Taking the title of the very first beat 'em up game to ever appear on the N-Gage, is SNK's long running King of Fighters franchise. Way back in 1991, SNK unleashed a game called Fatal Fury on the world's arcades. Within this game, there was a competition known as the King of Fighters, which in 1994 was forged into its own video game, retaining characters from Fatal Fury, such as Andy and Terry. In an only on N-Gage title we see the return of the better known characters, Terry, Mai, Kyo, Chang and Takuma, some of which were added over the years, as KOF evolved. The King of Fighters franchise has been rivalled by the Street Fighter series over the years and the feud continues today, even in video games, such as the much-loved SNK vs. Capcom titles. One interesting twist that SNK put on arcade beat 'em ups was team battles, where you choose more than one character to battle it out. This concept, along with a plethora of astounding personalities, storylines and moves, has made it to King of Fighters: Extreme, although it has suffered a few cuts and bruises along the way.

There is a healthy selection of game modes available to you from the start. Story mode, which allows you to choose three fighters to form a team, who in turn must face numerous stages of opponents' teams to meet Shinobu in the final stage. There are 21 characters in the game's repertoire to choose from when you start off, more than enough for a handheld fighter. Also, there are unlockable characters available upon completion of the game. Sticking with the single player modes, you're offered time attack and survival modes to lengthen the lifespan once you have toppled the arcade mode. There is also a practice mode where you can hone your skills.

Then there is VS mode. Although the game is lacking in N-Gage Arena features, it has a great multiplayer mode. Beating the living daylights out of a friend or foe wirelessly is one of the most satisfying gaming experiences you will ever have. There is little lag and you can be engaged in a brawl within seconds, with no difficult options to navigate.

There seems to be a certain amount of lag in the gameplay and the animations, especially when stationary, seem to be missing one or two frames, also seeming to jump extremely slowly. The special combinations, however, are the complete opposite. They are executed at lightning speed and look gorgeous, transforming the screen into a blaze of light while your character unleashes a flurry of devastating attacks. But these can only be performed with a maximum special gauge, which fills during the fight.

The game is presented nicely throughout, with the exception of the menu, which looks quite crude and basic. Battle captions are still intact, with cocky statements from Kyo after each fight ever as amusing. Cut scenes are rare and very basic; all of the dialogue is in text captions, which is quite dull. No extra animations are used for cut scenes either, not even still images, which is a letdown; extra artwork is always nice to see in a game of this genre.

The character sprites are outstanding. For a portable, they look almost as good as the console versions. The characters are finely detailed, down to clothing wrinkles and facial expressions. They are visually stunning, one of the finer points of King of Fighters: Extreme. The stages where fighting takes place are equally glorious, decorated with glowing colours, fantastic use of tonal qualities and attention to detail is second to none. With some exclusive N-Gage backgrounds thrown into the mix and an unlockable airport stage - which is stunning - it's one hell of a feast for the eyes. Aside from the crude text on the menu, the character select screen, stage screen, in game health gauge and special gauges look good.

The controls can be fully mapped to any keys you like. This is very convenient, as some may not find the tricky key placements very intuitive. It's vital to learn the keys before fighting and nearly every single key is used for some reason, although some could have been left redundant to avoid unnecessary confusion. One great feature is the ability to pause game mid fight and check the move list. Stuck on a particular opponent and need a devastating finisher? It's all listed under this section. Easy to understand directions make for quick learning of the most powerful combinations. Executing the moves is just as simple; the N-Gage QD's d-pad makes light work of the sometimes intricate looking combinations. Most consist of a simple left, right, left, punch ideal. Timing is essential in landing the crucial blow, as your opponent can counter your move just as easily.

Each stage has its own soundtrack, which lasts around thirty seconds in total, fades out mid-fight and loops over. This sounds quite poor and can also be distracting during a fight. The fighters also have individual voice clips, which get repetitive very fast. The quality is above average but still not fantastic.

Something that heavily influences the game, in a negative way, especially when you start playing for the first time, is the N-Gage's vertically orientated screen. In a beat 'em up title, you want space to perform ranged attacks, as well as combos. Things appear slightly cramped in this version and you sometimes can't help but feel a little claustrophobic. After about ten or fifteen minutes of play this problem starts to fade away, as you tend to focus on the fights at hand and on beating your opponent into mush.

Fans of the series or even just gamers who want a decent 2D beat 'em up on the go will relish this title. For a handheld game it offers more than enough gameplay, with all the characters, combinations to learn, unlockables, difficulty settings and multiplayer, more than enough to keep you busy. Provided you can oversee the game's shortcomings, King of Fighters: Extreme for the N-gage comes out with fists blazing!

Reviewed by Dan Whelan for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).