Gaming Trend

Gaming Trend Review

by Ron Burke

“Ska-doosh!”  If you have a kid, you’ve already added this little phrase to your parent/child lexicon.  I’m, of course, talking about a line from the upcoming Dreamworks Pictures movie, Kung Fu Panda.  Activision teamed up with Luxoflux to bring us the PS3 and Xbox 360 movie tie-in, as well as Xpec for the PS2 and Wii versions, Vicarious Visions was tapped for the DS version, and the usual suspect Beenox for the PC version.  Here is the crazy part – it may be a movie tie-in, but it is actually quite funny and great to play.  While I try to restrain my shock, let’s take a closer look at Kung Fu Panda.

As the game opens we meet Master Po, master of Kung Fu and legend among his people.  His awesome martial arts powers are awe inspiring and beyond measure, and we are lucky enough to bask in his glorious majesty.  As the incredible Po decimates scores of enemies to save his village, culminating with the unleashing of the Legendary Sword of Heroes...oh wait, it’s just a broom.  You see, the entirety of the first level takes place in the head of Po the Panda, apprentice noodle maker, professional klutz, and laziest of all animals in the Valley of Peace. 

Po’s teacher, Master Shifu, is doing his best to draw Po’s potential to the surface, but Po is more interested in daydreaming and pretending.  To help spur his potential, Po is enrolled in Kung Fu studies under the tutelage of Master Shifu and along side the Furious Five – the most powerful Kung Fu masters ever known. Well, Po gets the opportunity to live out his dreams as the evil Tai Lung, a snow leopard martial arts master who recently escaped from the inescapable Chorh-Gom prison.  Officially dubbed “The Dragon Warrior”, (and entirely by accident, of course) Po has to adopt the mantle of unlikely hero as he battles countless scores of Tai Lung’s minions.  Will he learn to believe in himself to unleash his inner master in time, or will the treacherous Tai Lung achieve his vain ambition of being named the greatest fighter of all time, while stealing the temple’s sacred relics from their rightful home?

Let’s face it – most of the time the graphics and animations in kids games are sub-par at best.  Corners get cut to make a cheap game that capitalizes on the momentum of a big movie, leaving gamers with a jolting half-step down in quality as they extend the big-screen experience to the small screen.  Thankfully, Luxoflux would have none of that, working hard to capture the over-the-top exaggerated but awkward movements of Po, as well as the funny hopping waddle/run of the top-heavy rhino squads in the game.  I’m not sure if motion capture came into play, but if it did it must have been an absolute riot to watch.
 
The graphics in Kung Fu Panda are reflective of the attitude and comedy of the movie.  A great amount of detail is present, and from what I’ve seen it matches the movie quite well. On the technical side there is a fantastic draw distance and stable framerate, coupled with lighting effects you’d normally see reserved for titles like Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, or Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.  A similar level of detail is paid to the animation system in the game.  When you jump on a lilypad on the Treacherous Waters level, the lilypads will flex under your considerable weight, settle under the rapidly displacing water, and then eventually sink you to a watery restart of the level. Similarly, when Po runs he plods from side to side, his weight shifting and jiggling all the while. Confetti flies all around when fireworks go off, and ripples roll through the landscape when the larger boss enemies smash the ground. Po’s attacks are equally well done with arcs of power whooshing from his paws and explosive force throwing enemies back when he flops on the ground.  If left idle, Po will begin to practice exaggerated Crane technique stances, as well as his ‘tough’ look.  Even if you are a parent watching your kid play this, you’ll find something to laugh about.

I sincerely doubt that Jack Black has anything to do with his time after a movie wraps beyond counting the fat stacks of cashey-cashey money, but apparently he is just way too busy to voice his own character in Kung Fu Panda.  Well, guess what – it turns out that the actor that Luxoflux hired to impersonate Mr. Black did a good enough job that there were times I wasn’t sure. Similarly, they didn’t get Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan, or Dustin Hoffman either, but they did get James Hong (You might remember him as Mr. David Lo Pan from Big Trouble in Little China) to reprise his role here as Mr. Ping, and added Fred Tatasciore (Saren from Mass Effect) as Master Shifu.  All of the voice actors did a great job of capturing the characters they embody, with Hong and Tatasciore easily taking center stage. 

