Kung Fu Panda is a franchise that seems tailor-made for being turned into a video game. There's a cast of wacky characters, tons of action, and the premise is flexible enough that you can make almost any kind of game from it. A traditional fighting game doesn't really fit considering how ridiculously kinetic the film characters are. Kung Fu Panda: Showdown of the Legendary Legends takes it in a slightly different direction that fits the franchise.

The easiest way to describe Showdown of the Legendary Legends is to compare it to Super Smash Bros. Kung Fu Panda is a four-player competitive fighter that focuses on battle arenas based on the game. Each player has a series of basic attack moves that can be modified with a direction. You also have a special button that functions the same way but includes moves like fireballs, double-jumps or lightning kicks. Players can jump and dodge around the stage while attacking each other, and you can even block attacks by projecting a bubble around yourself that slowly shrinks as you take damage. It should feel very familiar to fans of Nintendo's franchise, though with more of a Kung Fu Panda feel.

The health system also borrows from Super Smash Bros. Rather than beginning with a low percentage and going up, you begin with 100% health, and it goes down, but the same basic logic exists. You lose if you're knocked off any of the four edges of the stage. The lower your health percentage, the easier it is for an enemy to knock you off. Reaching 0% isn't an instant game over; it just means that a light brush is probably enough to finish you off. In our demo, we played in Stock mode, where every player has three lives, and when they're all lost, the game's over.

There is a pretty interesting feature in Kung Fu Panda called Flash Dodge, which can be performed at any point and gives you a fast, instant and nearly invincible dodge. You can use it on the ground or in the air, but this comes with a limit. You have a series of orbs above your health bar, and using Flash Dodge empties one. It recovers but takes quite a bit of time. If you're not careful, you could end up with no way to escape from a bad situation. It's an interesting twist that's not easily comparable to another game since it offers a new resource to conserve and a way to escape from danger.

Each character also has a super move that's dubbed Awesome Move. It's akin to a final smash in Super Smash Bros., but you fill it by attacking and being attacked, more like a super bar in Street Fighter. Once it is filled, you can activate your special move. Each character has a specific move that can turn the tide of battle. Tigress, for example, unleashes a tremendous claw attack that covers most of the screen, devastating anyone who is hit by it. Most of the awesome moves are still being implemented in the build we played, but they should be one of the coolest parts of the game.

Kung Fu Panda will launch with 20 playable characters and 12 stages, most of which are from the first two films in the series. Not long after launch, there will be DLC that adds characters and arenas. While the game is designed for multiplayer action, there will also be a single-player, arcade-style fighting mode where players choose a favorite character and try to take him or her to the top of the rankings. Kung Fu Panda launches later this year for current- and last-gen systems as well as the Nintendo 3DS.