Jackie Chan Stuntmaster

The first time I played Sifu, it reminded me of Jackie Chan Stuntmaster, a PS1 game I played a bunch as a kid. After a couple of Stuntman React episodes featuring Jackie’s movies (I’m a Corridor Crew fan), I decided to pick it up again to see how it holds up today.

What you get with Jackie Chan Stuntmaster is a straightforward 3D beat ’em up starring Jackie himself. The fights lean on his motion-captured moves with quick punch-kick strings and throws. Combat moves are overall basic, but the game livens things up with some simple environmental play. You’ll spot chairs, brooms, boxes, pipes, and other bits you can use or toss, echoing the prop-driven fight style from Jackie’s films, keeping encounters a little more dynamic. The story is a simple rescue setup that pushes you through a run of urban backdrops. Nothing special, of course. That’s usually not the point of these types of games anyway.

Overall, the game does feel like a Jackie Chan flick. If you’ve watched his movies, you’ll recognise the spirit the game is chasing, and Jackie’s personality peeks through in both the animations and the one-liners sprinkled throughout.

At release, a lot of critics said it already looked a bit dated. Funny enough, I think that’s part of its charm now. Those chunky character models and simple textures give it a retro vibe that reads well today. I could easily see clips of this fitting right into Gen-Z-style memes or short videos.

The platforming sections are the roughest spots of Jackie Chan Stuntmaster. Jumps can feel floaty and the camera doesn’t always give you the angle you need. Missing by a hair can mean a fall (or death). Checkpoints aren’t generous either (a product of its time), so mistakes can sometimes feel like you’ve been sent too far back.

If you’re going to try this today, here’s how I’d recommend you get the most out of it. Treat Stuntmaster like a weekend rental. I’d even emulate it for the convenience of save states to soften the frustrating bits. Don’t be shy about using cheats either, like infinite health to breeze through sticky sections. Purists might wince, I know, but playing it in this fast-track mode preserves what’s fun about Stuntmaster while you still feel the novelty. Spend too long grinding the rough edges and the magic wears off.

That’s why I still recommend it. If you love Jackie’s movies, there’s a sincerity here that’s hard to fake. The combat is simple fun and the prop play lands for the most part. The whole thing is a time capsule of a kind of action game we don’t really get anymore. One that's rooted in the same clever, good-humoured stuntwork ethos that makes Jackie Chan’s film style feel genuinely special—and we may never get another quite like him.