Yesterday, November 7, a remake of the ancient 8-bit game Karateka appeared in Xbox Live Arcade. It is also expected to be released on the iOS platform this month.
The original Karateka was released in 1984 on the Apple II. The game was a simple one by modern standards beat’em up, in which the player in the role of an albino karate player tried to free Princess Marika, imprisoned in the fortress of the samurai Akuma.
The developer of the game was Jordan Mechner, who later became famous for the game already on the Middle East theme – “Prince of Persia”.
The new version of the game is also beat’em up and also simple: the player’s task is to put a block in time when the enemy is preparing to strike, and to beat when the opponent reveals himself. On consoles, this is done literally with three keys, on smartphones and tablets – with one click.
In connection with the upcoming release, Jordan Mehner recently posted an extended trailer for Karateka on YouTube, showing some gameplay elements and a graphical (and very controversial) solution to the game.
By the way, the game will also be released in PC and PS3 versions.