How Digital Eclipse Set the Standard for Preserving Video Game Classics with Their First Gold Master Series Title – The Making of Karateka

Digital Eclipse introduced their Gold Master Series earlier this year, at the ID@Xbox Showcase. It is a series of interactive video documentaries that are wrapped up in video game formats and celebrates key designers. Gold Master Series’ first title is a video game. Karateka: A Making of KaratekaThe documentary traces the story of a college student who, with his computer, created one of history’s most influential and groundbreaking games.

Before trying to rescue a princess in another castle, I was rescuing Princess Mariko from a dark dungeon located deep in Akuma’s fortress in KaratekaA classic martial arts game by Jordan Mechner. The creator of the legendary Prince of Persia series. KaratekaThe game was first released on the Apple II platform in 1984. Other platforms followed in subsequent years. The game is one I played with my brother for countless hrs on his Commodore 64 with a cannibalized Atari 2600 joystick. It was the early days of gaming when the combat was unforgiving and there were no save points or respawns. KaratekaWe loved this game, even though it was difficult. We learned, usually the hard way, don’t run into a fight, watch for falling portcullises, and always… always approach Princess Mariko like you’re happy to see her! It never occurred to me that nearly forty years later, I’d be writing about this game for Xbox. Here we are.

In all fairness, I normally do not play remasters of games, especially early classics that I have fond memories of, as I don’t want to diminish my memories of the game. But when I read, “Karateka and the Making of Karateka is the deepest, most exhaustive exploration of the making of a single video game that’s ever been attempted in a video game itself”, I wanted to check it out firsthand and chat with Chris Kohler, Editorial Director from Digital Eclipse, about the experience.

Karateka: The Making of Karateka is much more than a remaster of a classic – it is an interactive documentary that extraordinarily captures every angle of early video game development, from concept, to launch, and beyond. Kohler answered my question about how he used video games in order to show this interactive document. “Making a video game about video games is pretty similar to making a regular video game,” Kohler replies. “The biggest difference is that projects like these are editorially driven, which means they really begin with that deep historical research to try to figure out what the underlying story is we’re trying to tell, and then every feature, every asset, every concept that’s added to the project is checked against that historical record to ensure it is accurate and that we are respecting the author’s original intent.”

Kohler asked me why Digital Eclipse created a format that could preserve hundreds, if not thousands of classics. KaratekaGold Master Series was the game selected for its inaugural edition. “KaratekaThe game was very popular, but it also had an innovative design and was enormously influential. Jordan Mechner, of course, went on to achieve significant fame and wealth with the Prince of PersiaBut, what about? KaratekaIt was a proof-of concept of all that Prince of Persia did so well – cinematic scenes, a moving soundtrack, rotoscoped animation, incredible storytelling,” Kohler says. “A lot of people don’t know that, in a significant way, this is where the idea of the movie-like video game really took root and inspired a generation of designers. When you look at today’s cinematic games, you can often trace their lineage right back to Karateka.”

The same respect should be shown to classic artworks as we do to classic video games.

When I first started Karateka: A Making of KaratekaThe experience was a trip down memory lane that had me grinning from head to toe. It’s amazing how much content is included in this interactive documentary, including early drafts of the story, journal entries and concept drawings. It’s also very easy to navigate the interface with the controller. The layout is exactly what you’d want from an interactive documentary. The game is designed brilliantly and has a Watch Mode which includes chapter selection and commentary tracks. You can even jump in and play the game from anywhere within the video. “We believe that classic games need to be treated with the same amount of respect afforded to other classic works of art. Over the years, that’s meant adding things like box art and manuals, behind-the-scenes design documents, video interviews with designers, and anything else we could think of to aid the player’s understanding of the importance of these games, and thus help them appreciate them more, decades after their original launch,” explains Kohler. “In our interactive documentaries, we’re not just presenting a list of games with bonus content in a separate menu. Everything is laid out chronologically, and everything is given equal weight, so playable games sit next to design documents, video interviews, etcetera, and it’s all arranged to tell a story.”

Gold Master Series has set the bar for preserving classic videogames. Depending on your age and how long you’ve been a gamer, you may remember when video game boxes and manuals were essentially artwork (and sometimes collectible). Over the years, we’ve witnessed a transition away from manuals, and boxes, and now, even games are developed, distributed, and played digitally. Seeing Karateka’sBox art, manuals, and floppy disc versions of games digitally preserved Karateka: A Making of KaratekaIt is a satisfying experience and allows future generations to experience first-hand the early days of gaming.

