Karateka is now available through Xbox Live Arcade. This is an updated version of a classic game made by one of the industry’s true living legends — Jordan Mechner. The game is a boy-rescues-girl tale filled with martial arts combat. I fondly remember playing the original on my Commodore 64 and was struck by its simple, yet effective, storytelling. At the time, I thought videogames were about bouncing balls off of bricks, shooting alien invaders, and gobbling up ghosts. I had no idea games could tell stories!
The remake’s art was headed by Jeff Matsuda, a longtime Marvel Comics penciller known for his runs on Wolverine, X-Men, Generation X, X-Factor, and Avengers. It has a cool, cartoonish look that retains some design elements of the original work.
Karateka costs 800 MS points, which I believe is $10 to normal humans.
I’m psyched to play a modern version of the game. Mechner is awesome and I’m looking forward to his fresh take on one of his classics. Any of you guys and dolls intrigued by Karateka?
