Kung-Fu Heroes is a one to two player game where you take control of a red or blue guy to rescue a princess. If you play two player is at the same time, and you share the screen. Every stage is a single screen (no scrolling), sometimes there are small stairs in a corner, that act as a little warp to the other side. There might be water hazards, or rocks in your way. You can punch the rocks for items or to launch them at badguys. The foes are really wild, and might be anything from a walking mummy giant to a small umbrella ghost. You have 10 worlds, of 4 stages each (many looking very identical). This is not a hard game, but might test your stamina to see it through as its kind of a slog, as you repeat the mantra of beat up enemies, until glowy door opens, and go to it. Again! Again!


Graphics: 5
The characters are blocky and a bit crude, like the chubby guy in a robe who uses a spear against you, his nose takes up most of his face. The variety comes in your foes, as there is very little change in your stages, other than some slight variations (a bridge over a river, a series of floating platforms over a pit) but 90% of the time its a big wide area full of rocks to break. Seeing some more terrain options and seeing them affect you would have been a nice addition. As it is, your big -headed character is easy to find and despite the madness on the screen, its pretty easy to find the bright red or blue bald guy hero. When you break a rock it can drop a treasure chest, which is tiny but detailed very well, and it could contain a power up or if you're lucky, one of the 10 treasures for the princess, some of which you can use in the fights. When collected the HUD up top of screen displays them, which is a nice feature.

Sound: 6
The music is pretty good honestly. The soft beat when you are in the game stages is pretty relaxing, and is almost Nintendo worthy. There is a menacing boss music that plays when a boss appears (they dominate the whole stage by themselves for a few seconds.. then run away). The sound effects.... well they are loud. The sound of a fist hitting a rock is kind of funny. If you learn to spam the flip kick (OP) you will constantly hear little dude "A-choi!". None of the enemies talk or make any sounds other than the ubiquitous tiny smash sound when they die.

Addictive: 6
The cool thing about this game is the moves are easy to do. And the flip kick and sword are pretty awesome. The bullet punch is cool too. I had more fun than I thought i would with such a simple game of one screen, kill enemy til door opens. When I would die, which would often be due to misplaced jumps or the dreaded lightning (more on that later), I didn't feel bad because you get right back in the action without restarting the level!
I just wish there the boss fights, which mainly include you running away, had more purpose.

Story: 3
The game falters here, as we have a chinese princess, who gets captured, and some guys who fight ridiculous enemies to rescue her, goign through the same garden like stages again and again, and sometimes gloomy temples. There''s nothing more than that. I don't know if the two heroes are brothers (i assume they are based on the sequel game), or anything about the enemies.

Depth: 4
The levels are bland and start to run together after awhile. The only saving graces are the new foes you always face, and the princess' treasures. The villains often have a small immunity- who sometimes can only be hurt by say, punches, or kicks. Upon finding a lucky treasure box you could get a rare item, and its one of the princess' treasures, one for each world, which can be used in the game to help you. The mirror reflects lightning, the sword can be used to kill dragons (the only thing that hurts them), and more. I didn't find all 10 treasures, so if there is something special for getting all 10, I'd like to know.

Difficulty: 4
Since you have many new enemies, it can seem challenging, but the AI is pretty dumb. Only a few follow you doggedly. Some foes can only be beaten by punches, or kicks, or some by sword. There are some tough stages to crack, a temple stage where statues shoot fireballs, a very sneaky fast lightning wave that slides from one side of screen to the other, but its only on a few levels so its not a big deal. For as much show as the big mummy/dragon /etc enemies are when they appear, they are easily avoided (except level 8, hardest level fr).

Kung Fu Heroes is an OK game, and won't take long to beat, but it badly needs stage or goal variety to spice it up. Its just kill kill kill, move to door. At least the enemies are pretty fun. The NES also had the sequel, Little Ninja Bros, an RPG lite game using the same combat, and it was a lot more fun and fleshed out.