The Making Of Karateka

Game preservation has just gone up a level

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Digital Eclipse, the Californian developer specialising in videogame preservation, has created a kickass interactive documentary about Jordan Mechner’s groundbreaking martialarts action title Karateka.

It covers Mechner’s life and loves, discusses pioneering techniques such as rotoscoping and features design documents, journal entries and videos along with playable prototypes and new remastered versions of Karateka and the unreleased Deathbounce too. We caught up with editorial director Chris Kohler to learn more.

Why did you choose to make an interactive documentary about Karateka?

Our studio president Mike Mika and head of business development Tom Russo are huge Karateka fans. After reviving the Digital Eclipse brand in 2015, they went to Jordan proposing we do a special re-release of the game incorporating his development materials – a proof of concept for creating a high-end release of a classic game. Over years of development, The Making Of Karateka evolved into a full, interactive documentary telling the story of the game’s development through video, audio, playable experiences, archival materials and more, arranged in a chronological narrative structure.

What made Karateka special?