KendoDou? is a 1- or 2-player 3D kendo game that uses physics to model the sword and players. There are three zones that are available for attack: head, wrist, and body (these are called “men”, “kote”, and “dou” attacks in Japanese). There is a room for learning about these attacks as well as defending yourself.
The 1-player room allows you to fight against an opponent in single player mode (you can change the level and the types of attacks that your opponent uses). The blue buttons do “men” head attacks, the purple buttons do “kote” wrist attacks, and the green buttons do “dou” attacks. In order to win a match (“ippon”), you need to press and hold down the button until the attack is completed. If you hit the target with sufficient force, you will see its outline light up and you will hear your “kiai” scream. Your kiai will also be written on the right side of the point-of-view screen and your opponent’s kiai will be on other side. But you need to keep pressing the button to insure that you keep moving forward to get an ippon. When you win, the judges raise a flag that corresponds to the small piece of cloth on the back of your player (“tasuki”).
In the 2 player room, you can play against your friends. First connect both machines to the same wifi. Then one player selects player 1 and the other player selects player 2. Then both players should press the play button at the top left of the screen to start. The players will bow together and then once they are up, you can start. At the end of the match, player 1 can press the play button to reset the players on both machines. Then both players must press play to start a new game.
In both rooms, pressing and dragging on the point of view screen will cause your sword to rise and you can move it to defend yourself. If you are close to the other opponent, then attack will automatically change to move backwards (“hikimen”, “hikikote”, “hikidou”). If you start one attack and release, you can start another attack (“renzoku waza”).
It is possible to record and share matches using the record button in the 1- and 2-player rooms. After you press record, then press the red record button to start the match.
The 2-player room is available for 14 days for free and then you will need to unlock it after that. You are allowed to use it once per day without the unlock in order to see if you want it.
In Japanese, “kendo dou?” can mean “how about doing some kendo together?” “Dou” can also mean stomach/body or way (the “do” in kendo).