A pleasing art style that shines as you progress to different levels and the locales drastically change, great animation work, well-designed combat, and an awesome difficulty curve that weaves in ways that you can make the game easier, but never allows any of them to become sturdy enough of a crutch that you can see the game through (and through again for secret content) without actually increasing your skill as a player.

Learning Sifu's combat feels like learning an actual skillset. I began the game wondering if I'd ever beat the second level, and by the time I ended it, I was spending precious special attack meter on a move that gently smacks enemies on the back of the head as a taunt. It's a wonderful feeling.