If you’re looking for a top-notch fighter for Wii, this isn’t it. Legend of the Dragon, based on the cartoon series (which is more popular in UK than here in the States) by the same name, fails to introduce any kind of new gameplay features that impress, and it fails to revolutionize any elements of today’s fighter genre. Overall, it fails to do anything particularly entertaining – new or old – and even during its best moments, it’s unlikely to entertain.

The game feels primitive most the time, and its bare-bones approach to design is a turn-off. The storyline, which follows the cartoon series, bores and only youngest of children could possibly take interest in it. More likely than not, though, little kids would rather play something with no storyline, as the text-based dialogue and cut-scenes here are underwhelmingly disinteresting. A sorry blur of meaningless, lackluster discussions between character after character best describes the overall storytelling in the adventure.

Almost immediately, Legend of the Dragon establishes the fact that it’s low-budget, lazily-developed piece of software. The game’s hub, which you’ll travel across in story mode, is unimpressive – consisting of an overhead view of a map on which you move your character to the next available location. You don’t even have full 3D control over your character. Instead, you have a limited number of directions you can travel at any given time – usually one or two. Pressing the analog stick in that direction will move your character to that location. Lame? Yes.

As a fighter, the title makes a few attempts to distinguish itself from the rest of the herd, but it’s futile. There are way too many questionable design choices at play. For instance, the game’s fights don’t even use the Wii-mote outside of special attacks. Special moves utilize the motion capabilities of the remote, but the shake-it and rotate-it controls are forgettable at best, leaving much to be desired. The game could have just as easily been done on any controller without motion controls – they’re that insignificant here.

Occasionally, Legend of the Dragon’s fights seem decent. There is actually a surprisingly complex system in place – specifically when it comes to special moves. Each character can transform into its own mystical warrior that’s based on the zodiac creature it represents. Additionally, each fighter has his or her own combos and special moves. The depth here is refreshing, considering the rest of the game, but the control scheme is anything but intuitive, making the experience more frustrating that it should be.

The single-player mode, which plays out like an adventure, enforces conditions on each match, meaning if you want to “win” and “progress,” you’ll need to meet them. These range from having to defeat your opponent with a specific move to having a set amount of time to finish your foe in. It’s hard to tell if the developer hoped this kind of restrictive design would mask what would otherwise become especially repetitive, unsatisfying gameplay or if it truly felt the concept was enjoyable.

Throughout its lifespan, Legend of the Dragon fails to entertain for more than a few minutes. Little kids might fall for the shallow, run of the mill gameplay. However, more likely than not, the forced storyline will quickly lose them. The underlying game here, meanwhile, is not enough to grab gamers who could just as easily play almost any other fighter and have more fun.

Don’t bother with it.