The History of Karateka - video game documentary

[@Hektols]

It was nice to hear that Mechner got so much support from his family when he developed his games, specially that they were still a new kind of entertainment that older generations were not familiar with.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Yes, that's a good thing they did otherwise we wouldn't have had this brilliant game

[@jnnx]

Except video games were already a thing since 1975’s Pong. And before that was pinball and midway arcade wooden games.

[@CouchCit]

I loved this game as a kid and I could never pinpoint exactly why, but overall I think it was the "cinematic" nature of it; the simplicity and the pace gave it weight and allowed our imaginations to fill in the gaps.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

That's exactly it, the cinematic nature is what drew me in as well

[@mervcobault6604]

One of my new favorite KZbinrs getting me through my chemo treatments ♥️ keep up the great work! So many mini game docu's on KZbin but you absolutely have an edge on most with your content and originality

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

That's nice of you to say, Glad I could give you some enjoyment in these troubling times. Keep your chin up :-)

[@thirdstar9255]

Merv, several years ago, I had to go to dialysis for a long time (thats OVER) and I would watch tons of Beavis and Buttheads (with the videos), AVGN, TCAP, you name it. Hang in there man. I wish you all the best. Remember, we ALL have or had issues to fight through, and you will come out on the other side, stronger than ever!

[@loki.odinson]

Played this as a kid on my friend's Apple 2E computer. Never could beat it.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

I finally did but it was difficult

[@BDreGaming]

Holy God the intro cutscene brought memories rushing back.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Glad I could scratch that nostalgic itch

[@realmchat6665]

My elementary school has commodore pet computers, but there was one Apple IIe in the library, we had Karateka loaded on it and would fight over playing it until the librarian chased us away, waited forever for the port for my C64. Thanks for the video! Also, you have been pronouncing it correctly :)

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Very cool! We had one computer in our school and that was in our fourth grade homeroom. The only thing we could play on it was operation frog. :-)

[@rayfincham1595]

I remember first hearing about this in my computer class in elementary school. We had just gotten the computer lab and we had Apple II's, my inner nerd squeeled with excitement. I begged my parents for an Apple computer and they finally gave in as I told them that it would "help with my homework". Which it did, I could complete my projects at home but me and my friends swapped games and this gem was one of them. I absolutely loved Karateka, it ranks up there as being a timeless game that takes me back to simpler times where you didn't need all the flash that current gen systems have. Great video and I can't wait to see the Prince of Persia video.

[@werdna_sir]

I played this on my Apple II clone. I was amazed by the animation and atmosphere. Also, they nailed the Mariko sprite. I want to save her now.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

LOL, you and me both :-)

[@surfersilver6610]

I imagine the hero nailed the Mariko sprite after saving her also.

[@jnnx]

⁠​⁠@@surfersilver6610Perv weirdo.

[@IceManTX69]

The hours I spent playing this on my C64... One of my favorites back then.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Always one of mine as well

[@l.marhault]

One tiny correction: Warrior was released by Cinematronics, not Sega. Cinematronics specialized in vector graphics games such as Tailgunner, Star Castle, and Armor Attack. The game was developed by Tim Skelly, who went on to produce other innovative arcade games such as Reactor. Otherwise, you've done a great job documenting Karateka, which was always a favorite on my Apple ][e. Another two games with a similar fighting approach are Swashbuckler (pirate duels) and Aztec (amazing Indiana Jones imitation.)

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

I wonder where I got the idea it was from Sega? I could've sworn it was from that company. Oh well, thanks for the info

[@seantrice1176]

I agree with the creator and think he knows how to pronounce his own game better than anyone else. Great video. Love your content.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

I agree, I was just trying to make a joke

[@dryerlint17]

Loved this one on my good ol Commodore 64. I used to get mad when that gate would kill me sometime. That was very cool to see the live footage!

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Thank you, I thought the live-action footage was awesome as well

[@JStryker47]

I remember playing this game in school as a kid. I couldn't get very far though, since it never occured to me that I could move faster by dropping my stance, and I wound up getting into too many fights as a result. Years later, I downloaded the game on an abandonware site and was able to beat Mr. Big, but every time I tried to go into the dungeon, the game would freeze on a message telling me to make sure the disc was in the drive and press enter. Apparently, there was some kind of file missing, that I had to get from some other site and install - in order to finally see the proper ending.

[@CodeRed001]

Wow this game was way ahead of it's time. This might be the first time a regenerating health bar was used, now a common feature of many fps games.

