KungFu Kickball is a team-based platform fighting sports game where the best ball-kicker wins.

Compete against your friends in a fantasy sport that mixes soccer with kung fu action movies. Fly through the air and unleash a flurry of punches, kicks, and mystical arts to overpower the other team and smash the ball into their bell. Every bell ring counts as a point and the team with the most points when time runs out is declared the winner!

At first glance, KungFu Kickball looks like an old-school arcade game worth wasting a few tokens on. Don’t be fooled though, as it is quite a deceptive little game. The anime design and Eastern theme really pack on the charm. Each time we played, hours passed before we grew tired of the game. As a parent of two teens, it is really difficult to find a game we can play as a family without causing arguments. Don’t get me started on Mario Party, which is almost as bad as Monopoly when it comes to table-flipping and raging outbursts. However, we found ourselves laughing, cheering, and really enjoying some quality time together, whilst still punching, kicking, and competing against one another. If this paragraph hasn’t convinced you of KungFu Kickballs appeal, I don’t know what will.

The gameplay here might seem simple and feel a little repetitive, but the map layout is very unique and different for each one. There are currently six different maps that vary in several different ways. There is a basic flat stadium that hosts a bell on each end and a couple of ledges to stand on, but then you get to the desert and there are two giant pyramids to try and navigate the ball over, plus random sandstorms to obscure your vision. Trying to navigate some of the obstacles in the maps is more difficult than just getting the ball past your opponents. Sometimes it can even feel like a pinball machine where your great shot gets rebounded several times while you run back and forth waiting for it to return to the ground. But it’s not just the obstacles, there are times when you can actually affect the landscape too! In the caves, you’ll find stalactites hanging in front of the bell and if you hit them enough they’ll fall down. I would have loved to have seen even more variety here, as six maps is fairly limiting and eventually you just want to try something new. Although we definitely found our favourites and our most challenging maps. I personally love the Desert as the soundtrack absolutely banging.

Speaking of banging music, oh my goodness. John Fio did an amazing job with the soundtrack that doesn’t seem to get repetitive or annoying as some arcade-like games can be. With an Eastern vibe to match the aesthetic of the game, they’ve mixed in metal and at times some bass drops to really get you grooving while you are playing. Each map has a unique music track that compliments it beautifully. The addition of fighting game voice-overs created some excitement too. Getting a ‘team smackdown’ or a ‘double knockout’ really hyped up the vibe. I don’t usually comment on a game’s music, but this time it could not go unnoticed!