I have a long history with Kung Fu Panda. I was about 7 when the film came out, became obsessed with it, and badly wanted the video game. I didn't have a console but really REALLY wanted the HD version. I managed to get the DS version and played that one obsessively.
It's a fun 2.5D platformer, entirely touch controlled but it feels quite good. The story is set after the movie and involves you saving the Furious Five, then fighting Tai Lung again. Good shit. I played it to 97% completion (cannot find the final couple of souls for the life of me) and moved on with my life.
...Until I got an Xbox 360 earlier this year. Finally I realised I had the opportunity to play the big boy console version I was so desperate to try. And play it I did. It was OK.
What I liked: The animations during combat were really quite good. They had a nice sense of weight to them and helped the attacks feel satisfying when using them. The levels were relatively varied and actually very faithful recreations of areas from the movie (particularly the Jade Palace - I rewatched the film after completing the game and had flashbacks to the Tai Lung boss fight when I saw the Jade Palace in the film). Po's voice actor was also very good at pretending to be Jack Black. The other VAs were not good matches for the celebrity actors (shout out to the Ian McShane and Jackie Chan impersonators for being especially awful) but I genuinely thought they splashed out for Jack Black before seeing that it was an impersonator. Overall what I really liked (and why I even played it) was that it was a mindless 3D platformer and it's exactly what I wanted at that moment.
What I didn't like: Some of the level design was WACK, power scaling is nonexistent so when you upgrade your moves, you just one-shot every enemy. Also the narrative was fucked. Instead of doing an original story after the movie like the DS version, they decided to retell the movie? But with different events? And for some reason Po knows perfect Kung Fu before he ever starts training? Makes no sense. Undermines the story. Makes every setpiece feel like a cheaper version of the movie. 0/10.
It's a fun 2.5D platformer, entirely touch controlled but it feels quite good. The story is set after the movie and involves you saving the Furious Five, then fighting Tai Lung again. Good shit. I played it to 97% completion (cannot find the final couple of souls for the life of me) and moved on with my life.
...Until I got an Xbox 360 earlier this year. Finally I realised I had the opportunity to play the big boy console version I was so desperate to try. And play it I did. It was OK.
What I liked: The animations during combat were really quite good. They had a nice sense of weight to them and helped the attacks feel satisfying when using them. The levels were relatively varied and actually very faithful recreations of areas from the movie (particularly the Jade Palace - I rewatched the film after completing the game and had flashbacks to the Tai Lung boss fight when I saw the Jade Palace in the film). Po's voice actor was also very good at pretending to be Jack Black. The other VAs were not good matches for the celebrity actors (shout out to the Ian McShane and Jackie Chan impersonators for being especially awful) but I genuinely thought they splashed out for Jack Black before seeing that it was an impersonator. Overall what I really liked (and why I even played it) was that it was a mindless 3D platformer and it's exactly what I wanted at that moment.
What I didn't like: Some of the level design was WACK, power scaling is nonexistent so when you upgrade your moves, you just one-shot every enemy. Also the narrative was fucked. Instead of doing an original story after the movie like the DS version, they decided to retell the movie? But with different events? And for some reason Po knows perfect Kung Fu before he ever starts training? Makes no sense. Undermines the story. Makes every setpiece feel like a cheaper version of the movie. 0/10.