Kung Fu Panda (Wii) Review
It’s pretty hard to count the amount of games that I have been required to review that are in fact film tie-ins, and although there have been several notable exceptions to the rule “Every film based game sucks”, it’s sad to say that Kung Fu Panda largely follows this rule, although it’s not all bad, it’s just something we’ve all seen before.
Kung Fu Panda follows the storyline of the film pretty well, but takes the expected creative liberties to provide a more fleshed out video gaming experience. The story follows Po The Panda, a panda who is striving to become a martial arts master in order to earn the title “Dragon Warrior” and defeat the evil snow leopard, Tai Lung. The problem? Po is an overweight and clumsy Panda who works in his father’s (who is perplexingly a goose) noodle shop, and he is expected to take over the store from his father when he passes on. Sure, it’s a pretty formulaic storyline that can be seen in almost ANY movie or film today, but it works – so there’s no real need to change things.
The first thing that players will notice when beginning a game of Kung Fu Panda is how unbelievably rough the game looks. The graphics are something that is of paramount quality on the Playstation 2, something that many Wii owners have come to expect. With the graphical fidelity of titles like Speed Racer for Wii, it’s really disappointing to see a game move back to the very stigma Wii fans have been fighting against for so long. The character models, however, are pretty good when looked at independently and the animations capture the movements of each character authentically. All in all, the environments are well done, lifting several sets from the movie but are overall bland due to a lack of presence in them. It’s hard to put your finger on, but the environments just don’t feel as alive as their movie counterparts.
Kung Fu Panda is a typical platformer / adventure game, where the player navigates the protagonist through an environment from A to B, collecting coins along the way in order to purchase upgrades. Each character has health and chi, which is used to power up special attacks. Movement is solely controlled by the nunchuck, while all the actions in the game are controlled by buttons on the Wiimote. Special attacks are controlled by specific motions using the Wii remote itself. Players will take control of several characters from the series, and they all have some pretty unique movesets, which is a very good design decision to see – considering how easy it would be to simply allow the player to play as Po and only Po. At the end of each level, points can also be spent to upgrade special attacks, although it’s very possible to get through the game without doing so. Finally, the game also incorporates quick time events which really, really push a gamer’s patience to the limit. These quick time events usually require the movement of the Wii remote in a certain direction, however they are commonly inaccurate and hardly ever register correctly, leading to an unnecessary reptition of certain game segments.
The soundtrack in Kung Fu Panda is very well composed, and fits well with the overall oriental theme of the setting itself. There are several very nice pieces of music to be found in the game, some just lending themselves to ambience while others are designed to edge up the tension during action sequences. In general, the co-ordination between the events occuring in the game and the music that is playing are well executed. On the other hand, however, it is fairly uncertain whether or not the full voice acting is in fact the same cast from the movie. Although Po does SOUND like Jack Black, he most certainly doesn’t carry the same tone as Jack Black does. It wasn’t possible to retrieve information that would clear up whether the voice actors from the film reprised their roles for the video game, but it was clearly evident that either imitation voice actors were used or the actors themselves just didn’t put in the effort.
Kung Fu Panda also incorporates several multiplayer modes, in order to extend the game’s lifespan. Offering both competitive and co operative multiplayer modes, Kung Fu Panda doesn’t actually offer co-op through the main game’s campaign. Instead, the co-op, nay, all the multiplayer games take the form of mini-games and Super Smash Brothers style arena brawls. Although these are a nice addition, they are sure to entertain younger players more than the story mode, but definitely not anyone looking for a deep, enthralling multiplayer experience, especially since music is absent from most of these games too.
All in all, Kung Fu Panda is a competent platformer that really falters in several departments. Fortunately, it’s unique and interesting enough to carry itself from start to finish, although as mentioned previously there are areas that need work. The soundtrack is the game’s saving grace though, and it really sets the mood and atmosphere for the game. It’s hard to recommend this title to anyone looking for a long adventure title, but it’s sure to be a hit with those who enjoyed the movie – that’s for sure.
