Review: The Making of Karateka (PlayStation 4/5, Xbox, Switch & Steam) - Defunct Games

Defunct Games reviews The Making of Karateka by Digital Eclipse, available now on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and PC. Coming soon to Switch.

No matter if you grew up loving this classic beat ‘em up or are only now hearing about it for the first time, The Making of Karateka is for you. This is an immensely enjoyable trip through Jordan Mechner’s early days, giving us an insight on the creative process and the highs and lows of game development. This must-own package comes with more than a dozen games, including prototypes, ports, variations and a number of Jordan’s early shoot ‘em ups that were previously unreleased. It’s also filled with interviews, documentary footage and all kinds of images, taking you along for a surprisingly emotional and heart-warming story about the early days of game development. I would call The Making of Karateka one of the best games of the year, but it’s so much more than that.


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#Karateka #TheMakingOf #DigitalEclipse

[HybridAngelZero]

What Digital Eclipse has done here is absolutely insane! This really needs to be the gold standard for rereleases.
Honestly, there were dozens of games that all flooded my mind, and while I know you said it jokingly, Bubsy was one of them. But for me, I would love to see the original Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest get this treatment, will all the versions included

[jayme]

Jeff Minter deserves the Gold Master Series treatment. Back in the day there was a C64 compilation called "Yak's Progress" and that'd be a great place to start. I also love your analogy of the Criterion Collection :-) Keep up the awesome work!

[scas]

This is an incredibly clever idea about the rerelease of a game. Truly a product made with love and care. I can only imagine how happy I'd be if something like this got released for one of my childood games!

[PenguinDT]

Holy heck, this looks excellent! Limited Run Games announced a physical version of this, if I'm not mistaken, so I need to grab it.

QOTD; Oh man, so many interesting games I'd love to see deconstructed this way! The real problem is that most of them are well known to not have been well preserved enough for this sort of thing. For example the Quake II re-release from Nightdive actually gets almost as close to this as it can - showing everything they had left of the in-dev stuff, including playable e3 demos - but most of it just wasn't preserved back in the day.

[mattgander]

Word has it a Jeff Minter collection is next.

[muzboz]

Very very cool. Thanks for covering this in detail.
Jordan is a special case, because he's so interested in documenting his own work processes and journals. Excellent stuff. :D

[noneofyourbusiness]

I see from your video there is a section where Jordan explains pronunciations for "Karateka." He should have done the same with "Broderbund." According to Jeremy Parish, that special "o" in the name makes it "Brooderbund, " which I've never gotten in the habit of saying!

[eightieslover]

That is obviously Monty On The Run.
From the haunting music to the
remarkable graphics and level design
this is one of the true classics
which will stay in my heart forever.
The C64 version of this game is
simply amazing.
Cheers mate : )

[priorwitness]

This game has a special place for me. Karateka, I always pronounced it Car-a-teek-a lol, was THE game that made me realize I loved video games. I couldn't wait to get permission from my parents to fire up the Apple II+, pop in Karateka, and give it a go. I still remember the first time I beat it, too. I remember my heart pounding as I wiggled our cheap Kraft joystick about just inches away from the Amdek CRT monitor trying to beat the final boss, only to finally do it after countless tries. Just getting past the second stage with the trap at the end felt like an immense accomplishment as well! This is the game, this is the reason why I still play games today. It may sound stupid to others as I'm sure it was probably Mario, or Metal Gear Solid, or what have you. But for me this game will always be special to me as it brought me into the video game space way back in the mid 80s. Thank you for this review! I'll definitely be picking this up! I just wish there was a physical copy I could have on the shelf somewhere for this one.

[perrub]

Amazing review. I don’t know why your channel doesnt have more views. Great job 👍

[rotarydude]

I definitely remember playing this on the Apple II and then on the Atari 800/XL and C64. I would love to see these remastered released this way. The history really gives it that personal touch.

[raskovi]

It would be so cool if they did the making of prince of persia 1&2

[nicsamazingpinballchannel]

Would love to see Archon get the next treatment. As well as a roundup of all the “Construction Set” games for C64.

[pmcollectorboy]

Funnily enough, I decided to finally download and check out the modern Karateka a few days ago and didn't even know this documentary was a thing.

[JenMistress]

I saw this yesterday on GOG, and wondered what the heck it was. Now I know. Sounds very interested, specially because I remember playing it on dad's old Apple IIc. Didn't realize it was the same Dev who did Prince of Persia, but now that I do know, yeah, can see the resemblance in the design. As for the question, maybe another game I remember enjoying on dad's old Apple and that being Moon Patrol.

[babettesfeast]

Unbelievable- it’s an interactive museum

[contrabandresearch]

This is awesome. I never tried Karateka, but I've heard of it and how it relates to the creation of Prince of Persia. They should do this with way more games. Thinking of a retrospective of the first Grand Theft Auto in the style of this would be astonishing.

[JNathanielSmith]

That's amazing! I remember when we used to play Karateka on the Apple ][ back in the day.

[juststatedtheobvious]

The hardest part is figuring out what's even possible.

I can fantasize about early C64/Spectrum/Apple/Amiga 3d worlds being experienced in 60fps wide-screen, through controls that have had decades of polish behind them ...

And feature new remakes not limited by floppy disc...

But who would buy a timeline of the chase for virtual worlds? Especially since you need the failures and near misses to tell it right.

Meanwhile, all the most influential Japanese games...how many aren't already being sold in some fashion?

[Mintcar]

I’m old enough to remember when Karateka first came on the shelf! I had the C64 version although I owned a C128.. I thought they did a pretty good job with the remake which I have on PS3.. I may still have the OG on my phone if it carried over from the last one.. Gotta recheck

I also can’t wait to see what happens with the next Prince of Persia which is one of my favorite franchises ever created..