History VideoGame / Karateka

[[quoteright:344:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/karateka_fighting_akuma_5811.png]]
[[caption-width-right:344: The game that started [[BeatEmUp it all]]. Note the infamous gate.]]

->[...] Karateka'' for the NES, a nice little game where you have to fight a procession of people wearing increasingly silly hats. Then you get killed by a gate.''
-->'''Creator/StuartAshen''', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA3WogFaeFQ "Quickest Game Overs ever? Part 2"]]

!!Tropes included:

A BeatEmUp game originally developed for the UsefulNotes/AppleII system by Jordan Mechner and published by Creator/BroderbundSoftware in 1984. ''Karateka'' puts you in the role of a heroic karate expert who must infiltrate the fortress of Akuma, who has kidnapped the lovely Princess Mariko. To do this, he must initially climb a mountain and get through the bodyguards who hold the entrance. Once inside the fortress, he must fight still more bodyguards and Akuma's eagle and pass the infamous death gate, before fighting Akuma himself.

Not to be confused with Usefulnotes/Atari2600's ''Karate'' by Ultravision, contemporary to this game and released 2 years before.

* DamnYouMuscleMemory: The UsefulNotes/Atari7800 port's controls - move the joystick right to kick, left to punch, rather than using the fire buttons that [[http://strategywiki.org/wiki/Karateka/How_to_play most versions use]].

* {{Leitmotif}}: The soundtrack, composed by Jordan Mechner's father Francis, was explicitly inspired by Music/RichardWagner and was a key factor in the game's cinematic presentation. There are four main motifs: the Karateka or main theme, the Akuma or evil theme, the Mariko theme, and the sadness theme. The entire soundtrack is built upon variants of these four motifs, suiting the on-screen action.

* VideoGameLives: Not in the original or the 2012 remake, where death is permanent, but the 2023 remaster has the option to increase the number of lives

* GuideDangIt: The infamous second level grate. How to get past it varies between versions. [[spoiler:For instance, on the NES port, you have to stand a running step back, and run so that the grate closes in your face without killing you.]]
* ImprobableHairColor: The karateka and Mariko are both blonde, despite being Japanese. According to Jordan Mechner, he was inspired by how blondes were popular protagonists in manga of the time.

In 2023, a new re-release by Creator/DigitalEclipse named ''The Making of Karateka'' was released as the first of their "Gold Master Series". This version of the game features both the preserved original with a range of additional quality of life features, alongside a trove of interactive interviews, archive footage, design documents, and even playable development builds. This release also contains both ''Karateka Remastered'', an updated version of the game with graphical updates and restored cut content, and ''Deathbounce: Rebounded'', a twin-stick shooter based on an unreleased prototype for what would eventually become ''Karateka''.

* ApeShallNeverKillApe: In the remake, just before the second boss you face a monk. If you're also controlling the monk, he's reluctant to fight you, and respectfully concedes and lets you pass when his health is low.
* CutScene: Notable as possibly the first game to ever have them.

* DynamicDifficulty: The remake has this, after a fashion. There are three different playable characters - Mariko's [[FragileSpeedster True Love]], the [[JackOfAllStats Monk]], and the [[MightyGlacier Brute]] -- but you don't get to pick. Instead, you start the game as the True Love. Losing as him causes you to continue at the point where you died as the Monk, who has more health and does more damage. Losing as the Monk causes you to continue as the Brute, who has the same amount of health as the Monk but takes less damage and does much more. Also, you can revive the Brute at the cost of the points you've accumulated.

* GroinAttack: [[spoiler:Mariko does this if you do not run straight at her.]]
* KaizoTrap: [[spoiler:If you approach Mariko in combat stance in the ending, she'll kick you into a NonStandardGameOver. This is averted in the NES version, you can approach her in the combat stance, and she won't kick you.]]

* MadeOfIron: The Brute blocks punches with his ''stomach''.

* {{Mooks}}: The protagonist has to face numerous goons before fighting Akuma himself. Said goons are tough in their own right, especially in the remake.

** In the remake, they're determined by your character -- Mariko ''wants'' to be rescued by her True Love [[GoldenEnding and is overjoyed when he arrives.]] She is fairly accepting of the Monk, who secretly longed for her ever since catching a glimpse of her when she visited his temple. The Brute, however, slings Mariko over his shoulder caveman style, though Mariko doesn't really complain all that much. The game then states that while "Mariko appreciates the Brute's bravery," the player should try again "with a rescuer that will make Mariko even happier."
* MysticalWhiteHair: The original Mariko.
* NoNameGiven: The Protagonist.
* OneTrueLove: In the remake, one of the three playable characters trying to save Mariko is outright called the True Love and is the one she explicitly wants to be rescued by. Playing as him throughout the whole game earns the GoldenEnding where Mariko is happiest.
* OneWordTitle

* PointBuildSystem: The Gameboy version gave you points at the start to distribute among [[GlassCannon power,]] [[StoneWall health,]] and [[FragileSpeedster speed,]] plus a couple of them for each completed level.

