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Comment by curtisblaine

3 days ago

I have a soft spot for Prince of Persia, but I have an even softer spot for Karateka, its (rotoscoped) predecessor on an ancient green phosphor Apple //e, a computer (and an age) where everything seemed possible.

8 comments

curtisblaine

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dekhn  3 days ago

Seeing and hearing Karateka for the first time on an Apple II+ was a life-changing experience for me. Along with Ultima III, it made me want to be a game developer (I was in 4th grade, so around 12, at the time). Everything about the game is just so smooth and well-done- it has a plot, a progression, good animation and realistic sounds. I was pretty unhappy for years around the fact that I didn't understand the technology (machine language instead of BASIC, Apple's very funny graphics implementation, doing sound and animation simultaneously) to make games like that.

  • namenumber  3 days ago

    If anybody wants to see how that entire creative process went, there's a "game" called "The Making of Karateka" on Steam that is a nice interactive experience telling the story of Jordan Mechner's start in the games industry and how Karateka came to be.

    It's a fun media experience with a lot of playable prototypes.

magpi3  3 days ago

Yeah, Karateka deserves more than a simple aside here. It's amazing that he made that on his own as a college student. I loved that game.

larodi  3 days ago

The first two games to fall in love with - Karatéka and then Alley Cat.

  • phodo  3 days ago

    In 7th grade social studies, I did a report for a class project, and printed the Karateka opening screen on my apple image writer as the cover page. I got an A+ because of that cover!

  • prmoustache  3 days ago

    Desperately trying to jump on that bin to avoid the dog only to be pushed back by another cat peering over...

    simple but good times