Sentences written about this title, gathered by type from the Japanese and English Wikipedia articles (as of 2026-8-30).
He drew inspiration from Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock print art, and the cinematic works of Akira Kurosawa, early Disney animated films, and silent pictureswhich he said "convey such powerful emotion and atmosphere without a word being spoken".
Broderbund said that the blonde-haired character design was influenced by Japanese preferences in manga comics, then commonly featuring blonde-haired protagonists in adventure stories.
In early 1985, Jeff Hurlbert of Hardcore Computist said the "recently released" Karateka "is the most recent and best illustration of a trend towards computer games that look like movies".
Computer Entertainer later rated the Commodore 64 version seven out of eight stars in July 1985, praising the "visually stunning" graphics and "authentic" moves, but again questioning "the use of a blond hero and heroine in a Japanese setting".
In May 1985, Enter praised the "beautiful graphics, superb animation and realistic sound effects".
Billy Gillette called it "a four-star game" but was disappointed with the lack of a score, and Phil Wiswell criticized the lack of a two-player option but concluded with, "wow, what a game!
Although criticizing the necessity to restart from the beginning upon defeat, the review stated that the Apple II version "has by far the best animation I've seen in an Apple arcade game.
Rick Teverbaugh reviewed the game for Computer Gaming World in April 1986, stating it is more "like an adventure game with karate thrown in" compared to Karate Champ and Kung-Fu Master (1984), and that it "resembles a Chuck Norris movie in flavor".
Antic in 1986 liked its "cartoon-quality" graphics.
He was inspired by the resurgence of small, independent game development in 2010 and 2011, and games such as Limbo that "created a powerful emotional atmosphere within a limited budget and scope".
He stated that some of the humorous additions, such as the possibility of being killed by Mariko at the end of the game, would likely be removed.
He said that "you can't surprise people twice the same way", and replaced this element with other secrets.
In the "Game Report Card" reader poll run by the magazine Family Computer Magazine,it scored 13.02 out of 30, as listed separately.
In the "Cross Review" feature of the magazine Famitsu, the four reviewers gave 5, 6, 7, and 4, for a total of 22.
In the "Game Report Card" reader poll run by the magazine Family Computer Magazine,it scored 13.12 out of 30, as listed separately.
In January 1986, it was awarded a "Gold" certification from the Software Publishers Association for sales above 100,000 units.
Sales of Karateka surpassed 500,000 units by 2000.
Computer and Video Games rated the Atari 7800 version 83% in 1989.
In January 1985, Computer Entertainer rated the Apple II version 7½ out of 8 stars, praising the visuals, animation, sound effects, music, karate moves, and story line, but criticizing the blonde-haired appearance of the karateka and princess in a Japanese setting.
In May 1985, Enter praised the "beautiful graphics, superb animation and realistic sound effects".
Billy Gillette called it "a four-star game" but was disappointed with the lack of a score, and Phil Wiswell criticized the lack of a two-player option but concluded with, "wow, what a game!
Although criticizing the necessity to restart from the beginning upon defeat, the review stated that the Apple II version "has by far the best animation I've seen in an Apple arcade game.
French magazine ' in issue #33 rated the game 4 out of 5 and praised the graphics.
It is his first published game and was created while he was attending Yale University.
Ports to the Amstrad CPC and MS-DOS appeared in 1986, to the Atari 7800 in 1987, the Atari ST and PC-98 in 1988, and ZX Spectrum in 1990 (the latter only in Spain).
Despite starting on material for a re-release of Karateka in 2021, Digital Eclipse released the compilation Atari 50 first in 2022, which celebrated the history of the company through an interactive timeline, featuring documentary footage, interviews and games to play.
Following positive reception to this format, Digital Eclipse announced they would be doing more releases in this format under the name Gold Master Series, with The Making of Karateka being the first.
He stated that some of the humorous additions, such as the possibility of being killed by Mariko at the end of the game, would likely be removed.
He said that "you can't surprise people twice the same way", and replaced this element with other secrets.
French magazine ' in issue #33 rated the game 4 out of 5 and praised the graphics.
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