Be Excellent To Each Other

Larry Hryb ‏@majornelson
"ToeJam & Earl Collection" http://mjr.mn/SNVnEg and "Karateka" are coming to XBLA this Wednesday

Modern remake

In February 2012, Mechner announced that he was leading a small independent development group to create a remake of Karateka for the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation 3 via PlayStation Network, and Wii U via the Nintendo eShop with an anticipated release date in late 2012,[5], later confirmed for a November 2012 release.[8] The concept for the remake came after Mechner completed work for the 2010 film, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, based on his Prince of Persia games and screen-written by himself. He felt that he wanted to do a new project with a "guerrilla" feel and at a much smaller scale than he had experienced for the film. He also considered that nearly 30 years after the game's release, he was still being asked questions about Karateka in interviews.[9] This led Mechner to remaking Karateka which, outside of the ports near the time of its release, had not had a remake. He envisioned that he would be able to retell the story using modern console hardware and without the limitations of the Apple II system.[5] Other factors leading to the remake included the resurgence of small, independent game development in 2010 and 2011, and games such as Limbo that "created a powerful emotional atmosphere within a limited budget and scope".[4]

Mechner assembled a small independent team, Liquid Entertainment,[8] and backed by angel investment, to create the remake; this smaller group allowed Mechner to be more hands-on with the game's development.[9] The remake will stay true to core game, described by Mechner as "a compact, pick-up-and-play game that is fluid, atmospheric and beautiful". Certain cinematic elements, such as being a dialog-less work, remain in the remake.[2] Mechner's team focused on improving the game's controls, making it "hard to master" and encouraging players to run through the title again to improve on their performance.[4] However, Mechner stated that some of the humorous additions, such as the possibility of being killed by Mariko at the end of the game, will likely be removed, believing that "you can’t surprise people twice the same way", and replaced with other secrets for players to discover.[2] Mechner also considered that, to prevent frustration for younger gamers that may have not played the original, they could not have such one-shot deaths that would force the player to restart the game.[1] The focus on keeping the game as a simple game to pick up and play led to the decision to distribute the title through downloadable game services.[4] Comic and animation artist Jeff Matsuda was brought aboard to help with character animations, while composer Christopher Tin is developing the game's score.[8]