The Making of Karateka

 PlayStation 5
The Making of Karateka Image
Metascore
87

Generally favorable reviews - based on 7 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
tbd

No user score yet- Awaiting 3 more ratings

Your Score
0 out of 10
Rate this:
  • 10
  • 9
  • 8
  • 7
  • 6
  • 5
  • 4
  • 3
  • 2
  • 1
  • 0
  • 0
  • Summary: Prince of Persia creator Jordan Mechner was a college student when he created one of the biggest-selling games of 1984: Karateka. Now, in a new interactive documentary from Digital Eclipse, the story of how a teenager with an Apple II created one of the most groundbreaking, influential gamesPrince of Persia creator Jordan Mechner was a college student when he created one of the biggest-selling games of 1984: Karateka. Now, in a new interactive documentary from Digital Eclipse, the story of how a teenager with an Apple II created one of the most groundbreaking, influential games of all time.

    THE ORIGIN STORY OF A LEGENDARY GAME CREATOR

    Discover how Karateka was made through an exhaustive archive of design documents, playable prototypes, and all-new video features. Like walking through a museum, you can explore the interactive timelines at your own pace.

    PLAY THE ACCLAIMED ORIGINALS

    Enjoy pixel-perfect versions of the original Karateka games and a variety of never-before-seen early prototypes, with rich quality-of-life features like save anywhere, rewind, chapter select, and director's commentary.

    TWO REMASTERED GAMES

    Karateka Remastered is an all-new version of the original game featuring cutting-room-floor content, commentary, achievements, and more. Deathbounce: Rebounded is a fast and frantic twin-stick shooter based on Jordan's unpublished prototype.

    A GROUNDBREAKING MASTERPIECE

    Discover how Karateka became one of the first games to include cinematic scenes, a moving original soundtrack, rotoscoped animation, and a Hollywood-style love story, influencing the decades of games that followed.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. GameCritics
    Sep 24, 2023
    95
    It’s a bold strategy to focus on the documentary aspect of a game or series, specifically the features normally used as bonus materials in many game compilations. However, due to the nature of the subject matter, this is an excellent blend of movie and game, much like the topic of the documentary. The collection is packed with hours of video footage, images, documentation, a gushing fan letter from John Romero of DOOM fame, correspondence, early art, and even early prototypes of Mechner’s original versions of Karateka, as well as fully playable versions of other games Mechner developed, but never was able to publish. This is easily one of the best and most complete historical documentaries of a videogame, ever, and should be held up as an example for future collections.
  2. PlayStation Country
    Sep 12, 2023
    90
    The Making of Karateka is a phenomenal, detailed walkthrough of the classic game's development. I did wonder whether there would be enough material to make it worthwhile but I was completely absorbed. The chats between father and son are genuinely heart-warming. Karateka Remastered is a fascinating update that looks to enhance the original rather than overhaul. The result is something faithful and fluid. I thoroughly enjoyed checking out the prototypes, correspondence and everything in between. A new gold standard for game preservation and celebration has been set.
  3. Push Square
    Sep 2, 2023
    90
    Watching a video describing Jordan's first attempt at making a video game and then actually being able to play that build — framerate dips and all — is a remarkable experience. On their own most of the games here would be little more than curios, but presented here as they are they're a fascinating time capsule, and an enthralling window into the creative process. For anyone interested in the history of video games we can't recommend this enough.
  4. Meristation
    Sep 20, 2023
    90
    The Making of Karateka is pure preservation of video game history made with enviable affection. A true wonder for enthusiasts of the video game industry at an unbeatable price.
  5. Gaming Nexus
    Oct 5, 2023
    85
    Everything you wanted to know about Karateka, but was afraid to ask, is here. Digital Eclipse has done it again. The bonus reimagined games are cool too. Go save the girl, and shoot down some alien bats. If this is the first in the series, I'm ready to get kicked in the face, multiple times.
  6. VGC
    Aug 29, 2023
    80
    The Making of Karateka is a powerful statement of intent for what promises to be a superb series of interactive documentaries. Not everyone will click with the idea of focusing on a single game rather than your typical retro compilation, but those interested in the creative process will be fascinated by the content provided here.
  7. PSX Brasil
    Aug 29, 2023
    80
    The Making of Karateka is a history lesson. A complete package for those who want to get to know Jordan Mechnerâ's first works. The "making of" part is great and bringing the different versions is essential for preservation. However, for those looking for gameplay and don't care about this historical side, you may be disappointed that we basically only have two very short games. In addition, there are no support for Brazilian Portuguese, which makes accessibility to the "making of" material difficult in our country.

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1

Awards & Rankings

21
#21 Best PlayStation 5 Game of 2023