[@m.x.1800]

It's so fascinating learning the history of all of my favorite games from yesteryear. Thanks for your hard work and fond nostalgia that it brings!

[@residentelect]

Yo Patman! Like your good self this was one of my very first C64 experiences way back in the late 80s! Santa Claus obviously saw the potential spreekiller in me even back then, bringing me the "Blazeout" bundle, which was the C64 unit packaged with the Defender light gun, a compilation tape which included shooting levels from Robocop, Platoon, Rambo 3, Combat School, etc, and bizarrely three 3D(!!!) games; "Gangster Town", "Time Traveller", and "Army Days", complete with the worst pair of 3D glasses ever pressed out of recycled toilet roll tubes!! After weeks of shooting anything that moved, including several times at the cat, my parents decide a beat-em-up would be far more wholesome, and thus Karateka became my first none light gun game. On point review as every bud! Hope you and yours are doing well! Take care 👍🇬🇧🇺🇲

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

That is awesome. I never knew they had 3D glasses for the Commodore. Thanks, stay safe

[@jarrodhook]

Jordan Mechner inspired my little brother to get into game development. He made posters when he was a kid in the 90’s about the Prince of Persia, we played The Last Express a stack, so this video was a real memory churner for me PatmanQC. Excellent stuff. But yeah Jordan can’t pronounce his own game!! I did laugh out loud.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Very cool, thanks for sharing

[@SamuraiLeo]

Thanks for this. I used to play this along with Chuck Norris Karate with my Colecovision adapter back in 84.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

So did I, on a double ender cartridge :-)

[@jasontritt3243]

Love the vids. Kills the quarantine bordem

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Thank you very much

[@sspotter1978]

Love that old Apple IIe sound. Takes me way back. Thanks Pat!

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

So do I, thanks

[@vassa1972]

Totally awesome video, way back in those days my brother Chris and I took Apple 2 computer lessons during the summer time, I used to play this so many times

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Thank you very much, thanks for sharing your memories

[@vassa1972]

@@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries be safe out there

[@reagandow850]

The one, the only, Mad Pat!! ;-) Your stuff just keeps getting better and better my friend.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Thank you very much Reagan, graduate enjoy my content

[@reagandow850]

PatmanQC - History of arcade game documentaries - I sure do buddy. I hope you and your family are staying sane cooped up at home?! ;-)

[@Larry]

I never knew about Karetka for years, I was only introduced to it as "that game that was always on those famiclone multi carts", that and circus charlie and the columns knock-off.

[@littlegreengamer]

I remember playing Karateka for the first time in 2008 when I got my hands on one of those counterfeit N64 controllers. For something so cheaply made, it was pretty awesome. Too bad the product didn't last all that long before it wore out.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

I love Circus Charlie :-)

[@Rando1975]

Yep. That's how I first played it. I think it was a 51 in 1 famicom cart. It had an adapter attached do we could play it on the NES.

[@googlehome8545]

Can we get a whoa bundy

[@bodieernest6546]

i guess I am kind of off topic but do anybody know of a good place to watch new movies online?

[@douglasmcfarland9040]

Fantastic video, great job in blending a review with the history.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Thank you kindly!

[@pjw5328]

Yes! I was really hoping you’d review this one someday. I had it for the Apple II+, probably got it around 1986/87 I’d guess (the computer was a birthday present in 1985, so it definitely wasn’t any earlier than ‘86). Even in green monochrome it looked great - I especially loved some of the helmet designs - and I played the snot out of it. If it wasn’t my favorite game that I owned, it was definitely one of the top two or three. And yes, I was one of the 99% who got killed by Mariko the first time I thought I’d beaten it. I still remember that vividly, it was such a shock. That was one of the fun things about those old games in the pre-internet days though, when they could still spring surprises on you like that (Rescue on Fractalus, which I also owned, also had a good one up its sleeve). BTW, regarding the pronunciation, I have no idea what’s actually correct or not, but I do remember the announcer in the Atari 7800 commercials pronouncing it “CARE-uh-TEE-kuh,” which never sounded right to me. Anyway, thanks for doing this one, and if you’re doing Prince of Persia too, I’ll be looking forward to that also!

