Kung-Fu Live

Kung-Fu Live is a clever and often hysterical use of the PlayStation Eye, one that is oft-wonky but a fun ride and workout nonetheless. For $15, it's hard not to suggest a go.

Kung Fu Live does have some rather gaping hurdles to overcome, but it is still plenty of fun to try out and is even better to watch.

A really fun and original game, with great humour touches, although with some problems with motion detection.

After playing Kung-Fu LIVE, you'll hope Finnish developers Virtual Air Guitar get a lot of notice for their game, but you won't want them to step out of this inventive, fun little indie nitch they've found.

Still, the game is kind of brilliant. More importantly, and I can't emphasize this enough, when you first play it, or see someone you know play it, it is the funniest thing you will see in your life.

Fans of Kung fu pulp or those who want to sample motion-controlled gaming without breaking the bank should find enough stupid fun in KFL to warrant the $14.99 download. Just don't blame me if you can't lift your arms in the morning.

Sure, it has some control foibles, and it can tire out your gamer's cardiovascular system in a New York minute, but Kung Fu Live is a surprisingly successful motion-controlled beat-em-up that will entertain you (and anyone who happens to be watching you) for quite a few hours.

As a PS Eye game goes it stands out as a winner in the eyes of this reviewer, even if only for the technical prowess. Kung Fu LIVE ...for the most part...works.

It's great fun for anyone who comes to visit, and it will definitely give you a workout.

PS Eye functions add novelty to this otherwise solid PSN game. [Feb 2011, p.100]

There's a lot of fun to be had here, and younger players should get plenty of fun out of this product. For discerning adults, the allure may wear off pretty quickly, but not before a few hearty laughs.

If you can make it past the inaccurate controls, Kung-Fu Live is actually fun.

As a game, Kung Fu LIVE is by no means a great one…in fact, it's barely even a good one –the technical demands and lack of immediacy in the controls can be frustrating, and underneath the technical showboating is a fighting game of the most rudimentary kind.

Meet the strict criteria for set-up and calibration and you might enjoy the novelty of seeing yourself kicking ass on screen, but you'll still have to battle with the controls just as much as you will against the bad guys.

The idea of Kung-Fu Live is that you are fighting with your own body kung-fu style like with the PlayStation Eye. It's a great concept, but the way the gameplay works isn't great and it's pretty tiring.

If played in small doses then Kung-Fu LIVE delivers what you would expect; a bit of a laugh with the "oooh look I'm on screen" factor. Ultimately it is shallow though, and repetition soon sets in.

Had this game been released back in 2007 or 2008, when the PS Eye first came out, then we could be more forgiving; at the tail-end of 2010 and what we know can be done with both the PS Move and Kinect, this is a game that will quickly be forgotten.

Kung-Fu Live isn't worth the 10 quid it costs on the PlayStation Store, especially when most PlayStation move titles charge just under double this price for a superior experience. Don't waste your PlayStation Eye on Kung-Fu Live.

A nightmare to set up. [Issue#201, p.99]

Kung-Fu Live has an appealing premise and fun visuals, but I can't recommend a game that left me feeling so defeated.

The comic book presentation is enthusiastically funny, the freeform action concept is commendable and the technology itself, when it works, is promising.

Kung-fu Live would probably be one of the coolest ideas we've ever seen so far on PlayStation 3. Extremely funny and disrespectful, it fails completely form the technological point of view: its best feature, the PS-Eye, can't properly recognize player's body and his moves, providing an annoying and frustrating experience. Definitely, a lost opportunity.

Flawed motion controls and baffling design choices sap all the fun from this goofy martial-arts-themed brawler.

Sadly, this game's finicky, terribly frustrating control setup makes the game impossible to recommend, despite the entertaining story and general solid presentation.

Save the money, go outside, and just fight with the air. You'll get the same experience and look just as intelligent.

That it costs money is criminal. [Feb 2011, p.85]

For the lucky few who happen to have the preposterous layout requirements, Kung Fu LIVE is a solid novelty title. Unfortunately, it's being marketed to an audience beyond those twelve people.

One of the most imaginative and ambitious motion-controlled games ever. The only problem being that it doesn't actually work.