Review: KungFu Kickball (consoles, PC)

Since the ‘1970s, kung-fu has been one of the world’s most recognizable fighting styles thanks to Bruce Lee films and hip-hop. On the other side of the fence, kickball became many kids’ nightmare during gym class. Merging these two things together might seem a bit weird, but KungFu Kickball does it very well.

One of the key aspects of a game like this involves level design. You could simply have a leveled playing field with different backgrounds slapped around, but fortunately, KungFu Kickball delivers six fantastic levels offering different strategies for all players. The pyramid level features some deep slopes while the cavern has players kicking the ball out of a deep pit with spikes that can stop someone’s momentum when they least expect it.

The gameplay is quite simple: you just kick and run. Players can kick in all four directions, which can spice things up during heated gameplay. With the tele-dash mechanic, players can change the flow of the game by quickly appearing in front of their opponent. When it comes to the music, KungFu Kickball has a stellar soundtrack thanks to composer John Fio, who previously worked on Wholesome Slaughter and Zarvot.

Overall, KungFu Kickball offers an intriguing take on a playground institution. With 1v1 and 2v2 versus modes alongside a tournament mode, there’s plenty of action to go around whether you’re battling with friends locally or online. Will KungFu Kickball become the next big eSports title? We’re not sure if this takes the main stage at EVO, but we do welcome more games with peculiar combinations such as Samurai Football and Motorcross Magicians.

Rating: 4/5 stars

KungFu Kickball is available tomorrow (February 10) on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.