Xiaolin Showdown review

The ancient art of boundless boredom

GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Collecting artifacts for battle

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    Building up your character

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    Voices straight from the cartoon

Cons

  • -

    Dull combat arenas

  • -

    Awful fighting engine and controls

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    Persistent

  • -

    overwhelming boredom

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Start with a second-rate cartoon license. Add a dash of a bargain-bin party game, then stuff it inside half-baked 3D roaming combat and stir well. Finally, let the mix rot in the sun for a week. What do you get? You’d be half right if you said “something really icky,” but you’d be totally on the mark if you said Xiaolin Showdownon the PS2.

Xiaolin Showdown is a four-player, free-roaming competitive fighting game (though you’d be hard-pressed to tell by reading the blurb on the game’s packaging). You select one of the show’s characters to play as against up to 3 other competitors in various arenas. Your goal in each arena is to beat up both enemies and other players while collecting items, money, and pieces of a scroll that show up at regular intervals.

More info

GenreFighting
DescriptionA toon-based four player fighter that answers the age-old question: "How do you make a competitive brawlfest as boring as possible?"
Platform"PS2","Xbox"
US censor rating"Everyone 10+","Everyone 10+"
UK censor rating"",""
Release date1 January 1970 (US), 1 January 1970 (UK)
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