I hadn’t started karate yet. Judo was still my only means of self-defense.
Did Karateka inch me toward the way of the empty hand? Probably a lot less than Van Damme movies. Bloodsport and Cyborg! (Hey I was 10-ish)
A pretty straight-forward game, although revolutionary when it came out in 1984. It advertised realistic karate, and owned up to it… Partially I’d say. For the time it was definitely a deserved brag. The paralax scrolling was a big deal then, as was smooth animation, which it absolutely had.
It was colorful, fun, and that darned bird was annoying as hell (high speed setting by default on the GS probably didn’t help).