- Site: Kung Fu Panda The Game
- Publisher: Activision, TransGaming, Inc.
- Developer: Activision, Beenox Studios
- Genre: Action
Game Media
By Brad Cook
Lets try to make it a real martial arts movie, albeit one with a comic character, and lets take our action seriously, Kung Fu Panda co-director John Stevenson says in an interview with ComingSoon.net. Lets really make sure that our kung fu is as cool as any kung fu ever done and make sure its a beautiful movie and then lets see if we can imbue it with real heart and emotion.
As it was in the movie, so shall it be in Kung Fu Panda the videogame. As in the movie, our hero is Po, a panda living in the Valley of Peace. Hes destined to become the Dragon Warrior a fighter of extreme skill and bodacity but for now, he finds himself working in his goose fathers noodle restaurant and dreaming of bigger things. Given the opportunity to learn kung fu, however, Po rises to the occasion, increasing his repertoire of skills as he battles the evil forces of Tai Lung the snow leopard and other enemies.
During Pos adventures, youll meet the red panda Master Shifu, who takes Pos abilities to the next level, as well as the Jade Palaces martial experts, known as The Furious Five: Master Tigress, Master Monkey, Master Mantis, Master Viper, and Master Crane. Youll unlock The Furious Five as you progress through the game, giving you access to their unique powers in a variety of multiplayer battles that expand the action in new ways, including all-out brawls, target practice, and more.
Stevenson explains: The Furious Five are based on the original five animal fighting styles in kung fu tiger, crane, monkey, mantis and snake-style so our big conceit was, Well, how does it look to see the original animals that inspired the kung fu moves that shaolin monks adopted? How does an animal do that as opposed to how a human being imitates that animal? Patience, panda cub: youll soon learn the answers.
Expanding the Movie World
As you learn new fighting styles and explore the games 13 levels, keep your eyes open for coins that you can collect and cash in to increase Pos health and chi (the latter lets him execute special moves, such as the rolling attack known as Stumbling). You can also spend the money to enhance Pos attacks and obtain special outfits, including the legendary Dragon Warrior attire. Find rare coins and figurines of The Furious Five to unlock special prizes, including video clips and new multiplayer levels and characters.
The game expands on the movies vision of ancient China in many ways, introducing new places for you to explore and new enemies to defeat, such as Great Gorilla and the Wu Sisters. Youll also encounter new characters who need your help, like a mother turtle who needs you to save her hatchling from the Imperial Golden Croc Gang. While many tasks are optional, completing all of them will grow Pos powers.
Youll need all the help you can get for the final battle, which features the fearsome Tai Lung. Youll need to bring all of Pos skills, including his prowess with weapons, into play, proving, as he says, that hes not a big fat panda, hes the big fat panda. Skidoosh!
Game Hardware
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System Requirements:
- Mac OS X version 10.4.11 (or 10.5.6)
- Intel Core Duo processor
- 1GB of RAM
- 4GB hard disk space
- ATI X1600, Nvidia 7300 GT, or Intel GMA X3100 or better graphics chipset (Intel GMA950 not supported)
Tips and Tricks
Po here with some righteous tips and tricky cheats. Wheres my snack? Someone promised me a snack if I typed all this up. Do you know how long this took? Hellooo, Master Shifu?
- Check this out: you can buy upgrades during levels too, so if youve collected enough coins for something important, just save the game and go shopping. Comes in handy when you want to unleash a little extra somethin-somethin in the middle of a fight.
- Heres an ancient Chinese secret: If you can smash it, it will reward you. See those boxes, vases, carts, and other stuff? Give em a few whacks. If they disintegrate, youll score some shiny coins, a few tasty snacks for restoring your health, and more. If they dont, they werent yours to destroy to begin with.
- Panda Quake is the perfect move for quickly taking down a group of small attackers. Let them circle you and then unleash some bodacious panda fury.
- Use your kung fu fighting skills as often as possible and keep those special moves in your back pocket for when you really need them, since they use up that precious, precious chi. Everybody was kung fu fighting/Those cats were fast as lightning. Cmon, sing with me.
- You dont have to do all the optional quests, but if you have the bodacity to take them on, youll be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams. Okay, maybe not like that, but, still, youll get some cool stuff.
- Theres an Awesome Meter on the left side of the screen. (Seriously, thats what its called. Isnt that awesome?) Fill it by landing your panda fists of fury on the bad guys without missing. When its full, your enemies will be stunned by the awesomeness of your power, and youll become stronger for a little while. Then take em out! Skidoosh!
- All bad guys have a weakness somewhere. Heres Tai Lungs: when hes holding his arms in the air. That means hes powering up, but it also means you better totally swing into action with a few well-placed panda punches. Well, not literally swing, because there arent any ropes or anything, but you know what I mean.
- If you find yourself wandering in circles, wondering what the heck you should be doing or how youre supposed to get over a wall or something, then click over to this walkthrough, my friend. Just dont tell anyone where you got it. Seriously. Master Shifu will be all over my butt if he finds out.
Cheat If You Must
Having trouble? Then youve come to the right place, panda cub. From the main menu, select Extras, then click on Cheats. Press Return and enter the combination of arrow keys shown below to unlock a tasty cheat. Bummer: youll need to re-enter the ones you want before each game session.
Just dont get a big head about these new powers of yours. Get it? One of the cheats gives your character a big head, so well, carry on, panda cub.
The Codes
Totally Awesome Cheat | Totally Easy Arrow Keys
Big head mode (story only) Down, Up, Left, Right, Right
Dragon Warrior outfit (multiplayer only) Left, Right, Down, Left, Up
Infinite chi Down, Right, Left, Up, Down
Invulnerability Down, Down, Right, Up, Left
Unlock all multiplayer characters Left, Down, Left, Right Down
Unlock all outfits Right, Left, Down, Up, Right
Upgrade all of Pos abilities and techniques Left, Right, Down, Left, Up
Do quadruple damage Up, Down, Up, Right, Left