Tao Feng: Fist Of The Lotus is the Xbox fighting game that Kakuto Chojin was hyped up to be. Destructible environments, good control, and detailed characters that display "real-time" damage, cuts, and bruises. While Tao Feng succeeded where Kakuto failed, it still only ends up being an average to slightly above average fighting game.

Studio Gigante, the development company founded by John Tobias, the co-creator of the original Mortal Kombat series, is the team responsible for Tao Feng. Some of the MK influences are definitely seen in the game, though MK it is not. There are no Fatalities or even much in the line of blood or gore. The fighting moves skew a bit more realistic, as do a good portion of the characters. Speaking of characters, there are 12 main characters overall, split into 2 sects: the good Pale Lotus, and the evil Black Mantis. Each character has a little bit of backstory, along with a specific rival character. The characters are somewhat generic in nature, but there are a few solid ones in the group.

Play control is pretty standard, with your usual light/strong punches/kicks, as well as an increasing Chi meter, which can be unleashed in the form of a super attack or healing power. It is also possible to perform an attack off of a wall along the edge of the stage, or a pole in the middle of the stage. As a surprise attack, those techniques work well. The coolest gameplay innovation, however, is the inclusion of limb damage and real-time bruising. When you or your enemy takes a lot of hits to either the upper body (arms) or lower body (legs), eventually a warning will signal that the "Limb Damage" is about to go into effect. The next significant hit, usually causes the character to hit the ground in a fit of pain, and subsequently lose 50% of the power to either arm or leg attacks. Specific right/left arm or leg damage is not taken into account, however. That effect will remain until the fight is over, or the Chi power is used to heal the part. A bit of strategy definitely comes into play when deciding to heal, or use the Chi to unleash a powerful attack. Along with limb damage is a well-done character damage model. Fighters get bruises, scratches, cuts and even ripped clothing as the fight progresses. It's not overdone, and actually works really well.

Visually, the game looks pretty damn good. The characters are loaded with polys, and the textures and even the skin tones are nicely rendered. The environments are destructable in many ways, including walls, pieces of furniture, and even most floors. There are also "danger zone" tyle areas scattered about, such as sharp objects or machinery, which will take off a more significant health chunk when smashed against. The lighting looks nice, as do the few environmental effects the game tosses around. Most fighting moves will send the enemy character hurtling towards a wall or object, and the hits do have a nice meaty thud associated with them. Pretty much everything Kakuto Chojin promised and did not pull off. The game runs at a nice solid 60fps, of course.

Music is used sparingly, but there are enough grunts, thuds, groans and screams to fill up most of the audio track. The game's narrator, voiced in an old Asian-man accent, is a little bit cheesy, but could be worse. Audio is really pretty average for a fighting game, to be fair.

The modes found in Tao Feng are mostly typical, including Versus, Tournament, Story, Survival and Training. No online play or anything was included.

Tao Feng, while light years better than Kakuto Chojin, really ends up as a slightly generic, thoroughly average fighting experience. It plays well, but doesn't do much to really separate itself from the very best fighters available today. I still contend that DOA3 is the best 3D fighter on the Xbox, though Tao Feng is worth a try for those fighting game fans craving some hard-hitting action.