the player advances through a series of challenges, called the 36 Chambers - a reference to both the real-life rap group's debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) and to the kung fu film The 36th Chamber of Shaolin. These challenges range from visiting certain locations to performing combos of a certain length. Rewards for completing these include character concept art, new game modes, characters, and fatalities. Given that some of the chambers require pulling off a certain fatality, the player may be forced to complete a certain goal before proceeding to the next one. Also, the player cannot face the last opponent (and therefore complete Story Mode) until they have first cleared 35 chambers - the 36th being awarded for defeating Mong Zhu himself. Reception Praise for the game came from GamePro (4/5), Absolute PlayStation (90%), and IGN (8/10), while it received a much colder reception from GameSpot (5.2), Electronic Gaming Monthly (4.5), and Game Fan (63%). Complaints were focused on the game's poor frame rate, unresponsive controls, and steep difficulty curve of the story mode, while the game's supporters lauded the then-innovative four-player matches, in-depth story mode, and creative use of the Wu-Tang Clan license for the characters, music, and tone. Jim Preston reviewed the PlayStation version of the game for Next Generation, rating it three stars out of five, and stated that "A decent fighting engine, a great soundtrack, and a little ultra-violence are sewn up into a very respectable game." Special Edition "W" Controller Activision released a special edition set of the game, including a controller in the shape of the characteristic Wu-Tang "W". It featured all of the buttons of the original PlayStation controller, but had neither the vibration capabilities nor the analog sticks of the DualShock. Due to its unique shape it was very difficult to use, making it more of a collector's display piece than a functional control device. References 1999 video games 3D fighting games Activision games Video games based on musicians PlayStation (console) games PlayStation (console)-only games Success (company) games Wu-Tang Clan Band-centric video games Multiplayer and single-player video games Video games featuring black protagonists Video games scored by Howard Drossin Video games developed in the United States