It’s no longer about just selling you games with some bonus content; it’s about telling you a story. The story is the star…

Kohler was asked about the possibility of focusing on games that younger gamers may not know. “With Karateka: The Making of Karateka, we assume that you’ve literally never heard of the game before, and we start there with a video that introduces Karateka and sets up why it’s so important and influential,” Kohler states. “It’s no longer about just selling you games with some bonus content; it’s about telling you a story. The story is the star; that’s the main user experience.”

Karateka: A Making of KaratekaIncludes several versions of the game that have been played throughout the development cycle. These include the Apple II, Commodore 64 and a remastered one created by Mike Mika. It was surprising to see how well the remastered edition captures the spirit of the classic while incorporating beautiful visual enhancements. I also found that the gameplay is much more fluid than in the original. “When our studio president Mike Mika was a teenager looking to break into the game industry, he started doing a port of KaratekaAmiga Computer Now, with the opportunity to examine Jordan’s source code and do an official Karateka port, Mike leapt at the chance,” explains Kohler. “Ultimately, Mike wanted to add things that we knew Jordan had to cut out, like scrolling trees and the big cat enemy, while making the game run more smoothly and adding quality-of-life features that today’s players expect. Ultimately, we know that there’s just going to be a group of players out there who, through no fault of their own, will have trouble going back to a game from 40 years ago and truly getting hooked on it, so we want to make sure that modern players at least have a version of Karateka they can enjoy that perhaps gives them the same sense of exhilaration in 2023 that a player would have had on their Apple II in 1984.” As a loyal fan of the classic, I assure you the remastered version looks great, sounds great, plays great.

Mike Mika has remastered the original version. Karateka, I was curious about Jordan Mechner’s involvement with the documentary and remastered version of a game he created decades ago. “Jordan was extremely helpful throughout the project in terms of tracking down historical materials, answering our questions, and generally providing anything we asked of him,” Kohler answers. “We actually did Karateka RemasteredThe following are some examples of how to get started: Deathbounce – Rebounded in secret, though, and we showed him as a surprise once they were basically done.”

We knew that we would have to include this in our story. Karateka’s legacy.

Digital Eclipse’s documentary also takes an interesting angle, focusing not only on the game but on its impact on gaming. This is achieved through interviews with industry figures and their comments. Kohler commented. “Finally, one of the things we knew we had to tell in this story was Karateka’s legacy. That’s such a massive part of the importance of KaratekaThe influence it has had on the entire gaming industry, and its role in defining cinematic games. We had to talk to the game designers that were affected by this story to tell it. Karateka. That’s all part of the interactive documentary concept – it’s not just restricted to materials from the making of the games themselves, but the context in the broader world, the things that influenced the creation of the game and the things that were influenced by the game.”

It is a big deal KaratekaAs much of a fan as I am and as much I enjoyed the interactive documentary Karateka: The Making of KaratekaKohler kept his mouth shut about what the next Gold Master Series title would be. He was tight lipped on the next game, but did offer up, “We will release the next game in the Gold Master Series this year!”

Karateka: The Making of KaratekaS and Xbox 360 are now supported.|S. Visit the website for more details on the Gold Master Series.

Karateka: The Making of Karateka

Digital Eclipse

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$19.99

Jordan Mechner created Prince of Persia as a college student. He was also the author of one of 1984’s most successful games: Karateka. In a new Interactive Documentary from Digital Eclipse we learn how an Apple II-owning teenager created one of history’s most influential and groundbreaking games.

THE ORIGINAL STORY OF AN IMPORTANT GAME CREATOR

Learn how Karateka came to be through an archive of documents and prototypes. You can also enjoy brand new video features. You can browse the timelines interactively at your pace, just like you would in a museum.

PLAY ORIGINALS NEGLIGIBLES

You can play pixel-perfect Karateka and early prototypes with features such as save anywhere, rewinding, selecting chapters, and the director’s commentaries.

Two Remastered Games

Karateka Remastered, a new version of the classic game, features cutting-room-floor material, commentary and achievements. Deathbounce : Rebounded, based off Jordan’s prototype game, is an incredibly fast twin-stick shooter.

The Masterpiece is GROUNDBREAKING

Learn how Karateka, one of the first video games, was influenced by the Hollywood style love story and cinematic scenes. It also featured a powerful original soundtrack.

The GOLD MASTER Series

Gold Master Series is a brand new offering from Digital Eclipse. It presents interactive documentaries of iconic games. The Gold Master Series brings the entire history and legacy of video games together in one package.