Karateka remake's new art style revealed in first screenshots

Jordan Mechner's remake of his classic side-scrolling, one-on-one fighter Karateka is coming this November, according to Xbox.com, featuring a visual style dramatically different from the rotoscoped animation of the 1984 original, thanks to artist Jeff Matsuda.

First screenshots of the Karateka remake for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network show off Matsuda's style. The artist is better known for his work on character design for animation like The Batman and Jackie Chan Adventures, as well as design for Google Lively, a shuttered, web-based online social space.

According to Xbox.com, Karateka also features music from Christopher Tin, the Grammy Award-winning composer who contributed music to Civilization 4.

The Karateka remake was announced earlier this year as an update to the original martial arts adventure, described by Mechner as a "compact, pick-up-and-play game that is fluid, atmospheric and beautiful." Mechner said the newKarateka reinvents the original's "classic gameplay for this generation."

Mechner, the creator of Prince of Persia, recently released a port of his 1997 adventure game The Last Express for iOS.

Karateka is listed for release on Xbox Live Arcade on November 14th, according to Xbox.com. The game is in development at Liquid Entertainment and published by D3Publisher.