Kung Fu Panda 2 is a movie that managed to surpass my expectations. The story of finding inner peace by accepting the past alongside the high-octane action made it a very entertaining movie. The DS adaptation unfortunately fails to capture the charm and action of the animated feature film.

Kung Fu Panda 2 follows the plot of the movie very well. Po and the Furious Five have been sent to various locations in China to investigate attacks linked to the return of Lord Shen, a royal peacock set on destroying Kung Fu and ruling China.

Surprisingly, the DS adaptation borrows many conventions from standard RPGs: the story mode consists of missions that can be selected from the map; the fights are turn based battles; you select a character’s attack on the bottom on the screen; other options such as health, items and power ups can be selected from the menu. Also, like in RPGs the characters will gain levels that unlock new attacks.

While there is nothing wrong with the gameplay in terms of technical design, Kung Fu Panda 2 is a very slow paced, boring game. Most of your time is spent running around the map, often just to get small hints toward where to go next. The power-ups and new attacks feel like an insignificant upgrade to your character. The presentation of the story is also basic, using character cutouts to tell the story and present character dialogue.

Nothing really stands out in terms of visual or audio presentation. The character models are blocky, the backgrounds are often re-used, and the music is very generic.

Overall, the DS version of Kung Fu Panda 2 is a mediocre effort. The gameplay is very slow and uninspired, and the remainder of the package is just as unimpressive. Definitely skip this game.