Thanks to Digital Eclipse for the review code

Title: The Making of Karateka
System: Steam (PC)
Price: $19.99
Release Date: 08/29/2023

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Prelude

After Atari 50 swept in and easily won SFG’s Game of the Year last year, I was incredibly excited to see what the next series Digital Eclipse would present under this style, and it was rather surprising when Digital Eclipse came out and announced their own self-published line of games in this documentary format, known as the Gold Master series.

Here, we have The Making of Karateka as the first entry in that series, with the Atari 50 timeline style being brought over to explain the origins and aftermath of one of the Apple II’s most influential games of all time, while also offering an assortment of prototypes and even modern reimaginings of the games that Jordan Mechner spent the early 1980s working on. Karateka’s in-game plot is the most simplistic “Save Princess from bad guy” story you could possibly come up with, but the story in how that simple plot ended up on a store shelf is immensely more fascinating, and The Making of Karateka aims to do that with as much context as possible.

Presentation

Just as in Atari 50, The UI is very nice and clean, and the game opens by offering you a cool timeline divided into chapters, which leads into the bulk of this game’s documentary focus. Focusing on the games and their various emulated presentation options for a moment, all three systems represented here (Apple II, C64, and Atari 8bit) are emulated really damn well, and like in Atari 50, they all sport neat borders and an excellent Monitor filter that really looks stunning, going well with the computers available here and continuing DE’s trend of superb filters.

The two newer titles, Deathbounce Rebounded and Karateka Remastered, are of course native and not emulated, but both are extremely well made with very accurate pixel art mimicking the original design documents and the OG sprites, while making aspects from both games way smoother than they originally did on those aged computers, and pretty much continue the lovely modern retro look akin to Atari 50’s VCTR-SCTR. Deathbounce gets a new OST from the ground up, while Karateka takes the few themes and sound cues from the original ports and remixes them beautifully, retaining the focus on the simplistic fighting and satisfying sound effects, while adding just the right amount of ambience to fit right on in with what was originally made.

Now everything that makes this game a documentary? Hooooo boy, so much good to talk about here. Like the usual DE standard, we have a good assortment of super cool scanned materials such as manuals, ads, and lots of concept documents, but as in Atari 50, this is all portrayed in a nifty timeline structure, taking you from the beginning of the Karateka story to just a smidge before a proposed sequel turned into the legendary Prince of Persia, with so much depth and content I can’t even begin to describe it all!

You have excellent video interviews with Jordan Mechner himself along with a variety of folk who either worked with him or were inspired by his game and the effect Karateka had on the game industry as a whole, and many, many photos and captions showing a variety of things; images from future ports, design documents, correspondence and PR letters between him and Broderbund, overseas advertisements, and even the original footage used for reference for the game’s animations. Considering how old said footage was and the medium it was stored on, I’m honestly bewildered it was even maintained and kept in such good shape, and DE even goes a step further by allowing you to toy around with those original animations and compare them with the actual in-game sprite, a super fun addition to good around with.

It doesn’t stop there either! Several parts have commentary giving insight into the history, from a playthrough narrated by the creator himself, and very detailed, in-game commentary that you can toggle on as you are going through Karateka Remastered, listening to every detail of how that newer version was made and what sort of features were prioritized, restored, or tweaked. This timeline format continues to be really cool and packed with goodies, and the presentation was absolutely nailed here.

Gameplay

While there technically is a game list here, I feel that Making of Karateka benefits more from an overview of the entire package, rather than just going through the games in the same way I usually do with compilation reviews. They all play and emulate great, of course! But the whole timeline style and bonuses were done so well that I feel the need to gush on those moreso than going over the basic task of playing the two main games included here.

Generally, the chapters are divided rather well, and I found them to focus on just the right amount of things to keep the timeline format at a great pace: you start from learning about Jordan’s shameless Asteroids knockoff, to a more creative spin known as Deathbounce he dabbled with, to the prototyping of Karateka, to the launch of the game, and then the aftermath before ending with what was a planned sequel, turned into another hit franchise entirely.

If you wanna follow everything step by step and treat it like a usual documentary, you can, and it works super well. If you wanna go at your own pace or just focus on the videos, the games, or specific images, you can. If you wanna play the prototypes mentioned in correspondence messages, you can, and that aspect is the coolest part of the set by far!

