Before the Prince of Persia first swung a sword, his creator sent us chopping and kicking through a villain’s fortress to rescue the lovely Mariko. Almost 30 years later, Jordan Mechner is back, and he’s brought Karateka with him.
Gone are the minimalistic 2D graphics of the Apple II original, replaced by a beautiful cel-shaded journey past waterfalls, over bridges, and through colorfully dressed combatants. You’ll still face all those martial artists one-on-one, but fighting now focuses on rhythmic defense. A musical flourish precedes every incoming attack: two thumps on a drum indicate an imminent one-two strike, for example, while a strummed harp signifies a flurry of blows. Correctly interpreting forewarnings and reacting with the appropriate number of timed blocks mitigates damage, and provides opportunities for counter-strike combos.
Die once, and you come back as an agile monk. Die a second time, and you’ll return as this monstrous brute (left).As in the original, there’s no back-tracking or exploration, no deviation from the half-hour linear path before you — just a hard-wired sequence of pattern-based enemies to defeat as efficiently as possible. That laser-focused simplicity makes for pick-up-and-play accessibility, but there’s disappointingly little replayability as a result.
True, two replacement heroes lie ready to take over should you succumb to Akuma’s minions, and which ending you see depends on who lives to tell the tale. Yet because all three characters play the same despite stylistic differences, and only the final battle proves much of a challenge, there’s little reason to get excited about shaving seconds off speed runs or climbing scoreboards. Karateka is fun and beautiful while it lasts, but it’s over all too soon.
Jeff Matsuda (The Batman) created Karateka’s attractive character designs, while the acclaimed Christopher Tin (Civilization IV) composed the music. (And that's right, old-schoolers — the bird is back!)PUBLISHER: D3Publishing • DEVELOPER: Liquid Entertainment • ESRB: Teen • MULTIPLAYER: None • ACHIEVEMENTS: Commensurate • COST: 800 Microsoft Points ($10) • RELEASE DATE: November 7, 2012
+ Snazzy cel-shaded graphics, quirky attack animations, and three different heroes to play as.
+ Intriguing blend of musical combat warnings and rhythm-based blocking.
– Very short and easily mastered, which saps replayability.
? Why can’t we turn off the introductory tutorial prompts?
