Karateka was an early side-scroller for martial arts published in the US in 1984 by Broderbund. It was quite a while before I had my chance to play it. Jordan Mechner created it before he made Prince of Persia, a game I remember well due to the horror of having to send that character to a bloody and pixelated death on a bed of sand. Karateka was a hit from the beginning, with later iterations reaching Game Boy and NES. The original Apple II version also included a charming little Easter egg. In the early days, PC gaming was based on the idea of turning the floppy disk upside-down. This would allow the game to be started upside down.Although this trick isn't new, people have used it for over 35 years. However, I was unfamiliar with the technique and YouTube gave me a quick refresher. YouTuber Geek With Social Skills was playing the game and received a note suggesting that he flip the game disc upside down. It's easy to see what happened when Geek with Social Skills tried it. The title screen, intro and game display upside-down. This is a charmingly simple joke that required a lot of programming to work.According to Mechner the developers of the game hoped that a few people would stumble upon it and discover their game was flawed. Mechner said that the tech support representative would say, "Well sir, you put it in upside down." This was a common reaction to someone calling tech support.We now know that developers have always had a strange sense of humor.Mechner said that he did not think Broderbund would agree to it, as it would have to be changed on the assembly line. The company signed off on it, and Mechner says that he didn't think Broderbund would sign off on it because it would require a change to the assembly line. This is a hidden gem in gaming history. It was also made because the president a software company had a great sense of humor. That is something I am thankful for.
