Jordan Mechner is on a roll with this likable reboot.
There's only a single player portion of the game, and, like the original Karateka, it can be mastered and beaten in about a half hour to an hour's time, depending on your skill level. Most enemies don't pose much of a challenge once you get the timing nature of the game down, but it's still somewhat fun going back and forth in battle, and occasionally serving up justice to the warlord's pesky girl, who wants to peck you to death. And if you're looking for a slightly further push, you can register your best times and scores through online leaderboards, so you'll see who the master truly is. (Hint: I am. Last Dragon reference.)
As far as next-gen treatment goes, Karateka actually looks great. The 3D environments you'll run through, while non-interactive, are quite stunning, though there could've been more variety with the enemies you face. (Hey, look, a robed guy! And another robed guy!) The music, produced by Christopher Tin, also impresses to a certain degree, and his audio cues go a long way to helping you out.
Karateka could've had a bit more content to keep players interested after a few playthroughs, such as a versus mode (tap, block, tap block, would've worked) and the inclusion of the original PC game. As it stands, though, it's an inspired take on an 80's classic, and it's moderately enjoyable for what it is – which is more than we can say for a few downloadable games these days.
Score: 7.5 / 10
