12 August 2007—Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu Review

Welcome to Bonk's greatest rival—at least in head size. Don't expect this to appear on the Wii Virtual Console anytime soon—if ever—given probable licensing issues since Jackie Chan has become an international superstar since the early 1990s. We can hope, though; it sure deserves to be in the lineup of Nintendo Wii's virtual console.
I've always had a penchant for Jackie Chan movies, and this game resonates accordingly. From the moment our big-headed hero begins scrolling across the screen and the catchy music kicks in, I knew that I was hooked. There's action galore here for even the most die-hard kung fu fans, and you've got a long quest ahead of you as shown by the map.

Anything that moves should be punched or kicked. It's all about timing and gauging when a flying kick can do the job better than slamming a fist in someone's face.

This game came the same year that Street Fighter II appeared, and maybe it's not a coincidence that Jackie has mastered the art of throwing fireball's. But Jackie's way cooler than Ken and Ryu. Simply hold down the attack button until Jackie is pulsating and then release it. But don't store up the energy too long or it dissipates, expending one of your limited projectiles.

Jackie can also acquire special attacks, received them from an unlikely source. Occasionally, you'll find a hopping frog. Strike it and it belches up a power-up. Grab it before the frog reclaims it and you've got a new move in your arsenal. The special attacks vary, ranging from a spinning kick to a vertical upthrust kick and a spinning sweeping kick. All of these attacks deal extra damage and can hit multiple enemies at once. You can also execute them in mid-air. To perfrom these special attacks, all it takes is a move that I remember first learning in the original Castlevania: Up + Attack.

Many of the levels feature platforms and water and spikes that you have to carefully navigate. Fortunately, the game's designers were relatively merciful. Water doesn't hurt Jackie and spikes merely cuase one heart of damage, bouncing Jackie to safety rather than outright killing him.

As if the variety of marital arts moves isn't enough, there are even hidden special stages. Sometimes, as you move through the levels you'll here the jingling of a bell. That means that you should jump around and throw some flying kicks. With a little luck you'll uncover a bell. Touch it and you'll be whisked away to a special stage, naturally. The bonus stages vary but they all reward you by refilling your life bar and providing extra continues. Objectives range from bouncing between clouds to collect fruit and bashing a boulder across the screen with rapid punches.

Graphics: 9.0

The image of Jackie is, well, huge-headed and well rendered, while the levels are colorful. Enemies jump smoothly, lash out with whips, and throw spears at our kung fu hero—all in very convincing fashion.

Sound: 9.5

Punches and kicks are accompanied with digitized sound effects, adding to the intensity of the kung fu action. While digitized sounds are usually a dangerous attempt for the TurboGrafx-16 sound chip, in this case the distortion combines well with the exercion you would imagine that accompanies these martial arts moves. The musical score is also good and unusually catchy.

Gameplay: 9.0

You can do little jumps or full jumps, quickly throw punches one way and spin with another punch to catch enemies sneaking up from behind. My favorite part, though, is frog-delivered special attacks and how you can execute them even in mid-air.

Overall: 9.0

This game is challenging. Each game consists of only one life, but you do start off with four continues. In other words, it's like having four lives to complete the game. It took me about tries to even complete the first level, but that may be because I was having too much fun screwing around and wasn't playing very seriously. This is an amazing game, highly addictive, insanely fun, and—thanks to the starring character—a unique offering in the history of video games.