Review

Johnny Kung Fu

What happens when a crime boss randomly decides to kidnap a pretty girl? Her boyfriend turns into a Kung Fu master of course. Staying true to the beat’em up staples, that’s the premise for UFO Interactive’s Johnny Kung Fu. In order to rescue his girlfriend from the clutches of the Mr. Wang gang, Johnny will have to put fist to face in the most interesting of ways.

Johnny Kung Fu is an odd hodgepodge of classic gaming conventions. At its core it’s a normal beat’em up. At the beginning of the game we see that Paula, Johnny’s girlfriend, has been taken to Mr. Wang’s penthouse. In order to rescue her, he’ll need to go through each floor fighting waves of enemies and bosses before finally confronting Mr. Wang himself. What’s interesting is the fact that Johnny has to do more than just fight bad guys. Like I said before, this game has a beat’em up foundation, but everywhere else it’s a Game & Watch tribute. For those that don’t know, they were duel screened LCD handhelds that also featured an alarm clock. Basically, it was Nintendo’s answer to the handheld craze (back before they made the GameBoy).

Creating a Game & Watch tribute on the 3DS, a direct descendant of this classic piece of hardware, totally makes sense. For the most part, the transformation from the old-school console to the new works well to make Johnny Kung Fu a fun game to play. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case. Before I get into that, let me explain the game’s mechanics. Each floor of Mr. Wang’s pent house is a different level and each level is a different mini-experience. I don’t want to say mini-game because you aren’t playing random events like what’s found in something like Mario Party. It’s more like you’re paying parts of multiple games; each level is a level from a different type of game. For instance, the first level you play is a platforming G&W level. Reminiscent of the old Donkey Kong G&W title, you’ll have to make your way up an incline to reach an exit while avoiding bombs and knives being thrown by enemies. Once you get past them, you’ll need to activate the elevator (the exit) and then make it past laser traps.

Making it to the elevator will move you up to the 3DS’s top screen and on to another level. Not all of the levels are in the vain of G&W. The next level has you fighting a group of bad guys like in normal beat’em ups. Again, completing this level will send you up the elevator to the next floor. Most of the levels are a blast to play; offering up diverse experiences that are all tied to the beat’em up/action theme. One cool level requires you to “beat” the color back into the game world. It’s pretty imaginative.

To make things more challenging, gamers are tasked with completing the entire game in an hour; there is a timer counting down the minutes. You have two lives at the start and each time you lose  them, resulting in a “continue”,  you lose 5 mins off the clock. This fact really ramps up the tension as you are trying to complete each level as fast as possible without dying. This is where my criticism comes in. Some of the G&W levels just don’t fit with the overall theme. For instance, there is a mini-experience that requires you to bash an opponent with a large mallet. In the middle of the screen is a clock that counts down from 3 to 0. At 0 two large cards, one above you and your opponent’s head, flip over to reveal a number. If your number is higher than your opponent’s then you can hit them. If it is lower, you have to evade their attack. If it is the same as theirs, then the first person to attack wins. Each successful hit will take a little damage off their life bar, eventually knocking them out. For a game that is all about moving through levels quickly, having to wait to attack seems counterproductive.

What makes things worse is the fact that as you continue on to the higher levels, the actual mini-experiences repeat over the course of the game. They’ll be more difficult each time to see them as well. So, going back to the timed mini-level, you can understand how frustrating this can be. Not only did I have to wait to attack, most of my time was spent dodging because the computer kept getting the higher number. Another level has you juggling bombs that float in the air. Touching the bombs will cause them to slowly bounce from one side of the screen to the next. In order to pass, you’ll have to juggle the bombs a certain number of times without letting them hit the floor. This wouldn’t be an issue if there wasn’t a time limit for the whole game; you can’t speed up the bombs in order to pass the level quickly. The bomb juggling and the mallet swinging levels really slow down the game because your progress is not dependent upon your efficiency but rather the games automatic timing. All of the other levels allow you to quickly complete  them if given enough skill. Having all of the skill in the world will only mean you’ll be able to beat these slower levels on the first try.

Johnny Kung Fu can be a really tough game to beat; as it stands I’ve only made it to 26th floor. No matter how far you get, if the timer reaches zero then it’s game over. My only issue is that most of the difficulty comes from the two out-of-place levels. It doesn’t help that the only time you’re given extra time is after beating the 25th level. Outside of that, the game is a blast. I really enjoyed the silly humor; especially the Super Mario nod where goons would dress up in bad Paula costumes as to say “the princess is in another castle”! One thing I noted, outside of the gameplay, was the graphics. UFO did a good job making the game look like an old LCD title. It did even better with the modern 2D levels; the visuals really pop. This is even more apparent when you turn the 3D all the way up. Johnny Kung Fu really stands out visually!

All and all, Johnny Kung Fu is a good game. It’s definitely fun, has nice graphics that actually uses the 3DS’s prominent feature well, and is cost effective. It even has unlockable arcade games, based on the mini-levels found in the campaign. There are some frustrating levels that I feel should have been omitted or altered to better complement the overall theme. With that being my only complaint, whether or not to buy this title seems like a no brainer. I’m glad I own it!