I noticed the similarity between the life bars in Karateka and Prince of Persia, although it didn't occur to me that it was possible that the games were programmed by the same person.

[GrandAmChandler]

I have trouble with this game as well, but I have to give it credit, with it being the predecessor to the original Prince of Persia game. When I was a kid I played that for days..........

(Goes to search for Prince of Persia)

[The Unknown Gamer]

If Atari wanted to create a crappy fighter for the 7800 they did it with Karateka. The controls are a mess, but that is nothing new can anyone say Fight Night.

[kainemaxwell]

I have this on my NES multi-cart. Playe dit for awhile after figuring the controls out. Didn't get too far. Always enjoyed backing up all the way and falling off the cliff at the very start of the game too.

[Ed Oscuro]

All the same, I'll give the programmers credit for that trick at the end with the princess. After an otherwise bland game, it was a hilarious surprise.

Actually, the sole person who worked on the game was a certain Jordan Mechner. He rotoscoped all the graphics, and he did all the programming. He also created the "disk upside down/game plays upside down" trick, and in the original release at least the vendor actually made 'em that way!

[zmeston]

All the same, I'll give the programmers credit for that trick at the end with the princess. After an otherwise bland game, it was a hilarious surprise.

Actually, the sole person who worked on the game was a certain Jordan Mechner. He rotoscoped all the graphics, and he did all the programming. He also created the "disk upside down/game plays upside down" trick, and in the original release at least the vendor actually made 'em that way!

Heh! I'd forgotten about the upside-down trick. One of the all-time great Easter eggs.

I've read in several places that Mechner rotoscoped the animation in Prince of Persia from videotapes of his younger brother romping around a park; I wonder who he recruited for Karateka.

-- Z.

[davidbrit2]

So wait, side two of the disc had a version of the game with the screen inverted vertically? I wonder how many people were grossly misinformed about the inner workings of computers by that little trick. He he.

[Flack]

I was 11 years old in 1984. As a reward for babysitting the neighbor's kids, they bought me a computer game. Wizardry. Unfortunately, I already HAD Wizardry. Most of you all are probably around my age (30), but for the younger crowd, computer stores weren't that anal about software returns back then, especially unopened ones. So, one quick round trip to the mall later, I was back at home, with my fresh copy of Karateka in hand for the Apple II.

I remember two main things about Karateka. One, it was the first game I ever played that felt more like a movie than a game. In the initial moments, while you are running toward the evil palace, there was a quick cut scene of the evil emperor sending out "bad karate goons" to come fight you. Cool stuff!

The other thing I remember about Karateka was the horrible lag. It was very easy to full the computer's buffer with button mashes, only to have your character continue to punch off into the air while your opponent has either moved, blocked, or left to have lunch. As long as you gave yourself an extra half second to a second to plan your attacks, the game was playable. hah, would would gamers say now about a game with a second long lag in between each move?

I remember beating the game within the first hour or two of playing it -- and I'm not that good of a gamer. The only tricky part that I can remember were the birds that would fly at you in a later level, and having to time a sluggish punch or high kick just right to fend them off. Other than that, it was pretty much just a button-mash fest. I too saw the "wrong" ending, and then had to play the game all over from the beginning to actually "win" the game.

As a kid who spent several years in karate classes, I've always had a soft spot for karate-based video games. Unfortunately for Karateka, with no 2 player option and being able to beat it within a couple of hours of buying it, it certainly wasn't a game I went back to often.

Flack

[ManekiNeko]

The upsidedown trick totally reminds me of this weird Easter Egg I found in an X68000 game ("there he goes again about the X68000...")

http://grblitz.overclocked.org/karagren.htm

There was this goofy Galaxian spoof available for the system. I downloaded it and couldn't get it to work, but I did find this garbled Karateka clone on the same disc. After you play it for a while, a klaxon sounds, and your character is slowly pushed to the left edge of the screen. Once you're pushed off, you hear a loud "thwack" and the slogan for Green Giant vegetables.
It sounds like a dream you'd have after a long night of beer and week old pizza, but it's REAL. And it scares the hell out of me.

JR

[Ed Oscuro]

It sounds like a dream you'd have after a long night of beer and week old pizza, but it's REAL. And it scares the hell out of me.

Ya know, the link early in the text takes you to the main page...which has been highjacked by the evil ones, it seems.

But yes, nice wierdness, there!

[Arqueologia_Digital]

Cool game!, i spent a lot of time playing it, but i like a bit more the NES version...

[Ed Oscuro]

I've read in several places that Mechner rotoscoped the animation in Prince of Persia from videotapes of his younger brother romping around a park; I wonder who he recruited for Karateka.

-- Z.

His martial arts instructor, actually! Mechner filmed him with something like an ol' Super 8 and rotoscoped those.

[Ed Oscuro]

So wait, side two of the disc had a version of the game with the screen inverted vertically? I wonder how many people were grossly misinformed about the inner workings of computers by that little trick. He he.

Yes. Mechner himself said that the publisher (Activision?) was pretty brave to increase the cost of the disks by $.50 each just for that trick! Wow. That money DOES add up :)