Kung Fu Panda (Xbox 360)

Reasons For Purchasing Kung Fu Panda:

Kung Fu Panda came along free in our Xbox 360 package at Christmas. I thought it would be a great game for my children to play, so chose this package for them. I had a little play with this game also when we first bought it, but I cleared it in one day. I guess it really is a childs game, as I am not usually good at games like this one, but I found it really fun, addictive and the graphics where just excellent on it.

This game is more or less similar to the movie. I never have been that impressed with movie games really, as they usually are not that great to play, but this one is surprisingly good. It has some of the characters from the movie in it, but the main one is a black-eyed panda bear called Po. It really has beautiful settings in this little game, from oriental plants and woodland, to real water effects and even the fur on the animals is amazing and so life like to me. I really was amazed with the graphics to this little game when I first ever played it.

Gameplay:

There are 13 different levels to this game. It takes me roughly 20 minutes to clear a level I find and I am not a gamer. You have the role of being Po, but can choose a few other characters also. Well Po thinks he is the best Kung-Fu fighter around and has to convince the five fighters, their leader, and himself, that he is deserving of the title "Dragon Warrior" The game itself is a very good 3d platform game in my opinion and you have many moves and different things to tackle on your way. As well as fighting of your little enemies also, you have to collect shiny green coins and many different items on your travels also. The coins can be used for upgrades, but the game really needs to be played a few times to collect enough coins to unlock everything.

This game is a great single player game in my opinion, but the game also includes a multiplayer mode with new levels and different characters. In addition, the game features new bosses including the Great Gorilla, the Wu Sisters and many more cute little characters. The multiplayer modes have support for up to four players, so it is a great opportunity for my family to play together I find and my two younger daughters like playing it together also.

The controls for all the different moves on this game are very easy indeed. The X does all your faster attacks and the Y controls your power, type moves. As you play along, it teaches you different, but useful attacks to learn in battles. These different moves are great fun to do and one move lets Po do belly flops, which is great fun to watch. I think younger children will pick up these moves very quickly and with more playing of this game, they will be learning different combinations as they go along and in no time at all, like I did.

There is plenty of small badies to fight along the way also in this game and a few bigger ones in each different level of the game. Po fights off characters such as crocodiles and gorillas, but saves cute little animals also, like rabbits and turtles. Every character is really colourful and in incredible animation indeed.

This game is really fun to play and you really think you are in the actual movie itself I find. The characters, the scenes and just about everything are so close to the actual movie, that you really will be amazed by it all. It does not take long to complete this game on the easy level I can say, but even playing it at the hardest level, I found it leaves you wanting a little bit more from it really.

Slight Problem I Came Across:

One big problem I found with this game was the camera angle. It is so annoying. Although it is fully mobile, it tends to focus far too closely on your character which stops you from seeing stages completely. Because many of the stages have environmental puzzles, this becomes a very big problem I have found and there is no way to manually take off or adjust the zoom out function on this either. This would be the only downside to this game, but it can be annoying sometimes not being able to see past your character properly.

Sound Quality:

The sound to this game is really good and features some great voice acting as well as beautiful oriental background music like in the movie itself. I suppose the voice actors are not the original cast from the movie, but they really sound the same to me. The voice of Po in particular, sounds really like Jack Black, but I have found no evidence on the game's casing that says it is him. I would not be surprised if it was actually his real voice. Overall the background music is very clear, really good quality and relaxing to listen to.

Overall Opinion:

Overall Kung Fu Panda is one of the best little Movie games I have ever played. Everything works well together on it and the whole game is really fun to play. It really is marketed at younger children, but as an adult, I found it great fun, but quite easy. I would say a child as young as five could play this game. I really would recommend this game to anyone who is looking for a game for younger children. This game is certainly it. It is fun, really enjoyable, the graphics are excellent and the whole feeling of the game is great and highly enjoyable. The best children's Movie game to date in my opinion. Thumbs up from me. I will give this little game 4 out 5. One star deducted for the annoying camera angle that blocks out views.

This game is available online at Amazon for just under £20. If you are buying the X-box package it comes free with it. (Well it did at Christmas, but might have changed)