Hissatsu Kung Fu: Kanji Dragon Review

Nobody would ever make a kanji game based on old Chinese martial arts flicks, right? WRONG. Success has done just that, and provided it with high production values and loads of educational value. Hissatsu Kung Fu: Kanji Dragon (必殺カンフー　漢字ドラゴン) for the Nintendo DS has everything it takes to make a great game and an excellent learning experience.

You take on the roll of Po, a lazy martial artist who'd rather slack off than practice forms. Everything changes when a group of men dressed in black attack your father's dojo searching for a secret scroll. With your father unable to stand up to the competition, it falls on Po to seek out a way to defeat the mysterious menace.

The battle system is very simple and spread across multiple stages. In the most basic format, enemies will approach you with a kanji written above them. You've got to write out the reading for the kanji in hiragana. If you take too long or write it incorrectly, you'll take damage. But if you are correct, you'll topple your foes one by one! If you played Kanji no Wataridori, this mode should be familiar.

Kanji dragon offers several other modes, as well. In fearsome one-on-one battles, you'll have to write kanji to match the reading displayed on screen. These problems can sometimes be quite difficult and will really test your mettle. Even if you get a kanji wrong, the correct answer will be displayed so you can study up for next time!

There are also battles where you have to select the synonym (類義語) or antonym (対義語) for kanji. In others, you'll have to choose between two kanji which is the appropriate one in that situation. There is also an exciting stage using radicals.

The game plays very smoothly, mostly due to the excellent input recognition. The system is excellent at properly reading the hiragana or kanji that you write in, so you won't be tearing your hair out every time it turns your ら into an う or your 右 into 石. Success has come a long way with their technology here, and I can't wait to see how much they advance in their next title!

The game uses an attractive 3D background and 2D character style that captures the theme of the game perfectly. I would have liked to see them work with the backgrounds a little more and maybe even experimented with different viewpoints, but it's not really anything I can complain about. The music is also fantastic, and with a martial arts movie feel. It's a big boost to your motivation when the graphics and music push you along, and the game delivers big in this department.

As for the difficulty level, this one is fairly high level. Similarly to Kanji no Wataridori, you may want to avoid this game if you don't already have a good knowledge of kanji. This game is much more focused on review rather than teaching new material. You need to know well over 1000 kanji to play on Easy, and the Hard mode will make any native Japanese speaker's head spin. The game is not for the light-hearted.

I give Hissatsu Kung Fu: Kanji Dragon a definite recommendation. This is one of the best games out there now for reviewing your kanji. If you have advanced reading and writing skills, you should pick this title up immediately. You won't regret it.