Kung Fu Panda PS3
Kung Fu Panda for the PS3 is your high definition allotment of the furry bundle of martial arts fun Po the Panda as he kicks butt and doesn’t bother with names.
Ratings: Graphics & Audio: 23/25, Gameplay: 20/25, Creativity 20/25, Fun 20/25
Total: 83/100
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Kung Fu Panda for the PlayStation 3 is your high definition fun with hero Po the Panda fighting to be become a Kung Fu Master and save his little corner of the world, or at least the bakeries. Po works to save Peace Valley from the dreaded Tai Lung and win the right to be called Kung Fu Master but he must first prove himself worthy.
When a premonition from Master Oogway foretells that the evil Tai Lung is returning the old Kung Fu Master calls a ceremony to choose the Dragon Warrior who will defeat Tai Lung. Master Oogway saw in his premonition that the Dragon Warrior would be the one to defeat the evil Tai Lung so they must choose who the Kung Fu Master is that will save them all.
Po uses a set of fireworks and a chair to try his luck at getting closer to the arena when all other avenues are closed to the black and white furry bundle of food consuming, okay I’ll stop the cute talk. Po tries to use the chair encrusted fireworks to launch himself into the arena only to find himself center stage and having to explain himself to the old master Oogway. Master Oogway, how a tortoise gets to be a Kung FU Master I will never understand, explains to everyone that Po is the warrior predicted to save them all.
Now Po must prove himself by first attempting to beat the Furious Five’s time trials of a confidence course type kung fu arena. Each of the Furious Five has an arena set up to master their particular skills and talents and you have to run through each with puzzle solving and deft footwork. The entire campaign is not all that difficult and is more fun than anything else as they have given you plenty of chances to make each particular leap and jump you need to make.
Many times I have found that games have a very small spot you need to hit in order to complete a jump or other platform move but with Kung Fu Panda they have given you an easier time. I found that the jumps and other moves were fairly simple and did not have that small a “sweet spot” to be able to accomplish the moves.
You continue through the games 13 levels and work toward defeating the minions of Tai Lung and beating the bosses at the ends of each level which are not all that tough. The bosses as well as the other opponents are fairly easy to defeat and it’s not the combinations you need to hit them with but just finding out which hit or move works best on them. Once you figure out which move works best it’s a simple matter of continuing to use that one to finally defeating them.
The platforming and even the puzzles they throw at you every now and then are pretty simple, in fact the whole game is not all that tough and can be finished in under ten hours. So why play? Because it’s all fun.
Luxoflux has done a great job with Kung Fu Panda for the PS3 from an animated movie and they worked very hard at getting all the parts to work well and make a complete and whole game that is a great final package. The audio, graphics, theme music and voice actors that replace the regular actors from the movie all sound great and everything worked well together.
The audio is great and there is a changing and continuous theme music that plays throughout the game that is nice and does not get boring or repetitive. The audio and sound effects are great and unlike the PlayStation 2 version is not annoying at all. The graphics are very well done and the PlayStation 3 version did a great job with textures and effects, especially with Po.
Overall the game is very well done and very much worth playing on any of the systems with the PlayStation 3 being the best looking and the PC being the easiest to control. The controls on the PS3 are not bad and even very good but the PC is just a little bit easier to handle but not all that much different. If I had to choose between the two the PC would edge the PS3 version out by just a hair but the PS3 version is a better looking product.
Kung Fu Panda is a great game for adults who enjoy the platforming button mashing action games and kids will find it easy enough to not be frustrating. The antics of Po the Panda as he works hard at lazily defeating his foes is great and the game is one of the best movie based games I have played to date.