As a life-long fan of the beat-em-up genre there’s just something simple and satisfying about a good brawler, letting you blow off some steam kicking ass and taking names. 9 Monkeys of Shaolin mostly delivers on that promise, going with its own take and pace, and especially as you unlock abilities begins to have a decent flow. That said, it feels about a half-step on the slow side, and I couldn’t always tell if that was deliberate or in order to cover for the game having a potential for performance issues. The overall look is an unusual one since it certainly has artistic flair but at the same time its characters just look and animate a bit oddly. The fact that you can join up with a friend locally or perhaps online (always a tricky prospect for availability with indie games especially) may help to sweeten the pot for some people but at the same time it can’t really address the pretty repetitive play that lacks enough variety to firmly keep your attention. It isn’t a bad title by any means, but there are definitely stronger brawlers out there in the eShop.