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Select a fighter, learn his moves then put them to the best possible use against human- or computer-controlled opponents.

Destiny, the unerring force that controls our lives; something with which we all meet in time. For some destiny is an executive suite in the Hilton whilst others rendezvous with theirs in the gutter. Destiny has no favourites, it simply does its job.

For Terry and Andy Bogard, their fate lies with Geese Howard, the man responsible for the death of their father. Now, the one clause in destiny's guidelines dictates that fate is changeable. So, instead of leading perfectly normal lives, the brothers find themselves avenging their father's untimely death.

Mercifully, they are not alone in their hatred of Geese, for their friend and Thai Boxing champ, Joe Higoshi, is out for Geese's blood too. Indeed, over the years, this Geese character has amassed a certain amount of bad feeling amongst the hearts of nations. So now Geese not only faces three but eight potential avengers, five of which stand in the way of Higoshi and the brothers and their goal.

Learned in the arts of Kung Fu, Boxing, Wrestling and Capoeira these World Warriors are shaping their destinies too. This game gives one or two players control of this situation, taking Terry, Joe or Andy to their date with fate, ensuring that the putrid Geese gets his just desserts! Each of these three men possess secret moves that a player exploits to his or her advantage, discover these and victory is closer than you think.

The Bogard boys are expert martial artists, due to the years of pent-up aggression and the will to find that justice is done. Their chosen disciplines are hybrids of many techniques throughout the world and, while Terry prefers a casual approach to his dress code.

Andy parades the fighting areas in a more practical outfit. Their pal, Joe Higoshi, is an expert in Muay Thai which, more or less, speaks for itself. Here is a lowdown on the lads' specialist moves.

The elder of the brothers, Terry, has the power of the flaming fist and also sends fire scorching across the ground as he cries: "Allow me!". His most complicated manoeuvre is a somersault kick, a startling move that transports Terry across a third of the screen culminating in a damaging, double-hit kick.

Aspiring to his brother's excellence and eventually, some might argue, surpassing him in terms of technique. Andy summons fireballs from his fists, dashes at his opponents with a power crush and leaps, feet first, at his enemy. The most spectacular tactic that Andy employs is a swirling, mid-air fist attack.

Muay Thai stands as a powerful martial art doesn't require too much assistance. However, Joe is adept at sending a swirling whirlwind from his bandaged fists, and is capable of pulling off a super-charged tiger-knee attack with the option of a piercing flaming push kick.

Joe Higashi also comes prepared with the easiest special move in the game, a flurry of super-fast jabs activated by speedily pushing of the punch button.

Overall this is an accurate conversion of SNK's coin-op/Neo Geo game of the same name. However, some features are absent from the Megadrive version. First and foremost are the missing boss characters: Hwa Jai and Billy Cane, along with their respective locations the Happy Park and South Town Village.

For your information Hwa Jai is a drunkard Thai boxer, swigging his rice wine with fury. Billy Cane is your archetypical red neck, toting a huge crimson cane. To compensate for this Takara have twisted the storyline a touch and placed brother against brother, friend against friend as Terry, Andy and Joe duel for Geese's doom. Fools.

The dream of seeing the fall of Geese Howard burns so strongly in the other fighters' hearts that none can bear the thought of another striking the final blow. Consequently, the remaining five athletes pose as cunning obstacles in the game. They too are well practised in the more diverse moves available to the martial artist...

