User Rating: 8.8 | Kung Fu Panic XBOX
If you're in the mood for some light-hearted and mindless fun, whether it be alone or with friends, Kung Fu Chaos is your game. Not since the days of Power Stone on the Dreamcast have I had so much fun mashing buttons in the comfort of my own home. With its over-the-top spoofing of campy kung fu movies, Kung Fu Chaos may seem at first to be a very offensive stab at Asian culture. But, play for just a few minutes, and you'll quickly see that this game is not meant to offend. Rather, it is a loving tribute to the B-movies of the genre, crafted by people who obviously know and love their source material. The game frames you as a budding Kung Fu actor, making a series of cheap movies directed by the harebrained and opinionated director, Shao Ting (incidentally, all the characters in the game have punny names). Each scene lasts about five minutes or less, and consists of simply mowing down a slew of opponents with your slick moves, all the while contending with the ever-changing autoscrolling environment. Along the way, shorter episodes provide mini-game madness consistent with the atmosphere of the game. While the game offers you a fair variety of moves, this is not your typical fighting game, and aside from knowing when to block and when to attack, the game does not require a lot of skill to at least be passable, while exhibiting significantly more skill will reap you greater rewards. For those of you who need a comparison, it would be safe to say that the combat is very similar to a 3D version of Viewtiful Joe. However, the combat scheme is not without its problems. Some of the controls are imprecise at times, and with muliple enemies crowding around you, it's difficult at times to direct your attack. Furthermore, some of the combo moves require a rhythm to the button presses that just isn't consistent with the tempo of the game. In the end, it just turns into a glorified buttom masher. But, to quit at that would be doing this game a great disservice, as it is also one of the most polished titles for the Xbox. First off, the level design is very clever, with lots of interactivity, as well as a lot of bells and whistles that add to the chaos. Furthermore, the variety of minigames that are interspersed within the game is crazy, and some of the scenarios are truly wacky, especially a scene where you play dodge ball by tossing around an ugly princess. The presentation is were a lot of the polish lay. The graphics and animation are simply astounding, and the sound contributes a great deal to the game. Add to that multiple unlockable features and charatcers, and you have a lot of game for your dollar. While Kung Fu Chaos works especially well as a multiplayer romp, it works just as well as a single player game. All in all, Kung Fu Chaos is an entertaining romp that is not to be missed. It is a game that will appeal to both casual and hardcore gamer alike.
