I saw a review of this, just out of the blue came upon it, and read it. I couldn't believe it, there was apparently a decent fighting game on this system!! Or so I thought, boy was I wrong! And I mean that in a good way, which is rare.

Personally, I think the game is abso-fucking-lutely awesome, considering the number of moves per character, as well as the fight being pretty much anyone's - to an extent.

Fighter balance is not balanced by any means. There are some fighters that are actually way better than others in a one-on-one. The Ninja's nemesis is obviously Ryuji, but I can kick the Joker's ass any given day with the Ninja, and I can't fight for shit against the joker with Ryuji…see where I'm going here? Anyway, fighter styles actually differ for the mostpart. For instance, Ryuji and the Master (An earned character) are big on Karate, while Bob and Tomahawk each do their own wrestling type stuff (Tomahawk being the closest to a wrestling character, but Bob…is Bob). And, despite similarities, each character has their own fighting style.

Controls are very, very braindead simple, but are yet hard to actually master. For instance, you have two defensive buttons, Block and Dodge. You also have two attack buttons, high and low. But, despite there being only two attack buttons, there's at least 20 moves per character. This includes throws, counters, and signature moves, as well as other moves and combination attacks.

The graphics are a bit dated, but that's okay, because it looks no worse than Tekken 2, and it's at least as good from a fun-factor. But…It also has a lot more to it than just "kick the shit outta the other guy". The system that determines a match win is based on points instead of best 2 of 3. Depending on how you "take down" your opponent will decide how many points you get at the end of the match, represented by stars. Throwdowns (you win if you can successfully throw an opponent…) are worth 2, KO's are worth 3, Counter KO's are worth 3, Ringouts, or knocking the guy out of the ring, is worth 1, Special finishes are worth 4, and judge decisions are worth 5. But, that can be changed in the options menu.

There's also different play modes, such as Master Challenge, which allows you to earn more moves, Time Challenge which you have to defeat all the opponents in record time, Rodeo, in which you compete against Ushi the cow to see how long you can stay in the ring, and Survival, which is basically last man standing against CPU opponents of varying AI levels.

There's also two modes of two-player head-2-head, normal and Win or Lose, where, if and when you have completed the Master's Challenge with a character, you and another player can fight against each other for techniques. This adds further depth to what would seem, at least on the surface, your traditional fighter.

Also, although it is a 3D fighter, it uses a 2D background to maintain game speed. The backgrounds look fine enough though, so it's not really an issue. Music is, although your traditional fighter fare, quite suitable for the game, and really does it justice.

If you're an N64 player who's sick of getting shafted for decent 3D fighters because all the Tekken games are on the GayStation, this is definitely the game you're looking for. Solid action, semi-realistic-looking moves, a very decent soundtrack, and a relatively fast-paced game this is. Pussies need not apply.

NWC.