Everybody is Kung-Fu fighting ... with glorious visuals!
What I really liked about Tao Feng is the fact that before the matches there is a little speech from your mentor, telling you a few things about your opponent (even mentioning the chemistry between him / her and you).
GRAPHICS:
Tao Feng is an excellent title if you want to showcase the X-Box’s visuals to your friends. With probably the best character models in the history of the console, Tao Feng’s fighters reek of realism. The female characters are especially charismatic, (Dead or Alive fanboys will probably understand what I’m talking about) but the male ones are no pushovers as well (Exile and Iron Monk are my faves).
The backgrounds are also crisp, detailed, realistic, rich in colours, and can be brutalised in many ways. 10 out of 10. Easily. This is the best an Xbox can give.
MUSIC / SOUND EFFECTS:
Aside from a few introductory clips, the game has no real music. The sound effects are awesome. Broken floors, snapped bones, crashed arcades, smashed glass, cries, screams, all of that sounds excellent.
GAMEPLAY:
Tao Feng is impressive looking, but does it deliver in gameplay? Well, there ARE some defence issues, and the sprite collision could use some work, but if you play the game in easy or even normal mode, I think you will enjoy yourself. The spectacle of two people beating the living snot out of each other while trashing the place around them can be really fun when it’s done in such a realistic way. There are many combos and moves unique for each character, combining punches, kicks, aerial and crouching attacks. If you defend a lot against your foe, your limbs take damage, and after a while your foe can damage your hands or legs, reducing the ammount of damage you can inflict with them. Thankfully, you can exchange your super-move with healing once your super-move bar is full. Despite all that, ( and the fact that you can use the environment to do some bounce-wall attacks) in the end, it’s the button mashing festival, rather than the art of combat, which will ensure you the sweetness of victory.
OVERALL:
Tao Feng is 100% eye-candy, but it’s gameplay is lacking. Still, if you’re not a VF freak, you probably will enjoy yourself by having some versus rounds. Rent before buy (although I’m glad I bought it). Happy playing!