[@TetragrammatonCleric]

I haven't thought about this game since those days in my high school computer club. I never did finish it. I remember dying lots of time with the gate falling on me. I was always thinking Akuma would be nearly impossible to beat even if I'd have reached him. Thanks for showing me the ending. It only took 32 years to see it. Haha. Great channel.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Thank you very much

[@Ironfistfilms]

@TetragrammatonCleric thanks for sharing that memory. It really shows you how great YT is. I used to rent bad movies as a kid all the time and forgot the titles of a lot of them but thanks to KZbin I've found most of them.

[@Asterra2]

Disney's process wasn't precisely rotoscoping. They used filmed footage as a very close basis for what they drew, but this has to be strongly delineated from what was literally tracing the images from film. The latter is the literal definition of rotoscoping. Disney used a much looser "cheat" because it gave a result that was less blatantly pulled from living actors-a look popularized by Koko the Clown et al but which had already staled by the time of _Snow White._ And ultimately, Disney relied upon their iteration of film-assisted animation very little indeed. Interesting footnote about the Apple II's audio capabilities: Not only could it only play a single tone at once, but every other process in the system had to be shut down whenever audio was playing. They had to take turns. This is what led to the sound in most Apple games having a scratchy quality-the scratchiness was the result of having to stop and start sound a dozen or more times per second. With that having been said, as time progressed and inventive programmers grew weary of the limitations of older hardware, we began to see the phenomenon of realtime mixing of two or more channels. A phenomenon that was quite popular on other platforms with similar limitations, it did find its way onto the Apple II for a number of games. I personally owned a few which demonstrated this technique: Tass Times in Tonetown, Archon, etc. We refer to this technique today as "1-bit" music. It has a characteristic harshness and is generally considerably harder to hear coming from the little internal speaker, since after all one has taken what was supposed to be a pure square wave-the loudest waveform possible-and converted it into something dynamic. The Apple II was also the recipient of a certain extremely rare soundcard called the Phasor, which provided 12 simultaneous voices. Years before the advent of the first Soundblaster for PCs. I owned one, and was probably the only person on the planet to spend time with its little music composition tool. I still have the tunes I slapped together on that beast.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Thanks for the info

[@daisukegori2112]

Any artist worth his salt will use some sort of reference material. Disney and many other animation studios still used live film as reference, the same way comic artists use live models or photos. The truth is no matter how good you are, you cannot accurately create every possible motion, pose or angle without first knowing how it looks and truly understanding it. And the only way is to study reference. Any artist who claims not to use reference ends up creating art with the same common mistakes. I know you were talking about rotoscoping and not reference but this is what majority of artists do.

[@gall_blader_works]

I loved this game! I still believe the challenge level it posed and the gameplay will hold up years after. I remember the tension my friends and I felt when the life bar started adding up because you were about to face off against the bird. And the way the princess' foot lifted up during the kiss, absolute classic! Bless you for featuring this game PatmanQC!

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

I agree 100%. The game is a cinematic masterpiece. To think it came out 36 years ago on machine with only 48K Of memory is mind-boggling. Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching

[@gall_blader_works]

@@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries 36 years ago! That's right. Our ages are starting to show. But we're young-at-heart gamers nonetheless! As ageless as these classics.

[@cachos-story-lab]

Sold on the steam version. Such creativity, just wow Also as a fellow Karate practitioner, Im super glad to get to know it. Your channel is just plain gold

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Awesome, thank you!

[@remander3873]

Loved this game! Takes me back to my childhood!

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

I have lots of fond memories from this game as a child as well

[@aroundthefur1210]

Your channel is criminally under rated. Keep doing what you do, you are going to blow up one day.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Thank you very much, I hope you're right :-)

[@jasonstella74]

Awesome retrospective

[@Buck3366]

Noooo make it stop !! I knew this one was coming eventually Pat.That first few bars of the music just made my childhood flash before my eyes. The time I spent trying to slowly... painfully get through this bloody game makes me weep. Just one more bad guy I’d tell myself but it just kept on going...oh God I think I’m having a panic attack 🤣

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Well we are about the same age so you are right, you knew it was coming. Glad you enjoyed it :-)

[@Triggermappy]

It is actually read as "kaRAteka", that's how the japanese reads it.

[@fretburner89]

Loved this game on my Atari 130XE back in the day and I still love it now. The modern Steam version is also really cool.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

They did a really good job on the remake

[@timdev99]

I was the first one of my group of friends to get to the princess on the Apple IIe version. We were all there taking turns playing and very excited when I defeated Akuma. Lots of jumping around and screaming. And then as I walked to the princess and she kicked me dead, it was total silence, and then laughter. We were young, so the taunting was pretty harsh. But we were also all a bit sad that now we had to all of that again. Great memories!

