POSTED 18/9/10


KUNG FU RIDER

Sony
PS3/Move

Well, somebody’s been snorting the Mr Sparkle. Rather than being a really bloody cool, laidback tale of a gentle martial arts master of few words and his trusty steed like we’d imagined, Kung Fu Rider is all about being a David Tennant Doctor Who-alike hurtling through the streets of Hongkers on such devices as office chairs and pink, four-wheeled Bambis avoiding a pissed off Mafia. No, we’re not shitting you.

Now, we love the odd (in the literal sense of the word) Japanese game as much as – perhaps more than - most people. We’ve clocked insane hours on such delights as Gitaroo Man, Parappa, Incredible Crisis and the various Katamari games in our time. We even loved Noby Noby Boy (groovy, now the theme’s glued back in our heads). But things can be odd and barely playable, as Kung Fu Rider ably attests.

Controls are just too plentiful – jump, speed up, duck, dodge, karate kick, grind like you’re Tony Hawk san and more, all with various flicks, swings and button combos requiring instant recall. That response is sluggish at best doesn’t help.

This is, unfortunately, an example of all that’s wrong with motion control gaming. Ironically it would have worked better had it just utilised the good old DualShock controller. Instead, it’s one of a handful of Move launch games, and will likely be snapped up by unsuspecting schmoes simply ’cos it uses Move, and looks kind of wacky.

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