1. Tung Fu Rue
   Looks alone give away the fact that Rue is the oldest competitor in this competition, though he is learned in ancient magic. This miniscule ancient Japanese bloke transforms into a malicious herculean brute with fiery breath and tree-trunk arms that he swings about, helicopter fashion. Mr. Rue also throws powerful green fireballs from his feet. Yoinks! Tung Fu Rue resides in the 'Howard Arena', a stormy place by all accounts.
2. Duck King
   MC Hammer wannabe King looks amazingly stupid in those enormous pants of his and that post-punk Mohican travesty of a hair cut! His fighting ability is slightly less ridiculous, however, as he demonstrates a remarkable talent for his strange, kick-biased martial art. Duck King hangs out by the 'West Subway', showing off his skills to his musing, muso friends. The subway Kind is on a roll as he tumbles into his dazed opponents.
3. Michael Max
   Humble Michael Max appears quite the conventional fighter as he stands, boxing gloves on each arm with the signature shorts and hooded top of the professional boxer in training. A little less conventional are his giant proportions and punishing, punch power; Max letting loose with some awesome uppercuts and lightning speed jobs to the feature! 'Sound Beach' provides the sandy canvas for his raging routine.
4. Raiden
   A colossal image of a wrestler dressed in a flashy blue, skin-tight monstrosity of a leotard. Raiden is deceptively agile for his size and all the more dangerous for it. The 'Dream Amusement Park' is a fitting location for Raiden's roller coaster approach to unarmed combat as he rattles his opponents around like dolls. Raiden also possesses the worst breath known to mankind.
5. Richard Meyer
   Whatever they serve at the 'Pao Pao Cafe' makes old Dick a little unsteady on his feet. This Brazilian Capoeira expert rocks back and forth in those tragic loon pants of his, relying heavily on the use of his legs as he performs numerous variations of the helicopter kick. One such move involves the bearded one hanging from the rafters like a rampant air-conditioner.

The first of the long-awaited, coin-op style beat-'em-ups for the Megadrive is far better than expected, especially after the highly suspicious Super NES version!

The absence of two characters doesn't subtract too much from the overall effect, that being a close rendition of the original SNK product. There are a surprisingly large choice of moves available, considering the game is limited to only three buuttons, one of which is reserved solely for throwing purposes.

Each of the special moves are very impressive, although quite fiddly to pull off on the Megadrive's joy-pads. Joe's Tiger Knee is especially cool! I find that the ability to jump in and out of the background hinders the gameplay somewhat and is something that the conversion would be better without, as with the Super NES.

It's quite neat but the player has no real control and this often results in cries of frustration as the chosen hero collides, clumsily with his opponent, though not at the player's bidding.

Also, there are occasions where some of the most basic moves seem unresponsive. Generally though, the fighting action is very satisfying - finishing off an opponent with a spectacular special move is excellent!

Whilst Fatal Fury lacks the scope for fancy combinations, as with better fighting games of this type, it is still absolutely the best one-on-one combat game for the Megadrive to date and certainly the most lavishly presented.

While I still advise waiting patiently for Street Fighter II, the quality of this conversion is very much in its favour and it stands alone as being a very impressive beat-'em-up in its own right.

We've all become Street Fighter II veterans, what with having the coin-op in the office, and we're always on the look out for a game of similar quality for the Megadrive.

Although not quite a classic, Fatal Fury shows that the Megadrive can produce the goods. The graphics and movement are dead smart; fast, fluid and very effective. The gameplay and range of opponents is similarly good - were it not for the appearance of Cyborg Justice, this would definitely be the best beat-'em-up we've seen this year (we saw Streets Of Rage II in 1992!). However, as I've stated before, the game does have its limitations.

Pulling off the special moves is a lot more difficult than Street Fighter II - especially as most of the moves end in a diagonal. You really need a decent joystick (rather than pad) to get the most out of it.

Even then, jumping in and out of the screen is a very hazardous affair - you always seems to get hit! However, I would say that Fatal Fury is damn good fun, and beat-'em-up fans are advised to check this out.

Presentation 92%
P. Throughout the game, the presentation is both striking and comprehensive. The storyline keeps the action running along smoothly and the options screen has much to play around with.

Graphics 93%
P. Bold sprites and good animation on the whole - some of the special moves look great!
N. The animation in the backdrops is limited - almost comical.

Sound 88%
P. The soundtracks reflect the on-screen action well. Suitable, sampled sounds.
N. Most of the sampled speech is rough around the edges and a little indistinguishable.

Playability 84%
P. An arcade-quality conversion and so, naturally, it's very exciting.
N. Problems with the control pads, in that the special moves are made difficult. Little scope for combination moves.

Lastability 86%
P. The fact that the game is at its best when played with two players earns it a long life expectancy.

Overall 84%
A good conversion that fairs well despite relying on three buttons. The controls seem unresponsive on occasions, but the game is highly playable and worth considering. Even with the imminent Street Fighter II release.