[@jorgeng7251]

Learned something new today. I always thought Data Easts Karate champ was the first one on one fighting game Thanks Patman!👍

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Glad to help Glad you enjoyed it

[@townlinetim876]

Every time I watch one of your videos, I immediately check the eshop and cross my fingers. You have a great channel Pat. Keep these awesome videos coming.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Awesome, thank you! I appreciate the nice words

[@hippocrates72]

12:11 this version was a mere series of QTE events, having nothing in common with the original gameplay mechanics...

[@velvetdogg7375]

Cool video! This is one of first game's we got with the C64. It was fun before the Apple 2 showed up at the house.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

It is definitely a classic

[@RetroPixelLizard]

I remember when I first played Karateka. It was on one of those 100+ in 1 plug n plays which you could find sold in Arndale centers (What the UK calls a mall) which were just NES roms on a crappy N64 controller mold. The gate was a pain to figure out the sweet-spot to move from for if you were to step too far back an enemy spawns. It surprises me how bad the gameboy version was when it could have just been a port of the NES version. Aw, no mention of the dancing protag? :D Ever considered covering The First Samurai?

[@jambobbyb124]

This channels awesome keep it up PatmanQC!!!

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Thanks, will do!

[@NOISEONOMICON]

wow! Thanx a lot for this info! I´m from Ecuador, I´m 41, I used to play Karateka in a Apple II in the late 80´s during school vacations. Years later I found a bag in my garden just from nowhere (true story) with a pirate NES controller, and a bootleg game "109 in 1", which include Karateka!!!!! I still have it and I still can´t beat it! True love for that game, one founding game in my gamer story. thanx for these videos!

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Hello, I don't think that ever talk with anybody from Ecuador so greetings from the USA :-) thanks for watching

[@SinisterTarheel]

Love this game and man it was tough getting through this. This and Prince of Persia is Jordan’s best efforts

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Absolutely, there are both stellar games

[@TheGGShow77]

You're the BEST!! You continuously help me in getting through this pandemic with your frequent content uploads! And I SWEAR I will join and donate as soon as I get my stimulus check as watching your videos keeps my mind off The World. You're quality only gets better with every upload so I can tell how passionate you are and that's something that is lacking in the gaming community. Love the channel, keep up your amazing work brother!

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Wow, thank you! I really appreciate the nice words. Stay safe

[@bmkretrogaming7634]

Nice documentary Patman! I own a physical copy of the Atari 7800 port. The controls take a lot of getting used to, but otherwise a decent game. Including a recommendation, and a link to your video on my Karateka Atari 7800 port review video.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Thank you, I appreciate that.

[@bmkretrogaming7634]

@@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries you're welcome!

[@codekhalil6437]

Your edits made me laugh. Solid vid. This game was VERY groundbreaking. It didn't respond the best, but all things considered, it was pretty impressive for the time. The story was very simple, yet it would draw you in. You wanted to know more. How did the princess get caught? Who is Akuma? What is the story of the hero? A tribute to good game-making

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Thanks a lot, I appreciate that :-) yes, some back story would be great but only if it was done by Jordan since he was the one who created the whole thing.

[@rickbrasseaux1676]

Yes! One of the most memorable games I had on the Apple II when I was in Junior High.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

It absolutely was, it was a classic

[@matthewmurray2511]

What a blast from the past! Surprised you didn't mention the gate. Great to see this and I had no idea about the remake. These videos have been great I'll join the Patreon. Let me know if you want to work on content.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you very much

[@colinmcdonald2499]

I really liked this game in 84 or 85 as an elementary school kid. A friend who had a great collection of games and copied ( dubbed as we would say) a bunch for me was the only one who had Karateka... It seems we were unable to foil the copy protection, as I only played it a few times at his house! Serves me right I guess!

[@rdefabri]

Great video - one minor correction: Warrior is not a Sega game, it's a Vectorbeam / Cinematronics game. It was created by Tim Skelly, who designed a lot of their games, as well as Gottlieb's Reactor. He recently passed away, big loss for the gaming community!

