Simple, arcade fun is what we find with Kung Fu Kickball. It feels a title primed to take over on Twitch or YouTube for its immediate thrills and easy to grasp action. It might not have the flash of a Rocket League or Fortnite but it’s almost as addictive to get into, although what players will get out of it will largely depend on how many willing friends/audience members they have to join them.
Gameplay is, as you may expect, easy to get in to albeit with more depth for those willing to step up their game. Played from a side on perspective as either 1v1 or 2v2, we need to battle to get the ball to touch the opponents giant bell at their end of the stage. Naturally this is easier said than done thanks to some tricksy level design and fast movement. Controlling our characters is fast and fluid, with a jump, kick, and fast dodge move all we need to worry about. With the ball in play, moving and kicking is the focus of the action so as to try and get the upper hand. Physics are floaty but not too difficult to judge and player vs player combat is a simple case of kicking until the other falls over, at which point they are down for a second or two, allowing us to try and get past.
That’s really all there is to Kung Fu Kickball. As I mentioned above, it reminds me of Rocket League in its simplicity, yet also in its ‘one more game’ factor. Rounds last five minutes by default but this time flies by in a hail or near misses, knockdowns, and even the occasional goal. Thanks to some great level design it became common to finally get the upper hand only to have the ball glance the bell at the final moment. These bells are usually tucked behind overhangs or up ramps (or both) so as to prevent long range kicks ruining the up close tussles that make each moment fun to play. Mid-air kicks or powerful roundhouses can make or break a charge on goal, and the constant back and forth between teams is a lot of fun to get stuck into.
Should the game end in a draw we enter overtime. Here it becomes a Golden Goal rule set, with first to score the winner. In order to prevent a long stalemate though the scoring area around the bell becomes bigger gradually. It’s a fun way to cap a round off should teams be matched though in my time I only ended up here once or twice (and usually because I was on the losing end…).
The Arcade mode allows us to run through a series of competitors, but the main draw of Kung Fun Kickball will be the multiplayer. Up to four can play together on or off line and it’s here that the game really shines – at least, for the most part. Local play is great to get in to naturally, with the simple controls and gameplay allowing myself and my young family to play together. Get a group of competitive friends together though and this is sure to be a riot.
Online play is – as of writing – a long way from ideal though. I’ll preface this with the caveat that this was played pre-release of course, but the experience was nigh-on unplayable thanks to a high amount of lag and stutter. I’ve reached out to the devs and hope to see this sorted by the time it is on sale.
Other modes include setting up Tournaments and being able to adjust the rules of the matches. Again these would suit a group of friends settling in for a night of gaming, and just compliment the brilliant gameplay wonderfully.
In terms of audio/visual elements Kungfu Kickball hits the arcade styling wonderfully, from the psudo-2D/3D stage designs to the announcer chiming in every time there’s a near miss, own goal, knockdown or one of many more actions happening. Again, it feels designed in a way as to encourage people to watch as much as play.
Conclusion
Many games try to capture the lightning in a bottle that was Fortnite or Rocket League, but with KungFu Kickball I feel Blowfish has a better chance than most to do so. Gameplay is simple and fun but with enough depth to really encourage some high level play, and it’s also easy to watch and follow along with. Ideal for gaming nights with friends or a Twitch stream audience.
Become a Patron!
This game was reviewed based on Xbox S|X review code, using an Xbox S|X console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.
