Kung Zhu
SCORE: 79
The Nintendo DS box for Kung Zhu looks a smidgen different than most Nintendo DS boxes. The reason is a Kung Zhu toy (editor: Tull) comes with the hand held game. Which is a really cool cross promotion. If you are into Kung Zhu that is. Those not into the cute militant hamsters will not give the package a second look. The core of Kung Zhu is side scrolling levels where the player fights their way to the end.
The graphics in Kung Zhu are better than I expected. The characters have some diversity, and they have a decent animation frame rate. There is violence as your character fights other characters. Certain areas require fighting in order to progress. In other sections the player can avoid violence if they so choose. The fighting action in Kung Zhu is pretty simplistic. The computer is not the most intelligent and can easily be defeated.
The music in Kung Zhu is nice. I enjoy listening to the music in this game. The dialogue between the characters could have been better, but that is okay. I just could not find myself taking hamsters too seriously about stopping some major evil. Players get to rescue various characters who have been trapped. I enjoyed helping them get free. Note once you free them, that level ends.
Kung Zhu is part exploration, and part side scrolling action adventure. Having to disband numerous bad creatures is a major part of this Nintendo DS game. Even though there is violence, I had fun playing Kung Zhu. There is something campy about this hand held game that reminds me of my child hood. Kung Zhu has a certain imagination quality that I recognize.
The levels in Kung Zhu are really short. This works good for a hand held. The problem is Kung Zhu can be beaten in a few hours - by children. Replay consists of going back into the levels and collecting all the blue orbs. I was all ready to fail this section, and then I thought of Tull. Getting a Kung Zhu to play with lasts longer than the game inside the package. For that alone I find some more replay value. Kung Zhu also contains multicard play for two players.
Kung Zhu teaches us to save those who have been imprisoned, and to
fight our way to them. I find the violence in Kung Zhu to be mild. The
inclusion of a Kung Zhu toy is a masterful stroke by Activision. I would
like to see sequels to this franchise. I can see a lot of promise in the
concept of this DS game. It was my honor to play and review Kung Zhu for
the Nintendo DS.
- Mark
Graphics: 77%
Sound: 79%
Replay/Extras: 84%
Gameplay: 74%
Family Friendly Factor: 79%
System: Nintendo DS
Publisher: Activision
Rating: 'E10+' for Everyone 10+
{Cartoon Violence}
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