It’s been a long time since there’s been a super fast and frenetic brawler out there. Sure, all the classics the likes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Double Dragon have been re-release on the Live Arcade, but that doesn’t quench the thirst for something new.
Well, until now. With a cool look, Kung Fu Strike immediately hardens your thoughts to a film like Kung Fu Panda. Thankfully, it doesn’t play anything like the game released on the 360 a few years ago.
The first few levels will allow you to get accustomed to the controls, but in spite of that , you can see the seedlings of a fun experience. Using a combo counter, you’re rewarded for longer chains. The longer the chain, the more gold you get, which can used to buy new moves and abilities.
It may sound a but complicated to newbies to the genre, but the actual gameplay is simple. The X button is used for a jump attack and the A button is used for a normal strike. The B button is used to dodge. Button-mashing is one way to go in the game, but learning to utilize the proper buttons at the right moment is imperative to destroying your opponents with style. The fights are fluidly animated and once you get settled in, the battles are something out of Couching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
With the intuitive controls, solid visuals alone, this game may just be a sleeper hit once it’s released next week
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports.
Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders.
His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023.
Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief.
Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale.
Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.
It’s been a long time since there’s been a super fast and frenetic brawler out there. Sure, all the classics the likes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Double Dragon have been re-release on the Live Arcade, but that doesn’t quench the thirst for something new.
Leave a Reply