Digital Eclipse has announced that The Making of Karateka is scheduled to release on 29 August for PS4, PS5, SeXbox, Xbone and PC via Steam, GOG, and Epic. The Nintendo Switch will be released later in September.

Described as an “interactive documentary”, The Making of Karateka is the first entry in Digital Eclipse’s Gold Master Series. Players will be able to explore the origins of this Jordan Mechner’s groundbreaking 1984 game which revolutionized video game animation and storytelling.

In addition to the virtual museum of design documents and video features, The Making of Karateka includes pixel-perfect versions of all four of the game’s original releases as well as early prototype versions. These also include director’s commentary and a number of game journalist-friendly features such as save states, rewind, and chapter select.

The package also includes two new exclusive games: Karateka Remastered is “an all-new version of the original game featuring cutting-room-floor content, commentary, achievements, and more”, and Deathbounce: Rebounded is “a fast and frantic twin-stick shooter” based on an unpublished prototype developed by Mechner.

Here’s the official breakdown of The Making of Karateka from Digital Eclipse:

Jordan Mechner — who went on to create Prince of Persia and The Last Express — was an 18-year-old college student when he started making the martial arts adventure that would become one of the most influential games of the Apple II era. The Making of Karateka presents the story behind Mechner’s first published game through an exhaustive archive of design documents, playable prototypes, and all-new video features that can be explored at your own pace.

The interactive documentary includes:

• Pixel-perfect playable versions of the original Karateka games plus a variety of never-before-seen early prototypes, with rich quality-of-life features like save anywhere, rewind, chapter select, and director’s commentary.
• Two remastered games: Karateka Remastered, an all-new adaptation of the original featuring cutting-room-floor content, commentary & achievements, and Deathbounce: Rebounded, a fast and frantic twin-stick shooter based on Jordan’s unpublished prototype.
• A fascinating behind-the-scenes look at how Karateka became one of the first games to include cinematic scenes, a moving original soundtrack, rotoscoped animation, a Hollywood-style love story, and more.
• Localization in French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Japanese.

The Making of Karateka will release for $19.99 USD on Steam, GOG, Epic, PS4, PS5, SeXbox and Xbone. The Nintendo Switch version will release in September.

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