The best example of the prototypes being a great teaching tool is how Deathbounce was revised several times before ultimately getting shelved, and you’re able to play several versions of the Apple II prototypes, with the game starting from a simple asteroids spinoff in a closed room, to a slowly growing take with multiple enemies, before ending with a prototype of it taking place on a segmented train with many rooms, but also being a bit disjointed and janky with some ideas still not making it in. Then you play the Rebounded version, and see a lot of those ideas incorporated into a ridiculously polished bonus game that I argue is one of the strongest parts of the entire set!

Seriously, for how this game is meant to focus on Karateka, the new Deathbounce is super addicting as a scorechaser, and despite being a local only game in that regard, I couldn’t put it down for a good portion of the review period. The final game’s main focus is that you start on a train filled with wild bird enemies, and have to eliminate them all, go to the next car, and make your way to the core of the vehicle and blow it up for big points. Sure, the prototypes demonstrate a basic “Clear all enemies” focus, and that can still be the boring way of clearing out rooms in this version, but Digital Eclipse went the extra mile and added other aspects from Jordan’s notes to enhance the game into a damn good scorechaser, while also adding some of their own fun flair.

As one example, when entering a room, if you immediately ram into an enemy with your brief starting period of invincibility, you can increase the multiplier for that room and gain lots of points, but because of how short said invincibility period is, it will quickly wear off and your attempt for more points can end up as a suicidal move that’ll cost you a valuable life. Thus, it adds a solely lacking risk and reward element to the gameplay loop, and since you’re able to pick between one of the first four starting cars, you can even challenge yourself further and really get into a super fun, bouncy scorechaser that definitely was the hidden gem of the package and an outstanding bonus game.

Of course, the many variants of Karateka are no slouch either, and seeing the various renditions of it here is enough to give you a pretty good indication on what worked in some ports, and what didn’t. You have a few prototypes of the original Apple II version, the final Apple II version, and the C64/Atari 8 Bit versions before jumping many decades ahead to a current-age remastered interpretation that adds elements from all the other ports into a definitely modern edition.

No, not every version of the game ever made is here, nor should that have been expected. I would have liked to maybe see one 16-bit variant playable, but none of those systems really have a practical version to license, and the only sort of “ugh I wish they did add that” port that isn’t included is the infamous Famicom edition, known for being pretty terrible in Japan, despite that being the big way that region was introduced to the game.

Oddly enough, I couldn’t even find a screenshot or mention of that port anywhere in the documentary aspects of the set, but there are at least a lot of materials for the aforementioned 16-bit ports I noted, and it seems the complete snubbing of the Famicom version is because there’s really no indicator on who made or has the rights to it, which is a rather common trend for very early 80s Japanese titles. Oh well, I at least hoped they would have dropped a line or two about how the game’s Japanese reputation was pretty much defined by that port, which comparing to the versions in this compilation, really demonstrate all the things that home console edition got wrong. Still, the versions you have here are all fun to play.

The original prototype on Apple II is the most interesting of the protos, as it uses a completely different health bar system and is incredibly short. Outside of the expected nature of a buggy prototype, I easily was able to practice my way to beating this variant without rewinding or save states, and honestly may be my biggest recommendation for what version to start with, just so you can see where Karateka truly began. We seldom get prototypes in commercial reissues, and this is a pretty rad one to be able to play, which ties in nicely with the aftermath you learn via the timeline where the game was ordered to be tweaked to be longer and have more variety to it, leading to a busy work period for Mechner and adding in more aspects such as a gate trap, a basement level, and a more climatic buildup to the final fight. Each subsequent proto adds more and more of these proposals, and the near final proto is close enough that it can be a fun game of “spot the differences”. Of course, all of these have the usual DE standard “Watch Mode” which is a useful way to observe them without having to trek through the entire game yourself.

So, how are the final four versions? Well, the Apple II version is iconic, and definitely is a solid start. My prior experience with Karateka before this compilation was the iOS port, and this feels the closest to what that port was inspired by. You have a punch and kick, and have to shift into a battle stance to fight enemies, or else you’ll be KO’d in a single blow from any hazard. The actual fighting can be very tough to get used to if you’re familiar with pretty much any other fighter, and the best way I can describe it is if Game and Watch Boxing met Flying Dragon on NES. In fact, I wouldn’t even be shocked if Karateka inspired the latter.