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

I don't know where I got the idea it was Sega. Thanks for the correction

[@dravenvandross8281]

I have never heard of this game so thank you for showing it.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

They give for watching

[@SikSlayer]

Prince of Persia would be a great follow up video to this. Great job! Loving your "History of" videos.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

I will get to it but not for a little while

[@Realmasterorder]

A historical game indeed ! The game was very impressive when it came out i still remember seing it playing from a Disk Drive on a C64 ! it was pretty jaw droping when first seen at the time.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Exactly, I felt the same way

[@DkViking1]

What a great an informative video! 👍🏻 Somehow I missed playing this game as a kid. Karate Champ in the arcades, was my introduction to fighting games, followed by The Way of the Exploding Fist on the Commodore 64. 🤜🤕🤛

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Glad you enjoyed it! I played the heck out of both of those games as well.

[@chemoautotroph]

One of my all time favorite games along with Prince of Persia. I started playing this game on my Franklin ACE1000 (Apple2 clone) back in ‘84 when it came out. I still have the computer and the floppy. I still play it to this day on my IOS devices as well as on my Apple 2 simulator for Windows. Never gets old.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

It is really cool, I even likes the Xbox 360 remake

[@dwhitman12341]

Sega Warrior was released shortly before Cinematronics Outrun.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

And shortly thereafter konami released streetfighter 2

[@dwhitman12341]

I thought Konami did Mortal Kombat and Strata did Street Fighter

[@dwhitman12341]

In all seriousness, I have been hunting for a decent Warrior since 1997 with no luck. I’ve owned almost every vector game made, including at the time the only known Sundance to exist, but no Warrior.

[@CinemaMacabro]

I remember playing this for the Apple 2 GS in 5th grade, great video!

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Thank you

[@BayushiGemma]

I had this game as well for the Apple 2GS, it was frustrating to play with the keyboard and especially the joystick! To the day I am still using my 80s desktop desk that my Dad bought, money well spent considering it's been over 30 years now. Great Video Patman!!! I too always pronounced it Kara-TeKa.

[@fakename2212]

Great video as always. Nice to see you expanding out to non-arcade classics as well. 👍

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Thank you very much. There are a lot of classic games from my childhood that are not just arcade games so I'm sure we'll see more :-)

[@SiccDeville]

had this game on our c64 as a kid of the 80's. liked when the opponent got close and you were standing straight up you can have a bow off. the funny and worst part of the game is if you are running to meet your opponent and you don't stop running and get too close to him and he hits you once, you'd die! all in all, loved this game... hated the evil boss' eagle tho. edit: made the comments above before watching the video and you pretty much said the same thing. lol

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

It's all good :-)

[@glennshoemake4200]

Played this on the Apple II in the library of my Jr. High School growing up and was one of my all time favorites. Plays well with keyboard on Apple II.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

I've never tried it on the keyboard

[@chancepaladin]

Whenever I see the original footage of rotoscoping, its an indescribable feeling of awesomeness. It's just not the same as mocap to me. It's total magic. Like photo digization almost like mk1, mk2, etc.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Absolutely, I think the whole process is fascinating

[@daisukegori2112]

I agree. I've always wondered why motion capture gets a free pass but rotoscoping gets all this flak.

[@KSigKid]

This was definitely a favorite of mine growing up along with Jumpman. I played both on my Atari 800XL computer.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

I loved playing jump man as well

[@sonicr360]

Excellent history of Karateka. I owned this on my Atari 800 and as you say, it was groundbreaking in its day, still fun to play as a blast even now. Very nicely done and a great trip down memory lane of the Apple II, C64 and Atari (And I prefer the Atari 800 version) :)

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

I never knew how good the Atari 800 version was. Like I said in the video I grew up with the Commodore version but it does run a bit slower. Thanks for the nice words

[@sonicr360]

@@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries Hey no worries. yes I did feel that the Atari was defo more faster and playable than the C64, but it was nice to see it on an Apple Computer as well as I recall this was good too.

[@disembodiedstudios]

Though i never played this(unfortunately) watching this brought back wonderful memories of the 1st fighting game i ever played, id just LOVE if you could make a video about it. The game i speak of is NINJA for DOS 1986, which must have been inspired by karateka. I would have been 6/7 yrs old when it released and it was probably what kick started my young obsession with ninja lol. I played ninja ALL THE TIME! I absolutely LOVED it! Please consider doing a video on it!! Your channel is one of the VERY BEST on youtube NO CONTEST!!

[@josecarlosxyz]

Such good game it’s hard to understand how it wasn’t made for arcade

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

I agree, it would've been cool

[@Zerohour2k12]

Nice one Pat! I used to play this game a lot as a kid!

