About GamePeople

Kung Fu Panda Wii Review

06/12/2008 Family Teen Gamer Review
Created by
Game Reviews
Home | Family Video Game Guides | Family | The Teen Gamer Column

Subscribe to the Teen Gamer column:
RSS or Newsletter.


Why not try our Blog, Radio or TV shows. Click for samples...


Kung Fu Panda Nintendo Wii

Kung Fu Panda

Format:
Nintendo Wii

Genre:
Fighting

Buy/Support:
Support Rowan, click to buy via us...


Other GamePeople columnists have reviewed this from their perspective - huh?:
Teen Gamer (DS)

Based on the movie, Kung Fu Panda: Legendary Warriors is such a typical movie game that it's hard to find any innovation at all. If you've played a beat-em-up game before you might be familiar with the game's style - beat up a bunch of rats/bulls/something else, then beat up the boss. Luckily for Kung Fu Panda, occasionally there are some interesting differences. The Wii's unique motion controls and the movie tie-in make this somewhat more interesting than it initially seems.

First off, because it's on the Wii it's different the other versions. Instead of the mind numbing boringness of mashing a button to attack, you shake the Wii-mote and Nun-chuck in different combinations to perform different moves. So, I could be shaking the Wii-mote up and down to perform an attack, or swinging both controllers in opposite directions to perform a heavy attack. To be honest, this was cool at first, but eventually it became kind of monotonous in the same way as pressing buttons a normal controller would be.

There's absolutely nothing funnier than seeing your dad or your brother waving around crazily on the couch.

However, where this is really awesome is when you're playing in co-op. There's absolutely nothing funnier than seeing your dad or your brother waving around crazily on the couch. I managed to persuade my dad to play, telling him it was for the sake of the review, when actually I wanted to see him shaking the remotes comically.

You can play with friends in two different ways - either through the storyline with just the two of you, or four-player versus. Co-op story was a little boring, as in most games, because there was nothing different to do. However, playing versus is a different experience, and so it's more fun. It's kinda obvious what you have to do without even starting it - beat the other player into submission. It started out as pretty fun, but after a couple of plays there was nothing to keep me going, and I got really bored of it.

When it comes down to it, Kung Fu Panda is no fun whatsoever to play on your own. Each level is almost exactly the same. You fight wave after wave of creatures in an enclosed space with no room to explore. Then, there's a clip of the boss of the level gloating, and you're launched into a couple of minigames. For example, on the first level you had to shake the Nun-chuck and Wii-mote up and down to fill a bar. When it was full your Rocket Chair (which popped out of no-where) blasts off. Then you have to guide your character to a safe spot to land by tilting the Wii-mote. This was pretty cool first time round, and it broke up the monotony of killing those darn rats. But, on the second level, almost the exact same thing happened and the third level was similar again.

It's a boring but solid, by the book beat-em-up.

I think if the developers had added some more variety in the game, this could have been pretty sweet. If there were some challenges to solve, or some platforming to be done the game would be really quite fun. As it is, it's a boring but solid, by the book beat-em-up. If you're 8 this might be fun, but I was certainly bored after just a few levels. I honestly couldn't recommend this to even the staunchest fans of the film, as there are many other games out there that offer a longer, broader and better experience.

Written by Rowan Brown

You can support Rowan by buying Kung Fu Panda



Subscribe to this column:
RSS | Newsletter

Share this review:

Rowan Brown writes the Teen Gamer column.

"I write about my favourite games from a younger person's perspective. It's often surprising how different this ends up to other more grown up reviews."


© GamePeople 2006-13 | Contact | Huh?

Grown up gaming?

Family Video Game Age Ratings | Home | About | Radio shows | Columnists | Competitions | Contact

RSS | Email | Twitter | Facebook

With so many different perspectives it can be hard to know where to start - a little like walking into a crowded pub. Sorry about that.

But so far we've not found a way to streamline our review output - there's basically too much of it. So, rather than dilute things for newcomers we have decided to live with the hubbub while helping new readers find the columnists they will enjoy.

What sort of gamer are you?

Our columnists each focus on a particular perspective and fall into one of the following types of gamers: