Once there was a legendary warrior whose legendary Kung Fu skills were the stuff of legend...

Po, the hefty hero of the Dreamworks film Kung Fu Panda, doesn't suffer from low self-esteem, although his grip on reality may be questionable. The film chronicles the story of Po, the son of a noodle maker, who aspires to greater things. In the tradition of Kung Fu films, Po achieves his goal despite overwhelming odds. In the tie-in PC game you get to walk a few miles in Po's shoes and see what it feels like to be simultaneously the best and the worst Kung Fu warrior in the land.

The presentation of the game deserves special mention. The graphics are better-than-average for a tie-in game and nicely recreate the feel of the film. If Dreamworks wanted to produce a Kung Fu Panda TV series, they could do worse than to use the game engine. The visuals are that good.

Likewise the voice work is impressive. The sound-alike cast is pitch perfect. The actor portraying Po, in particular, nailed Jack Black's mixture of ego and innocence.

The gameplay itself was somewhat disappointing.

In execution, Kung Fu Panda for the PC is a standard platformer. You start off controlling Po through a dream sequence which doubles as a tutorial in the game's mechanics. In Po's Walter Mitty-esque imagination he is a legend who fights because it is cool to do so and the bad guys need a good beating. On-screen prompts tell the player what buttons to mash and even middle-aged gamers like me can figure it all out.

What I can't figure out is the rationale behind the layout of the mouse-and-keyboard control scheme. If you choose to play without a controller, you'd best come equipped with three hands to manage the controls. Your point-of-view will center on Po (yes, the world really does revolve around Jack Black) and he handles through the turns about like those semi-trailers that drive on the ice. With a controller, you'll have a hope of actually playing with the game instead of against it.

Playing with the game means accepting various missions such as rescuing peaceful villagers (residents of 'Peaceful Valley') from ruthless (but ineffectual) bad guys, shooting a ballista to burst confetti balls to clear a path so you can engage in some frustrating platform jumping 'fun', collecting coins (which you can use to buy skills upgrades and spiffy new outfits), and gathering objects such as vases or fireworks. The camera does a reasonable job of keeping everything in view for you, but can be adjusted if necessary.

At various times the game will cast you in one of the other lead roles such as Master Shifu or one of the Furious Five. These mini-games will challenge your Kung Fu prowess with synchronized button mashing. Once you've completed whatever objective was set for you, you'll become Po again and the game will propel you through more running, thumping, fighting, jumping and collecting.

A small multiplayer module in the game allows you to become your favroite chraacter and try out your Kung Fu skills against your friends.

There's nothing really 'wrong' with Kung Fu Panda. It's a decent, if unremarkable platformer. Were it not for the movie license, the game would probably sink quietly out of sight. If you're a fan of the film, you might want to play the game for the chance to revisit the characters. If you're not, there are plenty of more interesting games for you to play.