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Thank you, it's a classic

[@thenudebrewer7466]

Jordan Mechner released his diary from when he was making Prince of Persia. I don't know when it was OFFICIALLY released, but I was told about it around 2008'ish and figured I'd read a page or two, and ended up reading half the book in one sitting. It was AMAZING!!! If you're into video games and, more specifically, their creation I highly recommend it. In the same vein, the creator for Grim Fandango did the same thing and his diary is ... just bonkers how cool it is. Literally unbelievable how much work went into that game.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

I was looking at it while making the video but didn't pull the trigger on purchasing it. Perhaps I'll go back and check it out. Thanks

[@BlackArroToons]

Very challenging game, as with Prince of Persia, which also had great animation for that time.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Absolutely, still fun to play though

[@SRDhain]

I found the c64 version incredibly frustrating due to its lack of fluid gameplay. There was also this weird bug (it could have just been my version, or maybe all tape versions had it), where you'd get stuck on the doorway before the final showdown; for some reason i couldn't go though that doorway. I had to wait years to see a full play through on KZbin to watch the ending. The other versions look smoother and faster by comparison. On a related note, It's odd that prince of Persia wasn't officially released for the c64 ; i think there's a homebrew cartridge version of it knocking around, which would make sense as it was a huge game and would have needed a lot of disc access during play (tape would have meant serious compromises, such as missing cut scenes etc). Thank you for uploading this. It was the first time so many of us have seen the original footage used to make the animation for the main characters.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

I seem to recall a pirated version having a problem with the doorway and not being able to pass it. I was surprised at how much better the Atari 800 version ran this game

[@TheHolywhippet]

What I recall about this game is that the &*^&(*%(* bird was the hardest opponent of all. Even harder than the actual final boss.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

It was a pain that's for sure

[@josecarlosxyz]

graphics way ahead of its own time

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

No jokes aside, they were revolutionary

[@woodeyelyegaming1401]

Another great video! Thank you so much for sharing!

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Thank you very much :-)

[@mirabilis]

What do you mean by the game being the same size as a standard text message? Are your messages 100,000 characters long?

[@gordgunner42]

Thanks for this I had forgot about how much I loved this game on my Atari ST. I would always suicide off the cliff a few times for laughs every time I played. Kid me thought this was sooooo funny and although you didn't show the ST fall I still gut a chuckle today.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

I assumed it was similar to the other version I showedBut I'll go check it out

[@mikestunt77]

Another great game, thanks for showing me the ending I never managed to finish this game up.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Glad you enjoyed itThank you

[@iankempster7007]

This game wasn't too bad at all , great video as always dude !

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Thank you very much :-)

[@gregsmith9183]

Loved the original Karteka on the Apple II. A standard playthrough from start to finish took around 20 minutes.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Yes, it wasn't very long of a game

[@Larry]

Aww, you never brought up the secret "third" ending :(

[@antdude]

Oh? Please tell!

[@mrb9825]

That’s just mean Larry! (There is no “third” ending. Unless you count being killed by the gate)

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Okay Larry, what's the third ending

[@DkViking1]

👀 Waiting in excitement! 👀

[@O.M.JaYY3]

HELLO YOU!

[@NYKgjl10]

Love Karateka. Haven't played it in years. Animation also reminds me of the original Prince of Persia which came later on in the late 80's time frame.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

I mentioned at the end the video the developer went on to create Prince of Persia

[@NYKgjl10]

@@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries Yep, you did mention it. My fault.

[@akapantsusenpai181]

I hated that stupid bird. I remember how slow this game was and how frustrated I was playing it. Good times. Thanks for the memories!

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Absolutely, I've always enjoyed this game

[@O.M.JaYY3]

PatmanQC Awesome, thanks! I never played this one!

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

It's a fun little game especially considering it's 36 years old.

[@crushmonkeyvideo]

This brings back memories. I remember playing it when younger and FINALLY getting to Mariko in fighting stance and getting knocked out and being so darned 7-year old angry.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

LOLThat was a real pain the first few times

[@awesometown666]

I love everything about this video, except your pronunciation of "Karateka" 😁😁😁

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

LOL, I should have seen that one coming :-)

[@jc3drums916]

Why? It wasn't that bad. At least he didn't pronounce it like the way non-Japanese people pronounce kamikaze, which is what I always hear, and is absolutely incorrect (for both words). His pronunciations of Mariko and Akuma were less correct. 😜 (Stress on the first syllable.)

