9 Monkeys of Shaolin

Too bad that when you really get in gear, end credits will start rolling all too soon – but it’s a common thing for beat ‘em ‘ups. Also, when a game feels too short – it’s a sure sign that it’s good. [Issue#249,p.58]

9 Monkeys of Shaolin is a solid package. The story and characters are forgettable, but the action is excellent once you get over a few annoying fights and power up. The game comes in at a decent length, and the presentation is good with a few incentives thrown in to make you want to attempt another run at the campaign to unlock everything. Genre fans may be spoiled with the number of games that have come out over the past few years, and 9 Monkeys of Shaolin is another good title to add to the backlog.

There’s nothing surprising or novel in 9 Monkeys of Shaolin, but when I defeated the last boss, I thought “that was exactly what I needed”. It’s a simple, old-school beat ‘em up that got pretty much everything right – the combat system, the enemies, the difficulty. It is quite short (ca. 5-6 hours), but I see it as an advantage – the game ends before its simplicity and mild repetitiveness become real downsides. [13/2020, p.48]

The result is all in all surprising, for what turns out to be a voyage of revenge without artistic, narrative or cultural pretensions, contenting itself with being a very enjoyable and fluid video game "to beat".

9 Monkeys of Shaolin is a fun take on the beat'em up genre.

9 Monkeys of Shaolin is an enjoyable time for any side-scrolling beat ‘em up fan who’s eager for some engaging and varied combat, but don’t expect to be enthralled by Wei Chang’s story.

Fast, fun and works better played with a friend just as it was with the classic beat'em up that serve as an inspiration to 9 Monkeys of Shaolin. It may be too simplistic sometimes, but it's a great offering on this old school genre despite its PC version it not a very good port from the console versions of the game.

A decent, fun and with some solid ideas beat' em up game, which could be better if some gameplay balancing issues were avoided.

Abundance of bugs is the biggest problem plaguing 9 Monkeys of Shaolin. Other than that, it’s a fun beat ’em up which requires a bit more finesse than mindless button-mashing.

9 Monkeys of Shaolin's story is minimalist and fits a multitude of cliches, its gameplay is satisfying but limited, and the general atmosphere is brought down by mediocre visuals and formulaic music.