Karateka Longplay (C64) [50 FPS]
150Developed and published by Brøderbund in 1985.
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Before he became famous with Prince of Persia, Jordan Mechner was responsible for developing this (possibly) lesser-known, but still-ambitious fighting game.
The game begins with an animated cut-scene detailing the game's plot and central characters. Considering that most developers completely eschewed endings in their games, to have an introduction was practically unheard of, especially for 1985!
Our unnamed Karateka (practitioner of Karate) has embarked on a mission to rescue princess Mariko from the clutches of the evil lord Akuma. Standing between him and victory are Akuma's loyal martial artists, all of whom are prepared to die in the name of their lord.
The main game is a side-scrolling adventure with a strong emphasis on fighting. I hesitate to use the term "beat 'em up" because it aspires to be more than just a simple button-masher, even if it only partially succeeds.
The game features three separate levels where the player must travel to the right of the screen, defeating any fighters that oppose him. Once a fighter has been encountered, coloured chevrons appear at the bottom of the screen, each of which represents a unit of the fighter's remaining health; the player's health is represented by the red markers and the enemy's by the blue.
Although the fighting mechanics are quite basic when compared to later fighting games (e.g. Street Fighter II), the player can't hope to win without strategy and careful timing of their attacks.
Each fight requires the player to land successive strikes on his opponent to reduce their health, with each blow reducing health by one point. Holding down the fire button and pushing in certain direction will initiate an attack in that direction, the type of which is determined by how long the fire button is held down. A quick tap of the button will throw a punch and a longer press executes a kick.
All blows do the same amount of damage, so the principle strategy is to observe the enemy's movements and to execute moves with sufficient range as to strike the opponent whilst vulnerable. It's possible to punch whilst moving forwards and backwards, so a good strategy is to initiate a short jab while moving towards the opponent and following up with a series of punches once in range.
Each fighter's health regenerates provided they don't get hit, so you must keep pressure on the opponent whilst remembering to back off if you get low on health yourself.
Unfortunately, there is one major problem with the game that becomes apparent the moment the game begins and that is that it's painfully, PAINFULLY slow to the point of being unplayable! The C64 wasn't alone in this regard as the Atari 7800 is equally sluggish, although the NES port runs at a much more playable speed.
For a game that places so much emphasis on timing, the game's speed means that you'll end up over-compensating when holding down the fire button or when trying move, often attacking at the wrong time.
Although you can compensate to a degree, Karateka threatens to become both a chore and a bore at times. Although the game possesses undeniable charm and boasts some great animation for the time, Karateka ends up as an inferior fighting game when compared to other titles, such International Karate.
Those curious to see what Jordan Mechner did BEFORE Prince of Persia might find some value here. Those looking for a great fighting, however, will be disappointed.
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