Game Reviews

For a game where you ride office chairs and other wheeled objects down city streets,Kung Fu Rider is something that most people expect to have explained to them. However, it doesn't need an explanation, and the game knows this: the title screen shows you all you need to know: private detective Toby and his bubbly (in more ways than one) secretary Karin hide behind their doorway as a group of mafia goons wait outside for them. The two argue with each other for a few minutes, worrying about their fate, but once you start the game, they're already on the run when they find an aforementioned wheeled object in the street that they use for a makeshift getaway. No muss, no fuss.

Well, there is some fuss, as you have to complete some tutorial missions before you finally hit the mean streets of Hong Kong to escape the bad guys, but beyond that, the game is fairly to-the-point. Basically, you accelerate by flicking the Move controller downward to sort of "pump" the vehicle forward, which makes sense. But to really make a smooth path to the goal, you'll have to perform jumps, dashes, dodges, and kicks to clear out obstacles, including the gangsters coming for you. Unfortunately, performing these moves isn't very natural. Simple turning is fine, but jumping requires you to flick the motion controller up, and apparently straight up, so that it has a split second to recognize it. Similarly, to perform a Super Dash, you thrust the Move controller forward -- a technique that has proven, over the years, to be the least effective use of a motion controller. Needless to say, I rarely pulled off the dash, diminishing its value with me more and more with each attempt. My only savior was in the options screen, where you can bump up the sensitivity for both the jump and dash motions, which I admit did make a noticeable improvement in my accuracy and overall success in the more hectic levels, but I still didn't feel like using the Super Dash.