The Nardio Review
He hit me once and I lost the match…..
Is it worth your time?
Only if it’s free.
What should I play it on?
Kung Fu Jumpu is a universal App iOS 4.2 and later. I prefer my Kung Fu Jumpu on my iPad.
What did you think without spoiling it?
This needs balancing.
I want to love this game. Kung Fu Jumpu is fresh, interesting and sometimes fun… and then I battle some enemy where one hit from them does more damage than the six I landed…or a Boss one shots me because I bounce around stage until I die or…I could go on, but it’s painful to recount the many fails of this game.
Let me start back at the beginning…Kung Fu Jumpu is an interesting take on fighting games. It uses an Angry Birds like launch mechanic to move characters around the stages.
I hit him six times he hit me twice.
To further spice things up there is a Rock-Paper-Scissors approach to the gameplay as moves happen at the same time. So the match starts and I make a move and wait for my opponent to make a move. Only after we both finish choosing our moves do they actually happen. This leads to an amazing amount of tension and surprise. Out of four possible moves at your disposal you need to guess which has the best chance of hitting in the situation. The characters are all modeled out of 2D paper cut-outs, which is really cool. All the moves and poses just look so dramatic it really adds a lot to the game. The music and sound is ok, but sadly nothing catchy.
The huge, huge problem here is the complete imbalance of power between characters and the insane upgrade costs your character faces. Even if the game were a bit more balanced, the gameplay itself gets old quickly.
Make no mistake, this is a Freemium game that charges you to get it, and then overcharges you to progress.
Avoid this unless it’s free.
The point of the game.
How it plays and why it fails:
The game starts out with a lackluster tutorial. Then you are stuck in the arcade mode until you earn enough of the game’s main currency to open the campaign mode. Unfortunately it’s unclear how you can earn money. When you are able to open up the campaign mode the in-app purchases smack you in the face as does the games “Coin” Currency. Continues are coin only….
Some of your moves are totally worthless until you spend thousands upon thousands of gold to upgrade them – most notably fireballs. I’ve landed several direct hits with them and they go unnoticed by my opponents. It isn’t until you upgrade it a few times that it even registers which makes it a wasted slot space.
Kung Fu Jumpu has potential, but the lack of polish in areas such as menu, proper tutorials and hit detection make me hesitate to recommend it. The fact that upgrades almost instantly cost insane sums, just turns me off. Not only that, but even when you fork over the money, there doesn’t seem to be much of a return on your investment. Let’s not forget totally unbalanced fighters. Shaolin Kung Fu’s split Kick hit box is insane. Kung Fu Master is so cheap I almost wanted to snap my iPad in half. I’m not kidding me. His fireball one-shot me with the first hit.
I can’t afford to upgrade and as bad as the game is I just don’t want to. Multiplayer is also a hit or miss. Sometimes you can find a fighter while other times you will find yourself waiting about a half hour for nothing.
I can’t fathom ever wanting to spend any real money here.
Magic Cube you got too greedy here.
Avoid this.
Basic Info:
- Solo campaign
- Multiplayer occasionally available
- .99 Cents
- 60 MB
Web Links:
App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kung-fu-jumpu/id619677176?mt=8
