Game Reviews

Kung Fu Rabbit

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| Kung Fu Rabbit
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Kung Fu Rabbit
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| Kung Fu Rabbit

Rabbits aren't known for their skill with a sword. But in an App Store world where doodles jump, sheep get sticky, and everybody goes gaga over birds with anger issues, we won't begrudge Kung Fu Rabbit a bit of artistic license.

The game sees a cotton-tailed hero set off on a quest to rescue his kidnapped students from the inky black clutches of evil. It's a Super Meat Boy-style twitch-based platformer that, much like the League of Evil games, prioritises bite-sized bouts of agility over exploration and depth.

Clodhopper

Things get off to an unpromising start, with your rabbit's weighty handling seemingly at odds with the dexterity-focused stage design.

That all-important fluidity of movement is present, though, and once you're accustomed to the game's more deliberate pace it's easier to admire Kung Fu Rabbit's other achievements.

For a start, it's a beautifully presented game, featuring gorgeous hand-painted artwork that pops with character and depth alongside a suitably evocative - if minimalist - soundtrack, all giving the package a bit of pseudo-Eastern flair.

Then there's the inclusion of stealth-lite combat that forces you to approach enemies from specific directions, as indicated by their glowing weak spots, to get in an instant, automatic kill.

It's a neat mechanic that works alongside some clever use of familiar platform tropes to deliver some impressively cantankerous level design.

Bunny games

What starts out as a faintly tedious slog through all-too-easy earlier levels quickly escalates into a compelling display of reflex-battering sadism - particularly if you plan to grab every carrot hidden across each stage.

Carrots function as currency in Kung Fu Rabbit, letting you open new stages early if you get stumped - or splash out on a wide range of novelty artefacts and occasionally useful items to assist when the going gets tough.

You can grab these via in-app purchase if you really must, but thankfully they're far from compulsory and easy enough to acquire with minimal grind.

While Kung Fu Rabbit might not enjoy the nimble precision of League of Evil or the wily platform creativity of Bean Quest, its beautiful presentation and crafty level design make for a solid and suitably entertaining diversion. And that has to be worth a nibble, if nothing else.

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Kung Fu Rabbit

It's not quite up there with the best iOS has to offer, but Kung Fu Rabbit's still a fun, frisky little platformer with plenty of appeal
Score
Matt Wales
Matt Wales
Following a lifetime of adventure on the high seas, swabbing the editorial decks of the good ship IGN and singing freelance shanties across far-flung corners of the gaming press, Matt hung up his pirate hat and turned his surf-seared gaze toward the murky mysteries of the handheld gaming world. He lives to sound the siren on the best mobile games out there, and he can't wait to get kraken.