| Jordan Mechner made Karateka, and Broderbund published it, with a 1984 copyright. Robert Cook wrote the Atari and Commodore 64 versions; one manual covers the Apple II, the Commodore 64 and the Atari 400, 800 and XL/XE computers. | PDF p. 1, titlePDF p. 1, titlePDF p. 1, titlePDF p. 4, limited warranty | Manual |
| Gene Portwood and Lauren Elliott of Broderbund supplied additional graphics and animation, and Francis Mechner composed the original music for the Atari and Commodore 64 versions with Broderbund's The Music Shop, by Don Williams. | PDF p. 3, AcknowledgementsPDF p. 3, Acknowledgements | Manual |
| The player climbs the cliff beneath the castle of the warlord Akuma, who holds Princess Mariko captive, and must rescue her. The Famicom booklet adds that the hero comes home a karateka to a burnt, empty village. | PDF p. 2, The GamePDF p. 2, The Game | Manual |
| The hero fights his way past Akuma's palace guards. Each guard has different headgear and a different fighting style, and as a rule they get tougher farther into the palace; the Famicom booklet calls the game a right-scrolling real-time adventure and General Akuma, at the end, a strong fighter. | PDF p. 2, The GamePDF p. 2, The Game | Manual |
| On the Apple II, Atari and Commodore 64 the hero punches and kicks from a fighting stance: on the Apple one joystick button punches and the other kicks, and on the Atari and Commodore 64 a quick press of the button punches and a slow one kicks. Up and down set the height of the blow, right advances and left retreats, and pushing the joystick up stands him up; from standing, up and to the right runs, and a button bows. The keyboard can be used instead of the joystick. | PDF p. 1, ControlsPDF p. 1, Punching and Kicking, Advancing and RetreatingPDF p. 1, Punching and Kicking, Advancing and RetreatingPDF p. 2, Running and BowingPDF p. 2, Running and BowingPDF p. 2, KeyboardPDF p. 3, Special Keys | Manual |
| A row of arrows at the bottom left counts the hits the hero can still take, one lost per hit, and he dies when the last goes; blue arrows at the bottom right count the opponent's. The supply refills while he avoids being hit. Standing or running, he is open to attack, and one well-aimed blow can kill him. | PDF p. 2, The GamePDF p. 2, The GamePDF p. 2, The Game | Manual |