And yea, did the mighty Tekken rule with an iron fist for 3 (and a bit, if you count Tekken Tag) instalments. Furious was its wrath and glorious it's reign, all were defeated. Dead or Alive died on arrival, Street Fighter Ex lived up to the ex part of it's name, Bloody Roar went home with a bloody nose and Virtua Fighters went like lambs to the slaughter. But if Tekken is a Goliath of fighting games, then Virtua Fighter IV is most definitely its David.

The first thing you notice about VF IV is it's slickness, technically excelling in all fields and say what you will, it's nothing if not well polished. Environments are gorgeous, snow flies everywhere if you're dukeing it out on a mountaintop, as does sand, if you happen to be laying a smackdown on the beach. The backdrops to your fisticuff fun come in all the traditional flavours, are nicely varied and are amongst the prettiest you're likely to see on the PS2, although one or two seem to have been neglected a little. Different levels have different sized arenas, some have breakable, walls, some unbreakable and some have no walls at all, giving you the feeling that you should change tactics, but I have never really seen the need, as ring outs are quite rare. The animation is fast and fluid, the only exception is with juggle combos where the characters jerk about like salmon, but I think this is intentional and fits with the style of the previous games. Some people must like it, but it sometimes makes me feel a bit seasick!

The tunes are straight from the beat-em-up studios, complete with jingly-jangly Chinese beats, rock and heavy guitar work, nothing offensive but nothing particularly enjoyable either. Punches and kicks connect satisfyingly, and the occasional grunt or "Yeah!" gives a nice 'old school' feel to a modern game, as does the pre and post match banter, if you can call it that. The problem I have is that a fast paced game like VF IV has you listening to these winning/losing/trashtalk comments, on average, every minute, so a winning streak of 40mins means that you hear them way too many times and it really starts to drive you loopy. Please, Jacky, I know you've got hands of lightning, you've told me 300 times today, aaarrrggghhhhh!!! This banter is not unique to VF IV, but for some reason it irritates more than its peers. On the plus side for the sound, I would like to take this opportunity to say to the girl who does the voice on the menu screen - "I love you, will you marry me?"

Ninja rolling onto the next point, the gameplay is where people seem to disagree most. Many will say that VF IV is easy to learn, nigh on impossible to master. To them I say why master it? Yes, the training mode is comprehensive, to say the least (it even gives you some good advice now and again!). Yes, the Kumite mode that allows you to cosmetically enhance your character is a great innovation. Yes, it has Survival mode and the other usual extras, plus an AI training mode that allows you to save replays, teach him the good bits and forget the bad. Yes, you can look at the stats for every punch you've thrown and analyse your performance, but all this is like building a house on sand.

The problem I have lies mainly with the control system- it's full of inconsistencies. The system is built around defence and evasion, yet there's only one dodge move and it looks very poor. The training mode shows you a multitude of methods that stop your face becoming one with the concrete but these are not jinking little swerves, dodges and parries as would have fitted the game nicely, but one very dull sidestep. Add to this the fact that most moves can be countered with a low jab and you have a system which doesn't do justice to the rest of the game. The action tends to test your precognitive powers rather than your reflexes, as once a move starts your chances of blocking it are next to nothing unless it's a particularly slow one. I'd rather play a fighter that tests your reactions, not your psychic ability. Another paradox is bounce combos, wall and juggle combos are nicely thought out, and for the most part are very satisfying, but the bounce combos look cheap and uninteresting.

I was initially stunned by the variation of fighting styles in VF IV, unarguably more than Tekken, yet after changing characters a few times you still feel like you're playing the same character. With such little use of the D-pad involved with this game, it's easy to see why. To me a more interesting approach would be to use both buttons and D-pad equally, (sorry to say, but as in Tekken.) It's gameplay inequalities like this that make me feel a little sour about VF IV, because a good match can look and feel as classy as a Jackie Chan movie and it's a shame that this is sometimes spoiled.

Virtua Fighter IV is a fast paced, quality title that deserves praise for both presentation and an innovative approach to training. This game is deeper than a Buddhist meditating at the bottom of the Pacific and if you're one of those people who like to get into their beat-em-ups then you may well be on to a winner with this as you must not only train long and hard to be successful, but you must also learn to back up your attacks with defence, which is harder than it sounds, believe me. Matches can be as captivating as you could imagine, but they can also be inane slugfests as with most fighters. The real problem for me was the control, pure and simple, the VF hardcore and many converts will disagree, but I can't help thinking that it was flawed from the start. Ah well, I guess I'm just a Tekkener at heart.

If you've not played either before (unlikely, I know), then I would heartily recommend trying both out, the two control systems are as different as limestone and borsin, lets just say that VF will tire out your right thumb much quicker than your left (personally I find Tekken far more intuitive). If you're a VF fan, you really can't get much better than this -if you haven't bought it, it's probably due to incarceration (good luck with the parole). If you, like me, think that Tekken 4 is too much of the same, and want something different, I suggest a rental, as more than likely this will give you the feeling that there's something a little wrong here.

Reviewed by Tom Leclerc for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).