The sound effects throughout the game are well done.  They sound like they could have come out of a cheap Kung Fu movie from the 80s for the most part.  The only real complaint I have is one that is fairly common – repeating character voices.  During most sections of the game you’ll be asked to do some platforming, but quite often you’ll hear the same “yooww!!” out of Po.  During some sections you’ll jump quite a bit, so it tends to get a bit repetitive.  Kids probably wouldn’t notice, but as parents you might notice rather quickly.

Obviously, given that this is a kid-friendly game that is rated E-10, you can expect that this Luxoflux-developed title will be heavy on the attitude and comedy, but light on actual violence.  The controls for combat are very simple – use the X button for fast attacks, and Y for power attacks. The A button makes Po jump, and a second tap of the A button makes him double-jump.  The B button allows you to grab weapons and objects in the environment like weapons or food, as well as talking to the various characters in the game. The left trigger pulls Po into a sort of bubble shield that can sustain several hits before degrading.  You can combine your attacks and jumps, as well as special attacks to devastate your enemies.  Before we get to the special attacks, there are 12 basic stats that you can manage for Po using the coins you collect, affecting his overall health, chi, fast attack damage, strong attack damage, combination knockback power, object throw distance, and more.  This lends a great deal of RPG-lite elements to the game, giving it a leg up over any other pure hack-and-slash title.

The special attacks in the game are powered by your Chi.  Po has five special powers at his disposal, with four levels of technique upgrades that you earn through collecting coins in each level.  The Panda Stumble will reduce the amount of Chi Po spends while doing his Stumble attack, a sort of “Sonic the Hedgehog” speed roll that incurs more comedy than chaos.  The Panda Quake is a belly flop that knocks back scores of enemies nearby.  The Iron Belly Technique causes Po to thrust his well-fed body forward, bouncing enemies across the room with his stomach.  These three attacks are just some of the powers that Po can unlock, as well as outfits ranging from simple shorts to the legendary Dragon Warrior outfit, complete with traditional Chinese hat.  Both the basic stats and special attacks can be upgraded at any time, so if you are having trouble with a particular section, you can simply power up a little bit to ease things along.

Since this is aimed at the younger set, the restarts after a defeat are instantaneous, and the checkpoints are logically placed and frequent.  This ensures that kids continue to move through the level instead of being forced to repeat it from the beginning, reducing frustration and keeping the momentum going.

Kung Fu Panda isn’t always about combat – there are minigames included as well.  At the end of Treacherous Waters you’ll have to navigate a small raft through a dangerous river filled with jagged rocks as crocodiles throw fireworks at you (I can’t make this up).  It is just difficult enough to challenge kids, but just easy enough not to prevent them from completing it.  Similarly, you’ll have the chance to do simple side activities like gathering lost vases for a side character, a bit of platforming on clouds, and even shooting giant fireworks from a giant crossbow.

You’ll be using the SIXAXIS controls on a flight level.  Taking control of Master Crane, you’ll transport a message to Master Shifu through an on-rails level.  Several buzzards are trying to impede your progress, so you’ll be able to do a spin attack to take them down.  The only hitch here is that you’ll have to use the SIXAXIS controls without the ability to any inversion of the flight controls – a terrible double-oversight as you can’t bypass using SIXAXIS or change the controls to fit your needs.  The stage is short, so you’ll be able to adapt, but it is just another example of a ‘tacked on’ SIXAXIS implementation. 

Legend tells of a Legendary Warrior whose Kung Fu skills were the stuff of Legend.  Unfortunately for Po, while the legend is real, his skills are not.  Oh sure, he has a few moves such as his five Panda Techniques, but he is simply not ready to make the Furious Five into the Furious Six.  When you begin the game you’ll have a basic fast and powerful attack, as well as your Panda Stumble (roll into a ball and crush your enemies), Panda Quake (belly-flop area of affect attack), Iron Belly (bounce back damage using your gut), Fun Ball (attack by spinning in the air like a ball), and your weapon skills.  Each are relatively decent in power, but you’ll have to gather coins within the level to progressively upgrade your skills. 

Obviously, Kung Fu Panda is aimed squarely at kids, but that isn’t to say that there is anything lacking in this title.  In fact, Kung Fu Panda is a rather refreshing beat-em-up in a sea of usual movie-tie in mediocrity.  The combat is easy enough for kids to handle, but with enough variety to break the monotony of mashing buttons.  Sure, a kid could probably beat most of the characters in the game by simply hammering wildly at the buttons, but later enemies require that you mix it up a bit or use some of your special attacks.  It is a careful balance between providing a challenge and grilling them until they don’t want to play – thankfully Kung Fu Panda provides a solid challenge that won’t turn off even those outside the traditional target audience.

