Reviewed: Novmeber 12, 2008
Reviewed by: Megan Dyer

Publisher
Activision

Developer
Artificial Mind and Movement

Released: November 4, 2008
Genre: Fighting
Players: 1-4

4
4
5
5
5.0

Supported Features:

There are a couple of meters that can be filled by collecting items, saving caged rabbits or by simply attacking. The chi meter allows a character to execute special moves, including an ultimate move wherein a symbol will appear on the screen that must be copied, by gesturing with the Wiimote, to successfully unleash the attack. Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, this “drawing” of symbols can be successfully completed only by complete and utter chance, so there is no assurance that these combos will actually pay off. This is especially frustrating since your character falls over clumsily instead of executing the move when you fail to draw the symbol correctly. There is also a “rabbit meter,” which, when full, surrounds your character with a very helpful tornado effect that makes you momentarily stronger and harder to hit. Thankfully, there is no need to attempt in vain to emulate any on-screen symbols when activating this power.

The type of interactive, motion detecting control system that Kung-Fu Panda uses sounded pretty cool on paper, especially considering it’s a fighting game, but the response time and accuracy of the controls is pretty bad. Blocking, dashing, jumping and simply connecting hits to enemies can be frustratingly difficult to do simply because the game takes a second to recognize the movement of the Wiimote, or that a button is being pushed. This can be especially frustrating when enemies you fight (which come in multiples, wave after wave) can essentially back you into a corner and wail on you, while you helplessly attempt to get out of the corner and prepare an attack. Especially since Kung Fu Panda is aimed at kids, and relatively young ones at that, the controls should be easier to handle and more intuitive than they are. I even found myself, as an adult and an experienced gamer, getting very frustrated with the game at times, having to walk away and take several breaks during the course of play.

In between some stages, there are “mini-games” or objectives. These usually involve shaking the Wiimote and the nunchuk as hard and as furiously as you can, or moving your wrist in ridiculously subtle increments in order to keep a character at the center of the screen as it is falling. This objective in particular is so difficult to do, I again found myself wondering how any little kid could be expected to pull it off. If you move your wrist even a little bit in the wrong way, then that’s it. You lose; now try again...and again...and again.

And the game just goes on like that, repetitively, each stage more poorly designed than the last, with the frustration over the controls building inside to a crescendo until you want to throw your Wiimote and nunchuk into the television screen. The controls for Kung Fu Panda could have been really cool if the developers had taken the time to smooth them over and taken a bit more time to do so, and they are far and away the game‘s most crippling problem.

I know that this is a game based on a movie and marketing has to be timely to piggyback on the DVD release, but this game has the distinct feeling of being thrown together, and it’s impossible to overlook and ignore this basic fact. At the very least, there is a multiplayer option, which supports up to four players. Playing against (or with) others is Kung Fu Panda’s saving grace, if only because everyone is on a level playing field with the same terrible controls. Nonetheless, one decent feature by itself offers little solace for how annoying the rest of the game can get.

The in-game graphics are nothing stellar either, which unfortunate. Character models are a bit blocky, and their movement animations are often not as fluid as they should be. The level designs are small and kind of boring with little dimension to them--most consist of two or three flat oval areas set at slightly different elevations. If Kung Fu Panda had opted to hybridize its endless, repetitive brawls with some platform gaming elements, it would likely have worked out in the game‘s favor. Instead, we have mostly flat, dull levels without much creativity to them.

There is also an issue with the game's fixed camera angles. Occasionally, there will be an object in the way of seeing what your character is doing, and there is no way to fix this except to try to manually move them, which can be rather difficult (like during those times when your character is being pummeled in a corner). There were some levels that rested too far away from the screen, which was yet another issue that could have been remedied with a smart camera view, or just a zoom that could be controlled at least partially by the gamer.

Still, the graphics are brightly and vibrantly colored, as one would expect of a DreamWorks tie-in, and sometimes the character animations are pretty good. In the end, however, the bad outweighs the good. There’s just no excuse to release a game with such dumpy models and cut-rate cinematics in this day and age.

Additionally, during cut scenes, some of the voice-overs suffer from the same lack of proper volume that the music does during play. Then there’s the mysterious disembodied voice that seems to constantly berate you, even after you execute a flawless combo. “You call yourself a kung fu master?” it asks mockingly, as you perform the best you can be asked to, given the clunky controls. Sometimes it even tells you discouragingly, “You still have lot to learn” in the most condescending voice possible. I could understand this if you’re playing rather poorly and getting your butt kicked, but when you’re doing really well? Come on, that doesn’t make any sense.

Sound effects are even more lackluster. You’d think that Kung Fu Panda would have sound effects that sound a little more; oh I don’t know, like a kung-fu film. There should be lots of crashes, bangs and swooshes instead of pathetic-sounding thuds and smacks, but those pathetic thuds and smacks are pretty much all Kung Fu Panda has to offer. When everything you hit sounds more or less like a bare fist impacting a block of India rubber, it somehow lessens the fun of the whole experience.

The multiplayer option has the most return on your investment, but since the game has flaws that make gameplay difficult and unrewarding regardless of mode, I can hardly see anyone want to play Kung Fu Panda over and over again, unless that person is the movie’s biggest fan.

If a little more care had gone into the layout and reaction time of the controls, the graphics and level designs had been upgraded to what one would expect of a DreamWorks-licensed production on a next-generation console, and sound quality had been upgraded along with the rest, Kung Fu Panda could have been a really fun game. As it is however, it falls far short of any positive recommendation.