Kung-Fu Sheep is a free-to-play 2-D arcade action game that plays like a continuous runner, but reminded me more of arcade classics like Son Son or Psycho Soldier (sorry if I got a little too hardcore there). Run and jump to collect gold and defeat enemies to get a high score.  It’s available to download on mobile devices, but reviewed on iPad here.

You play as the title character, a sheep trained in martial arts. You can run left and right by tapping arrows on the bottom of the screen, and you can jump by tapping anywhere else.  But you can only jump forward as the screen automatically scrolls.  Swipe on the screen and your sheep will perform a long jump, handy for avoiding pits and jumping to another platform on the same level.  There are three tiers of platforms that you can run on, and you must avoid fires and collect gold and defeat enemies to increase your score.

There are four different kinds of enemies to defeat, and each one is a different color (yellow rabbit, pink pig, etc.). You must tap on the correct color button near the enemy to defeat it.  If you collect symbols of the same color, you’ll increase a score multiplier.  Then when you come across another enemy of that color, you’ll play a mini-game where you must tap the right colors in order, and if you pass, you’ll earn even more points for defeating that enemy.  There are neat little secrets to find, like you can also defeat enemies by bumping the blocks under them.  When you get hit or fall into a pit, you’ll lose a life, and when you lose all your lives, it’s Game Over.

There are two modes of play. In the main mode, you must survive a certain amount of time to move onto the next level.  Each level increases the speed and amount of obstacles and enemies.  You get three lives but can earn more by passing levels.  The other mode is Endless, which gradually speeds up over time and you must try and last as long as you can on one life.  As you defeat enemies, you’ll move up in belt ranks which will open up new higher scoring colored baddies to defeat.  But it only works in the main mode, not Endless.

As a free-to-play game, you might have to sit through a video commercial of another game when you complete a level, but that’s the only annoying thing. But the play control was sometimes not as responsive either.  Otherwise, it’s an OK silly little action game.

Kid Factor:

While you do punch and kick silly cartoon animals, they just fly off the screen when defeated. If you get hit, you’ll just fly off or smack into the touch screen, so the violence is only cartoony.  All the sound effects are silly and goofy and will make kids laugh I’m sure.  Reading skill is helpful for the instructions, and parental supervision is recommended for the ads and in-game purchases.

Tags: Game Reviews