The Making of Karateka | PS5 Review

Digital Eclipse is my hero. The Making of Karateka is video game preservation as I’ve never seen it. The amount of effort and care that went into representing every aspect of a single title is nothing short of astounding. This is an important and historic step forward in respecting the history of the medium.

Save Your Mariko

The Making of Karateka is broken down into five chapters of history. We begin even before Karateka was a glimmer in the eye of Jordan Mechner. Mechner is a genuine legend in video game history, having created seminal works aside from Karateka such as The Last Express and Prince of Persia. He was also a meticulous journal keeper and hoarder of notes, which is wonderful for us, as we get an inside look into his mindset during these early days.

Each chapter is loaded with so much history as Digital Eclipse guides us along. We see letters and contracts between Mechner and his publisher Brøderbund. There are journal entries that detail his thoughts and processes, though I do wish these had captions as Mechner’s handwriting can be difficult to comprehend. There’s even advertisements and box arts from the many different versions of Karateka.

History is Written by the Historians

Perhaps the most important of all of these documentary assets are the video interviews. The Making of Karateka contains myriad interviews with individuals involved with Karateka. People involved in publishing, coding, and marketing are all here, and some other notable video game developers who were influenced by the game show up too. It is a wide reaching series of interviews, and it’s hard not to look forward to each video the interactive documentary guides you through.

The most significant interview is between Jordan Mechner and his father, Francis. Francis Mechner is a noted psychologist in his own right, but for this journey it’s important that he was the composer for Karateka. Learning about the family dynamic is enough to warm anyone’s heart. Not a lot of success stories focus so much on the loving nurturing of a parent, but Francis Mechner was so supportive of his son’s journey every step of the way. The man even dressed up in his wife’s gi and ran around the backyard for animation reference. If only we all could have had a Francis Mechner guiding us. The world would be a more loving place.

Journey Through Time

But what about the actual games, you probably want to know. In addition to the holy trinity of original Karateka releases, Digital Eclipse has seen fit to include its own remaster. This new version has surprises even if you’ve played Karateka a hundred times, and is one of the most loving renditions of the game anyone could’ve asked for. It’s fluid, fun, and contains a full commentary track that I was so thankful for. For anyone less accustomed to these old-school games, the original releases have a handy rewind feature and the remaster allows you to have up to eleven lives.

Beyond even that, though, is the inclusion of Deathbounce. Digital Eclipse wasn’t content to only make Karateka and its prototype playable on modern hardware, they included Jordan Mechner’s first and unreleased Brøderbund project, Deathbounce. Not only do we learn about its failed development process, but it’s playable here for the first time! That also wasn’t enough, however, as Deathbounce has its own included modern remaster. It’s a truly incredible package.

May We Have Many More

The Making of Karateka is the first entry in the Gold Master Series. That’s appropriate, because this is the gold standard in video game documentaries. All this history compiled by itself would already be an accomplishment, but the slick way you’re guided through it is sublime. Learning about the subtle differences in each version of Karateka and then immediately playing through them is a stroke of genius by Digital Eclipse, and helps to cement the history in your head forever. The Making of Karateka isn’t really a video game. In many ways, it’s so much more.

To hear me talk more about The Making of Karateka, be sure to listen to the September 6th, 2023 episode of The Gaming Outsider podcast.

This review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy of The Making of Karateka provided by Digital Eclipse for coverage purposes. It is also available on Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam, GOG, and Epic Games Store.