Karateka Classic

A minty-fresh time capsule for the nostalgic geriatric (me) …oh, and young armchair archaeologists who wanna know what we were doing between dinosaurs and today. Very funny to have the game pause between scenes and hear the floppy disc drive whirling. It kind’a plays to the whole childish, giddy enjoyment. (Yet very frustrating back in the day. Right?! High five!) I remember I couldn’t afford buying computer games but …my friend buying this game when it was new and after hours of taking trillions (* estimation) turns in frustration…to win we teamed up where one of us controlled the character’s movement and the other controlled the punching and kicking. Our focus as a team was intense and we learned to communicate and anticipate what we wanted from each other. It surprised us both how quickly we won with that strategy. 3-4 attempts to find out that woman packs a punch! (5th attempt felt like we landed Apollo 11 on the moon. And lived to tell the tale) Much like children today across cultures and continents playing in teams online. My goodness…there seems to be a bigger picture here… Nah, probably not. The Mechner family gave us a gift with brilliantly blended elegant minimalism, sharp style, action and cinematic storytelling complete with a dramatic musical score. A father, son and daughter collaboration. Mom traditionally provided Hungry Man(tm) TV Dinners*. (* look that up dear youn archaeologists.) Yes, the game’s theme is an old fashioned, outdated trope. But so too is the child in me who enjoys the ol’ school games every now and then to stoke up some memories of people and things that can’t happen again. I hope you 1) enjoyed my review and 2) didn’t actually read this far. Apologies. 🤪blabber-blabber! ENJOY! (*the game and your life) 10/10 (the game) ??/10 (…life…) 🏁

As a lifelong devoted "Karateka" who started playoing this game in the 1980s on my beloved Apple ii computer and is still happily playing it on this app today, I have one request to REALLY bring the total 1980s classic experience back. Developers, could you provide Bluetooth keyboard and Bluetooth game controller functionality? It would be truly "authentic" if the user could play Karateka on an iPad or iPhone without having the massive online touchscreen keypad obscuring the scenery.

This was a very faithful remake of the classic Apple II game. It even included the sound of an old floppy disk drive as it loaded the game! That’s a sound I haven’t heard for a very long time. In case you’re not old enough to have played the game before, be sure to try taking a fighting stance as you approach the princess. Also, at the very beginning of the game, try moving to the left instead of the right to see what happens. The only part of the original game that can’t be duplicated now was the easter egg that resulted if you put the program disk in upside down. The game would load, but the screen was flipped. The fights took place upside down at the top of the screen. Thanks to the developer for making it possible to relive playing a great old game.