Review: Kung Fu Panda for Vtech V-Motion
Written on Jan 22, 2009 by Brian and filed under Reviews, VTech
Kung Fu Panda – Path of the Panda for V-Motion is one of the more arcade-like games available for the system. Designed for kids ages 4-6, Kung Fu Panda teaches skills in geometry, math, logic and other areas.
The setup for this game is that Po (the panda) has unexpectedly been chosen to become the Dragon Warrior. Master Shifu has to train Po to be a kung fu legend so he may defeat the evil Tai Lung.
Like many of the V-Motion games, there are several ways to play Kung Fu Panda. There are seven games that can be played in story mode or in quick play, which lets kids select one of the seven games to play in any order they like. There’s also a training mode, where there are two more games, or the kung fu competition which lets kids play in a kung fu tournament.
Kung Fu Panda can be played with either the motion controller or joystick. There are also two skill levels, along with an option to give Po unlimited power, which is a nice touch for the younger kids. The main story is only playable in single player mode, but the training modes and kung fu competition both offer two-person play.
Po’s Rescue Mission
The missions can either be played in story mode or in any order during quick play. It’s worth noting that for some reason, in story mode the games are not played in the same order every time.
Ancient Mission 1 – Bamboo Forest Rescue (Logic)
This is a side scrolling adventure where kids control Po in his effort to save three villagers who are lost in the forest. Forest rescue is very arcade feeling, in fact many of the games do. For that reason many of these games will appeal to an older audience as well. When rescuing the villagers kids will have to use their logic to move boulders out of the way. Forest rescue is a great game, kids love it and there are good learning elements, though the game could be more difficult on the hard level.
Ancient Mission 2 - Unlock the Rivers (Logic)
Unlock the rivers is nearly identical to bamboo forest. Kids move in side scrolling action to get to three river areas that are blocked by boulders. Po has to unblock the rivers to save the day. By unblocking the river he essentially does the same thing he did to free the villagers in the mission above. The game is still fun, it’s just not very creative given we’ve already played a nearly identical game. As you would expect, it’s not terribly difficult either.
Ancient Mission 3 - Chinese Take-Out (Object identification and spelling)
Po must deliver noodles to the proper stores in this game. On the easy level he’s told which stores to go to, the hard level gives kids the first letter of the store they’re looking for, like H for the hat store. There’s also a mini game where they catch bowls of noodles on Po’s head and in his hands, which is fun. Overall a pretty solid game, similar to the first two, but different enough in the mission to be engaging.
Ancient Mission 4 - Master Architect (Geometry)
This game is another favorite amongst parents. Po moves about in the same way as the first few missions, but the challenge this time is that kids must identify building objects that are identical on the easy level and symmetrical on the hard level. Symmetry is an early geometry concept often discussed in kindergarten and this is the first game we’ve seen that addresses the concept in any way.
Ancient Mission 5 – Bridge Builder (Geometry)
Po must find logs to help build a new bridge. As kids navigate the side and up-scrolling game, they find logs to repair the bridge. Each bundle has only one proper fit though, so they have to select the right shape from four choices. The harder level has more complex shapes to match. The matching is somewhat difficult though since kids can’t place the shapes next to one another. It requires good visualization to find the correct match. This game has a good difficulty level and education component.
Ancient Mission 6 – Mountain Hero (Mathematics)
Mountain hero is a side and vertical scrolling game where Po must again rescue villagers. The twist this time is kids have to answer math problems to move on. The math in this case is the identification of a number that is between two others. The hard level uses numbers up to 30 where the easy level keeps it in single digits.
Ancient Mission 7 – Food Fight (Hand/Eye coordination)
This is a forward scrolling game where Po has to jump over rolling logs and avoid cannons that shoot pears. It takes a few tries to get used to the movement, but after that, the action is pretty simple. Arrows help kids know when logs are coming, along with dumplings and other goodies. Kids found the action to be repetitive and even the difficult mode, with faster food cannons, not terribly challenging.
Ancient Mission 8 – Punching Bag Challenge (Counting)
Punching bag is much like food fight in that it’s a forward scrolling game but the in-game challenge this time is Po has to hit punching bags a certain number of times. It’s billed as a counting game, if anything it’s a counting down game, but even that is a bit of a stretch since it does the counting for you. It’s really a coordination game as kids have to time their punches. It’s actually pretty hard for kids to get it down, younger kids will struggle a bit here.
Legendary Mission (Mathematics)
In the legendary mission kids play as Po in a battle where they must break open boxes to find objects to ultimately help them collect three action points. Action points are awarded by identifying the proper number or object. Kids will be prompted to find four-sided shapes for instance or numbers that are greater than or less than a specified number. Once they get three action points, they’re prompted to race Tai Lung to complete a special attack move that wipes out his hit points.
This game is surprisingly advanced and took even older kids a while to figure out all the moves, power bar readings and so on. It’s very well done though and can really appeal to older kids, even those outside of the 4-6 target.
Kung Fu Training
Training 1 – You May Eat! (Foods)
This is a basic game where kids have to pinch one of two falling foods with chop sticks and drop it again before it’s stolen by Master Shifu. On the easy level the game tests food vs. non-food and the hard level tests against food groups, like seafood or grains. It’s a timed game, it runs for 3 minutes, and kids try to compile the best score they can. It’s repetitive and not entirely compelling though. After the first few plays kids quickly wanted to go on to something else.
Training 2 – Dojo Star Throw (Spacial skills)
In star throw kids toss flying stars at shapes and punching bags with a 180 second time limit. The object is simply to rack up the most points possible in the time allowed. It’s not immediately obvious as to which shapes kids should shoot at and neither activity really provides that much entertainment value.
Both training games were pretty much a pass for our test kids. They’re just not engaging and both are very repetitive in gameplay and dialogue.
Kung Fu Competition
Competition is an extension of the legendary mission we discussed above. In the Versus mode kids will go head to head with the character and location of their choosing. In Tournament play kids play up to two matches to win the tournament. This game allows for two players at the same time, which is the big differentiating factor from legendary mission, which is only single player.
Bottom Line
While we could have done without the training games, Kung Fu Panda is easily one of the best games for the V-Motion system. It’s geared toward kids ages 4-6, but older kids will still have fun here, especially if they’re fans of the movie. We really like the geometry concepts that are presented and generally think the gameplay is very good. While there’s no two player mode in the missions, the game makes up for that a bit by adding the competition game that is great for two kids to play at once.
4 out of 5 stars
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