Elasto's Full Review: Wu Tang Shaolin Style for PlayStation 1
Here's the deal, kids. Fighting games usually aren't my thing. I don't like Tekken. After SF1 I got bored. I think that VirtuaFighter is kind of neat. But this one grabbed me by both ears and made me FIGHT! And yes indeed, Chipheads, it will make you stay up late.
The thing with fighting games that always turned me off was the format itself. According to usual fighting game logic you beat on six to eight people, headbutt their boss a good one, and then you're done. Sure there's more multiplayer potential than the game of Life, but it still gets real old. And then there was the Wu-Tang Clan.
Even if you don't like hip-hop, you will like this game. Yes, you have to fight people. Yes, there are a lot of characters. Yes, the post-fight sequences (coined as "Fatalities" by Mortal Kombat) are freakin' rad. But there's a story! And there's some character development! And really cool, full motion, computer animation videos of the Wu-Tan Clan as martial arts masters! That's right, it's a role playing game with a fighting game's playability. Dang I love those Wu-Tang kids!
And then, as you may have suspected, there is the soundtrack. All your favorite Wu-Tang tracks cut down to the beats provide a perfect soundtrack for a good whippin'. Ask my friends.
As far as the accuracy of the martial arts is concerned, I have no idea. I'm not a martial artist. As an avid gamer I can tell you that the character's fighting styles are similar to fighting games in general, but no one specific game. The styles vary nicely between characters, giving an interesting challenge to the mastery of them all. And yes, you even have a way to measure it. Here's the plot kids; duck and cover if you must.
The Wu-Tang Clan, in addition to being the Wu-Tang Clan we all know and love, are students of the Wu-Tang Style kung-fu. Their master, Xin, is the only living master of Wu-Tang Style and has been kidnapped. RZA gathers the rest of the Clan and jets off to China to find him and bring him home. But (as so often we see these days) hijinks ensue and getting there is all the fun.
So even though your master, Xin, is being held prisoner by the sociopathic nutball Mong Zhu your training continues. Your mission, as well as rescuing the peaceful and wise Xin, is to master the thirty-six chambers of Wu-Tang Style. I'm not going to tell you how you do it. You'll have to play the game. That's your job.
As far as the chip in your head is concerned, it's a good game. At least the eye strain headache would lead me to think so. Darn chip.
To make a long opinion short, Wu-Tang Shaolin Style rules. It's great. It's a good way to miss hours and hours of otherwise useless sleep, forget to eat, quit smoking (pack-a-day before, six a day after...not AMA approved, but damn), and anything else that requires long periods of sitting in front of the TV concentrating on a game. Pick it up, rent it, whatever. The Chip wants some more.
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