''Kung Fu Chaos'' is a 3D

fighting Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

party game Party games are games that are played at social gatherings to facilitate interaction and provide entertainment and recreation. Categories include (explicit) icebreaker, parlour (indoor), picnic (outdoor), and large group games.Frankel, Lillian; ...

developed by Just Add Monsters and published by

Microsoft Game Studios Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher and part of the Microsoft Gaming division based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, ...

. It was released worldwide for the

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by th ...

in 2003. The game's theme song during the opening intro is ''

Kung Fu Fighting "Kung Fu Fighting" is a disco song by Jamaican vocalist Carl Douglas, written by Douglas and produced by British-Indian musician Biddu. It was released in 1974 as the first single from his debut album, ''Kung Fu Fighting and Other Great Lov ...

'' by

Carl Douglas Carlton George Douglas (born 10 May 1942) is a Jamaican recording artist based in the UK who is best known for the 1974 disco single " Kung Fu Fighting". Early life Carlton George Douglas was born in Kingston, Colony of Jamaica. He later li ...

Plot

''Kung Fu Chaos'' often breaks the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cent ...

. The entire game is about the player controlling a selection of characters making a

kung fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to commo ...

film. The actions of these characters are then processed as films and the player can watch them. Although the game is centered on a classic kung fu film, it has certain characters and levels that do not belong in a martial arts film (such as a city under attack by

aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrat ...

Characters

Playable

*Master Sho Yu: An

elderly martial arts master The elderly martial arts master is a mentor/teacher stock character in fiction, especially ''Wuxia'', ''Chanbara'', and other martial arts films. Typically an East Asian male, he is a near-invincible master of the martial arts, despite being a ...

. *Ninja Fu Hiya: A blue

ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance, espionage, infiltration, deception, ambush, bodyguarding and their fighting skills in martial arts, including ninjutsu.Kawakami, pp ...

. Prized possession is his signed poster of

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines th ...

. *Monkey: A parody of the

Monkey King The Monkey King, also known as Sun Wukong ( zh, t=孫悟空, s=孙悟空, first=t) in Mandarin Chinese, is a legendary mythical figure best known as one of the main characters in the 16th-century Chinese novel ''Journey to the West'' ( zh, ...

from ''

Journey to the West ''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the greatest Classic Chinese Novels, and has been described as arguably the most po ...

''. Became immortal after urinating on the Mountain king's favorite tablecloth. *Lucy Cannon: A parody of

blaxploitation Blaxploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The term, a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation", was coined in August 1972 by Junius Griffin, the president ...

heroines such as Foxy Brown and

Cleopatra Jones ''Cleopatra Jones'' is a 1973 American blaxploitation film directed by Jack Starrett. Tamara Dobson stars as an undercover government agent who uses the day job of supermodel as her cover and an excuse to travel to exotic places. Bernie Casey, ...

. Prized possession is Babydoll, her shotgun. *Xui Tan Sour: A young martial artist who seeks to avenge her parents, who were killed by members of a rival circus, parodying the idea that in martial arts films, the hero/heroine is avenging their families' death from a rival, often a rival clan. *Chop & Styx: A

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of History of Japan#Medieval Japan (1185–1573/1600), medieval and Edo period, early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retai ...

and baby pair that parodies ''

Lone Wolf and Cub is a Japanese manga series created by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima. First published in 1970, the story was adapted into six films starring Tomisaburo Wakayama, four plays, a television series starring Kinnosuke Yorozuya, an ...

''.

Unlockable

*Candi Roll: A roller-skating blonde. *Captain Won Ton: An overweight

luchador Lucha libre (, meaning "freestyle wrestling" or literally translated as "free fight") is the term used in Latin America for professional wrestling. Since its introduction to Mexico in the early 20th century, it has developed into a unique form ...

. Wrestler by day, justice avenger by the rest of the day. *Shao Ting: The film's loud and obnoxious director. He also serves as the final boss of the game. He sees himself as a womanizer, and after creating ''Kung Fu Chaos the Movie'', with no plot whatsoever, he creates an experimental art film where he runs around naked for two hours chased by zombie nurses.

Development

''Kung Fu Chaos'' is the first game developed by the

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

-based developer Just Add Monsters. The game's concept was co-created by design director Tameem Antoniades, producer Nina Kristensen, and technical director Mike Ball once the company was founded. According to Antoniades, the game was prototyped in three months using four to eight people. In early 2003, Just Add Monsters began working on a more mature sequel to the game titled ''Kung Fu Story''. However, realizing it would be a difficult idea to sell an existing

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

(IP) to prospective publishers, they shifted their focus on developing for the next-generation of consoles. Specifically, they started work on a new IP, ''

Heavenly Sword ''Heavenly Sword'' is a 2007 action-adventure hack and slash video game developed by Ninja Theory and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. Gameplay The game is an action-adventure title with heavy hack and slash g ...

'' for the

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

. The company resurfaced in 2004 under the name

Ninja Theory Ninja Theory Limited is a first-party British video game development studio based in Cambridge, England. Notable games it has developed include ''Kung Fu Chaos'', ''Heavenly Sword'', '' Enslaved: Odyssey to the West'', '' DmC: Devil May Cry' ...

after it was purchased by former

Argonaut Games Argonaut Games PLC was a British video game developer founded in 1982, most notable for the development of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Super NES video game ''Star Fox (1993 video game), Star Fox'' and its supporting Super FX hardwar ...

CEO

Jez San Jeremy Elliott "Jez" San OBE (born 29 March 1966) is an English game programmer and entrepreneur who founded Argonaut Software as a teenager in the 1980s. He is best known for the 1986 Atari ST game ''Starglider'' and helping to design the Super ...

Reception

''Kung Fu Chaos'' received "average" reviews according to the

review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

. In Japan, where the game was ported for release under the name on 29 May 2003, ''

Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the ...

'' gave it a score of one eight, one seven, one eight, and one seven, for a total of 30 out of 40. The game was included among the best Xbox party games by

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa dist ...

in 2005. And has gained a cult following.

References

External links

* * {{Ninja Theory 2003 video games 3D fighting games Filmmaking video games Martial arts video games Microsoft games Video games about ninja Parodies of films Parody video games Party video games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Works based on Journey to the West Xbox games Xbox-only games Multiplayer and single-player video games Ninja Theory games