Now is the time to make Kung-Fu history ... fo’ sure!!
STORY: A Japanese director of Kung-Fu movies (a real piece of work) decides to create the ultimate Kung-Fu movie. He summons the greatest cast of Chinese and Japanese action movie actors, and begins filming. From the intro movie to the game itself, many hilarious moments await you.
Kung-Fu Chaos pays homage to (or makes fun of, depending on the way you see it) all the so-bad-they-were-good kung-fu movies that we used to see in the 70s and the 80s.
GRAPHICS:
Kung-Fu Chaos has an interesting visual style. The characters are “chibi”, which means they’re designed like little anime kids, while a tremendous amount of detail has been given to the environment. While you play, dozens of non-essential, but funny to look at things go on, making me laugh so much sometimes that I would lose control of the character. For instance, in one stage, the director films a version of the Titanic sinking, while ninjas beat the living crap out of each other. You remember the legendary “band that played even while the ship was sinking” right? Well, on the next stage, your character is in a block of ice (which floats in the sea), beating up ninjas, while at one point, you can see the piano player of the band floating on another block of ice, on his own... and he’s still playing the piano! The game makes fun of many things, and I found the humour (most of the time) to be very smart.
MUSIC / SOUND EFFECTS:
There are lots of classic clips from old Bruce Lee movies, and the game’s clips are nice to hear, but what I loved in the game was the speech and the sound effects. The comments by the director (who speaks pigdin English by the way, like -- Loading, make ready! Ready, make fighting!) when you fail in the movie, or simply when doing nothing on the menu screen made me throw the water I was drinking out of my nose. “ZZZZZZZ -- oh wheah ah you taking me white t’woitle...”
GAMEPLAY:
Kung-Fu Chaos plays like, well, an old-school run and attack game. Your character can perform combos and special moves, taunt your enemies while they’re down and the like. In the beginning, enemies are dumb and unable to pose a threat. Later however, enemies become more adept at fighting you, and you’ll have to develop more brain-nurtured techniques in order to defeat them. All in all, the game relies more in its comedy elements rather than the gameplay to make it fun. There are five stars that rate your performance in the movie “clip”. You must acquire 3 out of 5 in order to pass the stage. Acquiring 5 out of 5 stars can range from being tricky to almost impossible. You can write the movie “clip” in your hard drive if you think you rocked (or it was just plain funny) and view it at your leisure later.
OVERALL:
Kung-Fu Chaos was a refreshing break from all the traditional games that rely on a serious storyline, and takes itself silly from the beginning to the end. I’m glad I bought it, but I recommend a rent-first-buy-later policy for those who may not find it to be their cup of tea.