* {{Rotoscoping}}
* ScoringPoints: In the remake. Points are accumulated by defeating enemies (with a higher reward for less damage or better yet, [[FlawlessVictory no damage at all,]] as well as extra points for bosses), reaching certain checkpoints, reaching certain checkpoints with a particular character, among other things.

* SillinessSwitch: The original floppy disk game had 2 slightly different versions of the game on both sides of the disk. If you accidentally stuck the floppy disk in upside down, the game would still load and play... Upside down.
* SoundCodedForYourConvenience: In the remake, you'll hear musical notes right as an enemy attacks you. The number of notes corresponds to how many attacks you will have to block. However, bosses will not have these cues.

The game employed rotoscoping technology for surprisingly realistic movements, a technique which would be used to similar effect in Mechner's following game, ''VideoGame/{{Prince of Persia|1}}''. It is more well known in modern times as an [[MemeticMutation Internet meme]] featuring the titular hero dancing to Music/MCHammer's "U Can't Touch This".

For the 30th anniversary of the game, Mechner, alongside developer Creator/LiquidEntertainment, [[http://www.karateka.com released a remake,]] now available on Steam and XBLA.

The game employed rotoscoping technology for surprisingly realistic movements, a technique which would be used to similar effect in Mechner's following game, ''VideoGame/{{Prince of Persia|1}}''. It is more well known in modern times as an [[MemeticMutation Internet meme]] featuring the titular hero dancing to MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This".

* KaizoTrap: [[spoiler:If you approach Mariko in combat stance in the ending, she'll kick you into a NonStandardGameOver.]]

For the 30th anniversary of the game, Mechner, alongside developer Creator/LiquidEntertainment, [[http://www.karateka.com released a remake]], now available on Steam and XBLA.

* FinalDeath: One life, no continues allowed.

* DamnYouMuscleMemory: The UsefulNotes/{{Atari 7800}} port's controls - move the joystick right to kick, left to punch, rather than using the fire buttons that [[http://strategywiki.org/wiki/Karateka/How_to_play most versions use]].

* {{Mooks}}: The protagonist has to face numerous goons before fighting Akuma himself.
** EliteMooks: Said goons are tough in their own right, especially in the remake.
* MultipleEndings: Possibly the UrExample for video games. At the end of the game, your character either rescues Mariko or is killed by her, depending on whether or not you're in fighting stance when you approach her.

* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses: Mariko is specifically noted to be a princess, which doesn't affect the plot in any way.

* GuideDangIt: The infamous second level grate. How to get past it varies between versions. [[spoiler:For instance, on the NES, port you have to stand a running step back, and run so that the grate closes in your face without killing you.]]

* ApeShallNeverKillApe: In the remake, just before the second boss you face a monk. If you're controlling the monk, he's reluctant to fight you, and respectfully concedes and lets you pass when his health is low.

** In the remake, they're determined by your character -- Mariko ''wants'' to be rescued by her True Love [[GoldenEnding and is overjoyed when he arrives.]] She is fairly accepting of the Monk, who secretly longed for her ever since catching a glimpse of her, when she visited his temple. The Brute, however, slings Mariko over his shoulder caveman style, though Mariko doesn't really complain all that much. The game then states that while "Mariko appreciates the Brute's bravery," the player should try again "with a rescuer that will make Mariko even happier."

* DamselInDistress
* DynamicDifficulty: The remake has this, after a fashion. There are three different playable characters - Mariko's [[FragileSpeedster True Love]], the [[JackOfAllStats Monk]], and the [[MightyGlacier Brute]] -- but you don't get to pick. Instead, you start play as the True Love. Losing as him causes you to continue at the point where you died as the Monk, who has more health and does more damage. Losing as the Monk causes you to continue as the Brute, who has the same amount of health as the Monk but takes less damage and does much more. Also, you can revive the Brute at the cost of the points you've accumulated.
* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses

* MadeOfIron: The Brute blocks punches with his ''stomache''.

* {{Mooks}}
** EliteMooks

* OpeningScroll

* ShouldersOfDoom