Jordan Mechner, the man who made the original Prince of Persia back in 1989, is returning to game development to remake another of his classics, Karateka. Venture Beat reports that Mechner plans to release the game later this year on XBLA and PSN. The original was developed as “a labor of love” on an Apple II and released in 1984.

“It is amazing to me how many people still remember Karateka and talk about it after all these years,” Mechner told Venture Beat. “Somehow, the 1980s seem to be in the air again. People ask me about Karateka on my website all the time, and I keep seeing videos and retrospectives of the original game posted online. I was astonished when I was in Moscow at a press conference for the Prince of Persia movie opening in 2010, and Russian journalists asked questions about Karateka.”

Continuing, he said that he believes fans have continued clamoring for a remake as a result of him not milking the property for all it was worth over the years. Mechner sees it as something that has “remained pure” in people’s minds, almost as if it has “been in a time capsule.”

A small team is reportedly behind the remix, with Jordan himself taking a very “hands-on” role as creative director. The original was heavy on story for its time, and its action gameplay relied heavily on fighting game-style mechanics. It has been about nine years since its creator last worked directly on a game (2003’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time). Mechner spent the intervening years working in film and graphic novels.

Source: Venture Beat