[@CATinBOOTS81]

I agree, you can hear the correct (japanese) pronunciation of the word here: translate.google.it/#view=home&op=translate&sl=ja&tl=en&text=karateka For me it's supereasy, as a matter of fact you can pronounce Japanese words like if they were Italian, and got almost always the correct pronounciation. But japanese words read like english ones! No, please, mercy 😅

[@crow337]

I think it all comes down on how you pronounce “karate” and then add “ka” at the end. Some say “Kara-tee or Kara-tay”. Either sounds fine to me.

[@homerthompson416]

@@jc3drums916 TIL US intelligence in WWII didn't know you usually use the 音読み in compound kanji words.

[@zeoxbg]

Huge game! In 1986-1987 I was a small boy behind the iron curtain... But some genius had decided to produce Apple II clones for the comunist youth! And there I was.... Black and green monochrome screen shining at my face while I was beating up kimono waring ninjas :D Great memory!

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

That is awesome, thank you for sharing your story :-)

[@samg4097]

kara-teka is how we pronounced it in New Zealand. we had a pirated copy on Atari/C64 thing in the early 90s

[@SatanIceCream]

will always be known as the game where the princess kills you at the end

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Unless you know the trick

[@nikitachirich7985]

Wow surely takes me back , I was the only kid in my city playing these American games all my friends would come over , my father was with working in computing in USSR developing our own gaming console lol .

[@FerintoshFarmsPhotography]

I concur with your assertion on his abilities

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Thank you :-)

[@bigfairy321]

In the day played this on a friends apple II .. I had a c64.. great game, great review.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Thank you very much, glad you enjoyed it

[@erikrounds]

I had no idea about the ending where Mariko kicks the player to death, that's funny! I got the good ending the first time I made it past Akuma. I used to play this game every morning on my high school's Apple ST. Good times.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

LOL, good for you. She kicked my butt the first time I got to her :-)

[@Zyrule]

I cracked up when you said he sux at pronunciation. I love your jokes in your videos. You do great work.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Apparently you are the only one who thought it was funny. Thank you

[@Zyrule]

I liked it, thats the way i joke around. My kids call them Dad jokes. I been watching your videos since the beginning of feb and there very nostalgic for me. One of your videos had a scene where I did a double take and said “ I know that guy “. It was a scene from one of your videos ( im sorry i cant remember which one at the moment ) that had the man from TNT amusements. I live in Delaware and when I was younger the local tv channel would air his promo videos and he would always get his hand slammed on something and it turned out to be a rubber glove. I wanted to go there so bad back then, the video made me look them up and there still in action so im hoping to go there and take the kids after all this virus stuff is done with.

[@SwiftpawWolffox]

This is one I remember playing on an Apple IIe after school

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

It is a classic

[@daneast]

Kinda odd for a game to make it to the Atari ST but not the Amiga. Since they both had the same CPU a lot of the C / assembly could be reused. Of course their graphics systems were entirely different, but at least they were already halfway there with the ST port.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

I agree, but there were a lot of games that came up for the ST that were not released on the Amiga. Super Sprint, 10th frame bowling and karateka are just a few examples of this happening

[@thirdstar9255]

YES! Back in elementary school, like.. '84 or so, we used to call it "Kair-uh-teek-A," like like Jordan pronounced it. I have no idea how we knew this, but... this, Skyfox, Bolo, Castle Wolfenstein, Bug Attack, Moon Patrol, etc. took over the comp lab during lunch and recess. Only dorks went outside. The nerds stayed IN.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

LOL, I hear you:-)

[@mcorleonep]

One the most impressive Apple II games I had. And I had a filipino friend who would correct my pronunciation of ‘Karateka’ all the time…

[@TVsMrNeil]

About the pronunciation. My stance is that Mechner is three decades too late to tell us how to pronounce the game. I pronounce it the same way you do. I have a similar stance on Galaga's title as well.

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

Thank you :-)

[@marcraygun6290]

Surely thats a vulture!? Also you have become one of my favourite youtube channels :)

[@sideburn]

A text message is 64,000 bytes?

[@rsmith02]

It's funny I used to say the name similarly to Mechner. Then I learned Japanese and realized it's just karate + ka. (ka-ra-teh-kah with no emphasis on any syllable)

[@PatmanQC-Arcade-Documentaries]

I always pronounce it just as it was written.