Play Karateka Online
In Karateka, you control a martial artist, moving through screens to fight guards and eagles, timing your punches and kicks to rescue a princess from a fortress.
Karateka came out in 1984 for MS-DOS, developed by Jordan Mechner. It was one of those early side-scrolling martial arts games that felt different from the arcade brawlers of the time, with a focus on timing and animation that stood out on home computers.
You control a lone martial artist trying to rescue a princess held in a fortress. You move screen by screen, fighting guards and eagles with punches and kicks. The combat relies on careful timing; you have to block high or low, then counterattack when an enemy is vulnerable. The difficulty is unforgiving, and a single mistake often means starting over. It feels tense and deliberate, demanding patience with every step forward.
Each game uses different controls, most DOS games use the keyboard arrows. Some will use the mouse , "Alt" ,"Enter" and "Space bar".
Download Karateka ROM
You can download this ROM to play Karateka offline using an MS-DOS emulator (Top Emulators).
*This ROM is provided for backup and educational purposes only.
