Karateka

Karateka is a 1984 computer game by Jordan Mechner, the creator of Prince of Persia. Karateka was Mechner's first hit game, and was designed while he was attending Yale University. The game was renowned at the time for its realistic animations, —given the limitations of graphics at that time. In the United States, Karateka was published by Brøderbund. Various versions were licensed to Ariolasoft for publication in Europe. The title is derived from the Japanese word 空手家 (pronounced /kəratɛka/), meaning 'practitioner of karate'. The title is often mispronounced as /kærateɪka/, and was even said incorrectly in a television commercial for the Atari 7800. In proper Japanese, however, it would be pronounced /karateka/. The game begins with an impressive graphic of the fortress of the evil Akuma. Akuma is holding the lovely Princess Mariko. The player must defeat the guards of the castle and must eventually face Akuma himself in order to rescue the princess. Mechner adeptly used...