Kung Fu Panda 2 (Nintendo DS) - Review by Andrew

Introduction

While most studios have tried (and failed) to come even close to the brilliance that is PIXAR at least one outfit get's reasonably close. Dreamworks have a decent back catalogue of CGI offerings and one of our favorites is the highly entertaining Kung-Fu Panda. We're not sure if it was the script, animation or expertly delivered voice acting but the whole package certainly separates it from other similar offerings. The first movie spawned two DS games both of which, not surprisingly, were based on the ancient art of Kung Fu. It's Summer 2011 now and here we have the sequel but given that the movie is still Kung Fu themed, the DS game has gone in a completely different direction but does it work?

Gameplay

Before you get to anything even resembling a game here you'll be forced to tap though endless lines of dialogue none of which are particularly engaging but we'll ignore that for the time being. Unlike the other Kung Fu Panda titles, this is not a button basher but rather a strategy game where Po and another member of the Furious Five battle it of with a variety of henchmen throughout the land. This is all played out as a turn-based affair with each member of your team equipped with their own unique skill. Unfortunately so are your opponents and while most are these are easy to defeat initially they do become a lot trickier later on. There is an opportunity to improve your skills by undertaking a variety of side quests all of which can be selected from the map. Sadly, this all becomes incredibly tiresome, very quickly and it's easy to come up with a handful of different examples where combat systems have been better executed and certainly more enjoyable.

While the majority of Kung Fu Panda 2 is incredibly dreary, there is at least one entertaining part of it: Five Card Fu. This challenges you to select five cards from a specialist deck all of which have different values. It's then up to you to 'capture' your opponents cards by battling it out on a grid placing your cards next to theirs with the hope that yours have a greater value. This is not nearly as easy as it sounds but if you do manage to master it, you can also play it as a Multiplayer game as long as your friend has a copy of the game.

Controls

While the first outing was an arcade fighter, this is a far more sedate card battling strategy game so you can leave your buttons and D-pad behind as this is all stylus driven.

Graphics

While well above average the visuals here are still what you'd expect at this stage in the DS's lifecycle. The bulk of the game is a collection of static screens, used in order to tell the story and allow for some extensive dialogue between characters. The only time the hardware is really pushed is during the battles. These appear in 3D and while the character models are suitable detailed their movement is incredibly limited and both Po and the other members of The Furious Five all appear to attack in the same manor.

Sound

Whilst the music appears to fit the games setting the sample is on a very short loop so expect to get sick of it very quickly indeed. Elsewhere you do get the odd muttering from the films cast and the sound effects are limited to the odd bang and beep indicating that something has happen on screen. Not terribly insiping stuff really.

Dual screen

Early on, during tutorial mode, you'll be informed that the entire game is played with the touch-screen and, it is. There's no clever stylus driven combat here though, just lots of tapping, selecting and dragging. The developers have also employed the DSi's camera to scan QR Codes but all our attempts to input a valid code failed so we're still not entirely sure what this is used for.

Final comments

The first Kung Fu Panda games were action affairs and given that these titles are aimed at a younger audience you'd expect them to have something in common with the movie. The sequel is no doubt attempting to attract the same demographic but even if this was the best card/turn based battler out there; I still can't imagine any pre-teens actually enjoying it. The game does have its strengths though and Five Card Fu is a great little time waster but as part of a full commercial package, it's just not worth the asking price.

Pro: Fun Five Card Fu Game.
Con: Boring Uninteresting Gameplay, Poor Storyline.
Final score: 5.6

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