Speaking of challenges, there are a few in the game.  There are occasional problems with collision detection, and when jumping puzzles are involved that spells disaster.  Obviously this means repeating areas and that bumps up against the unskippable cutscenes that we’ll talk about later. 

While you’ll play the vast majority of the game as Po, you’ll also be given the chance to take control of other members of the Furious Five.  You’ll engage in familiar quicktime button sequences as you take control of Master Mantis and Master Tigress to battle a particular boss. You’ll even get to take control of Master Shifu directly as he rushes to the temple to aid his Furious Five and Po against the evil Tai Lung.  With the dash of comedic writing such as Master Monkey commenting that “Contrary to popular belief, it is not a lot of fun in here” when he is trapped inside of a barrel, the game keeps the action furious but lighthearted. 

There are a total of 13 levels, with a surprising amount of variety in them.  At one point you’ll be bashing enemies, and the next you’ll be shooting bags of confetti with a ballista.  You’ll also save a village from evil crocodiles, and then protect a sacred temple from being destroyed by angry gorillas.  You’ll steer a flying crane, and then steer a fishing boat.  Most non-movie games make the mistake of letting players fall into monotony, so it is a surprise when a movie tie-in manages to avoid that pitfall.

At the end of the day, Kung Fu Panda is a polished beat-em-up kids title through and through, but don’t let that deter you – there is enough to like here for any kid at heart.

Kung Fu Panda is 13 levels in length, with three difficulty levels to choose from.  This ensures that you kid will be able to handle this title, regardless of their age.  In addition, there are 12 basic stats, each with 4 levels of power, in addition to the five Panda techniques.  Still not enough collectables for you?  You can also purchase three costumes for Po to help him look the part of the Dragon Warrior.  With the average count of coins coming your way hitting at around 150 per level, you’ll be happy to know that you can go back and replay any level of the game simply by loading it – including boss battles. 

There are also rare Jade Coins that you can collect in the game.  These coins unlock some of the best parts of the game – scenes from the movie, concept artwork, montage videos for the characters, and even new characters to play in multiplayer. There are a total of 25 Rare Coins, as well as a figurine for each of the major characters in the game.  The beauty is that you as a parent won’t be handed the controller to obtain them – they are all relatively easy to reach, if you happen to see them. 

There are some multiplayer modes in the game, tailor made for 4 player beat-em-up combat similar to what you’d see in Super Smash Bros (complete with special attacks) with eight selectable characters, as well as a 2 vs. 2 memory matching game.  A game similar to Othello called Po Go is also featured, but with the kids I had testing the game it turned into random tile flipping with very little strategy.  Shanghai (aka Mahjong) is also included in the game, which I’d imagine would be great for the parents but I don’t see kids playing it.  Hong Kong is another game where you try to match the character faces to try to get vertical rows of three or more identical tiles.  There is a big hitch to all of this though – you have to unlock everything.  To unlock all of the different game types and characters you’ll have to have completed the vast majority of the game.  This means that if your child wants to take a break from the story to get a little multiplayer in, they can’t unless they’ve found the appropriate coin.  Luxoflux should know to have unlockable characters and bonus stages, but all of the game types should be available from the word go. 

To help with a bit of product placement, you’ll also get a preview video for Madagascar 2: The Crate Escape on the disc – I guess we are getting a sequel movie and game this Fall.

I have two complaints, with the first one being unfortunately common – unskippable cutscenes.  While you can skip much of the dialog in the game, there are certain scenes that you simply cannot skip.  It is one of my pet peeves.  The second axe to grind is the lack of online multiplayer support.  This means little Billy or Suzie has to have their friends over to play multiplayer or they have to rope a sibling or a parent into it. There is absolutely no reason not to include it.

So here we are at the end of another movie tie-in game. Unlike so many movie games I’ve reviewed, this one works as intended and delivers on almost all fronts. While the loss of online multiplayer hurts, there is a great deal to like here. Kung Fu Panda isn’t just a beat-em-up button masher – there is a great deal of variety throughout the game that you don’t normally see in a kid’s game. While it doesn’t get everything right, Kung Fu Panda drop-kicks the notion that kids games have to suck.

Gaming Trend Score

85

1. Graphics: 90
2. Audio: 90
3. Controls: 85
4. Gameplay: 85
5. Value/Replay: 75
6. OVERALL:85