You have three spots on the opponent to strike, from low, medium, and high, and punches and kicks do a good amount to lower their opposing health bar. Hitting them when they’re not blocking an open spot is the key to victory, and likewise you have to make sure they don’t hit your weak points as well. The battle stance is a bit slow to move around with, so it’s kinda clunky at dodging foes in this version. Still, you have a separate punch and kick, making switching between the two on the fly easy, although the game’s pacing is rather slow due to the nature of the hardware. A great historical relic emulated extremely well here, and all the added context of this set show how important it is.

The Commodore 64 version is next, and was a pretty popular port. This has a bit more sound cues and some pretty incredible ones at that, and looks a bit prettier as well. Unfortunately, the fighting has been neutered a bit, as now you have to hold the button down to change into using kicks, since the game is one-button due to the nature of the C64. This plus the hit detection feeling a bit worse than the Apple II, along with very slow scrolling makes this port pretty impressive in the presentational aspect, but like a clunky slideshow when it comes to execution.

Lastly, the Atari 8-bit version, which is easily the most fun of the retro versions except for that darned one button control scheme again! You can toggle a six button method for this and the other computer versions in the compilation, at the very least, and I recommend you do so as with that enabled this easily becomes the fastest playing of the classic versions. The game’s pacing and speed got a lot better, the cinematics and visuals look stunning for the hardware, and everything feels much smoother and more enjoyable to play, really nailing the game’s original concept with the capabilities of better processing power. Still, from the lens of the original hardware, it just wasn’t quite there, and the hit detection is still a weak point compared to the Apple version, which is why there wasn’t really an ultimate version…

…Until Karateka Remastered. This version of Karateka is entirely remade from zero for this compilation, and is absolutely incredible. It takes the calculated approach of the original game, gives it a smooth and responsive feel, and refines every aspect of the game to restore cut content like a missing Panther encounter, and even adding some fun modern aspects like in-game achievements consisting of fun secrets and challenges to poke around with. It may seem a bit daunting considering the original games all are one life, no continue adventures, but you can start with eleven lives in this game, making it much more approachable and the best way to get good at Karateka by far. The fighting is super responsive and polished to the best it has ever been, all without going with modern fighting game mechanics.

If anything, the main proof of Karateka Remastered being a labor of love, outside of well, the fact it’s surrounded by a great documentary format to get to that point, comes from the commentary toggle you can enable, where while in the middle of a playthrough, you can hold a button down and hear what the developer of this remaster had in mind when changing or tweaking certain aspects. It serves as both a fascinating and transparent look behind the curtain, and even a hint guide in certain aspects that are new, such as the Panther encounter, told in such a way that doesn’t outright spoil things but nudges you in the right direction if a particular bit of this classic game trips you up. And for that, I found the remaster to be just incredible, and easily worth the $20 pricepoint all by itself!

Conclusion

In conclusion, The Making of Karateka presents a wonderful chapter from gaming history in a fun, interactive format, bringing over a lot of what I liked about Atari 50’s history aspects and using those to present a classic game in a more entertaining, contextual light. The timeline format continues to be great, the interview information here is excellent, and the games on offer here are fun curios from the early age of computer games.

The true shining gems from Making of Karateka however, are the remastered titles. Karateka getting a definitive remastered edition is awesome enough, but a super addicting, finalized version of Jordan Mechner’s Deathbounce? Hell yes, and the latter is definitely the game that’ll keep me coming back to this set again and again for a casual scorechase, while the Karateka titles are presented in the best sort of way that they can.

When my only real gripe is the lack of really mentioning or including the Famicom version & the impact of it on that market, I honestly do feel Digital Eclipse has made a great first impression with the Gold Master series, and if other gems like Lode Runner, Prince of Persia or Boulder Dash can get this excellent treatment with all of their ports? Hoooo boy, we have some amazing stories to discover, and I’m all excited to see what’s next. Give me more.

I give The Making of Karateka a 9 out of 10.