Kung Fu Ball

Kung Fu Ball (カンフーボール^?, Kan Fū Bōru) is the 3rd Two-Player Endless Game in Rhythm Heaven Fever, unlocked with 4 Duo Medals.

Gameplay

In this game, the two players control the students of a kappa, who are learning the ancient art of Kung Fu Ball. This involves them passing a stone ball from one to the other while balancing on bamboo sticks in the middle of a pool. The longer they keep up the act, the more people join to watch.

The kappa begins the game with the kappa throwing the ball from the pool either at the boy (controlled by P1) or the girl (controlled by P2). They must kick the ball between each other at regular intervals. The students may jump towards the inner bamboo, where they must punch the ball at a faster pace as they are closer to each other.

The kappa sometimes gives cues, one of which is for the Heat Fu (ひー・ふー・^?, Hi~ fu~) technique. After saying "Heat Fu", the ball goes in the middle, where the two students must breathe fire on it. The other cue is the secret Great Bird Claw Spike (ほいこ～ろ～^?, Hoiko~ ro~). After saying "Great bird...", one of the kids leaps up and must hit the ball on "Spike", and the other must block it on "Pow!"

As the game progresses, the ball gets cracked and eventually splits, revealing a smaller ball in it. The first ball is bronze and large, the second is silver and middle sizes, while the last one is gold and small. The ball splits on pre-determined spots in the song, with each split taking longer than the last during the current round. The players are given three lives to start, and missing once causes the song to start over, but the size of the ball is carried over. Breaking the gold ball releases a bunch of cucumbers, fish, or koban, each worth more points than the last. Every two rounds instead release a heart, which restores one life up to five. Each round alters the tempo, and later on it may change drastically even during the song. The sky gets progressively redder as the game goes on, implying the passage of time.

Controls

Ⓐ: Kick/Punch
Ⓐ+Ⓑ: Breathe fire

Timing Display

Perfect!/Ace!: The ball is kicked or punched towards the other player. Using Heat Fu has the kids breathe a large gust of fire on the ball. Successfully punching the ball on "Spike" focuses energy into it, while the kick on "Pow!" blocks it, prompting the audience to cheer. Each action gives one point.
Early!/Late!: The ball is kicked or punched towards the other player with a "crack" sound. When up close, the player's fist turns red. When using Heat Fu, the flames are weaker than usual. No points are given. On "Spike", the ball is punched in a weak arc to the other player.
Miss...: The ball is missed and falls down to the pond with the missing player making an embarrased face. A life is taken away and some of the audience leaves in dissapointment. If the players lose all lives, the missing player falls off into the water as the other slumps in defeat.

Appearances

Kung Fu Ball

Video

Trivia

The boy student is actually Young Cricket from the WarioWare Series. While at first thought to be a look-alike, he was later established to be the same character in his Character Trailer for WarioWare Gold^[1].
Cicada makes an appearance in Cricket & Mantis's stage in WarioWare: Move It!. This game gives her a name, 12 years after her debut in Rhythm Heaven Fever^[2].
- She resembles the Girl in Remix 8 in Rhythm Tengoku and the girl in Munchy Monk in Rhythm Heaven Fever.
Inputting the code word SPIKE in Police Call gives the player a tip about there being a code word in this game (the word is SEESAW: It appears a set of rickshaws in the background later on in the game). The code word can be put into Police Call for an easter egg.
The cucumbers and fish released after smashing the ball are references to the folklore behind the Kappa, who are said to enjoy eating cucumbers and fish.

Development History

Main article: Kung Fu Ball/Development

In Other Languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	カンフーボール	Kung Fu Ball
English^NOA	Kung Fu Ball
English^NOE	Kung Fu Ball
French	Boule kung-fu	Kung fu ball
Spanish	Kung Fútbol	Pun on "Kung Fu" + "Fútbol" (Football)
German	Kung-Fu-Kicker	Kung Fu Kicker
Italian	Kung Fu Ball
Dutch	Kung Fu Ball^[3]
Portuguese	Kung Fu Ball^[4]
Korean	쿵후볼	Kung Fu Ball