Simple, short, fun.
The player takes on the role of a martial arts expert who much rescue his girl Silvia from the clutches of Mr. X. To get to him, the player must transverse various floors of a pagoda and wade through the hordes of enemies on each level, including knife throwers, high-jumping midgets and mystical booby traps.
Gameplay is as simple and straightforward as the storyline. The player can punch and kick, and each attack has sufficient reach to be useful. The player can also jump-kick by performing a jump and then a kick, which is especially useful against some of the boss enemies and attacking while dodging. Enemies will either attempt to run at the player and come into direct contact, which results in the health bar slowly draining away, or use objects to hit or throw at the player such as large sticks or knives. Some enemies will also kick or punch back at the player or perform jumping attacks; these are limited to a few specialty enemies such as bosses and quirky henchmen. Controls are smooth and responsive, and players will have no trouble mowing down lines of enemies with effective punching and kicking.
Graphics and sound are as to be expected of an NES launch title. Characters are blocky and highly pixelated and sound effects and background music are simple. These deficiencies don't detract from the game, however; if anything they ensure little distraction from the main focus of the game, which is its simple gameplay.
Overall, Kung Fu is a very simple and entertaining game. With easy, smooth controls and a shallow learning curve, players will be able to fully immerse themselves in the game quickly and kick and punch their way to the top.