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Whack! Two Megadrive beat-'em-ups thumped their way into the office just in time for this issue, so we thought we'd put them head-to-head in another CVG slap-up special. Watch out comes out on top? Read on and find out!

Take two fighting masters, put them into an arena and let them scrap it out! There can be only one winner, with no points at all for second place. Nothing matters except victory - and at any cost. That's Fighting Masters for you, the game which pits you against a wide variety of opponents in all sorts of mystical places.

Discover your secret moves, plan your tactics and let rip as your opponent attempts to do exactly the same. In this sport only the toughest survive, so have you got what it takes to be top of the pile?

Fighting Masters couldn't be simpler: choose your fighter and slug it out with either a computer-controlled opponent or a chum for two-player laughs. There are a few rules and the match is over when one of you is chewing the dirt. Simple and fun!

It has to be said: Fighting Masters is the closest yet to the thrills 'n spills of Street Fighting on the Megadrive. The influence is obvious, but the game is much simpler than the arcade classic. Fine try, though!

Fighting Masters features no less than twelve individual scrapping champs, each with their own special characteristics. Here they are:

Larry: A human from Earth, our Larry's a real muscle man with plenty of stamina and speed. Great at fisticuffs, but lacking way-out skills.

Elepha: Champion of the planet Mega. Elepha's a big old boy who knows how to use his weight to full effect. Tends to be a bit slow a times though.

Flamer: Hot from planet Odd, this guy can breathe fire and pack a pretty powerful punch as well. Good at attack but pretty poor on defensive moves.

Morin: Hailing from the planet Iona, she may be a girlie but Morin sure knows how to pack a punch with the pair of fighting sticks she carries. Swift and agile, but not too strong.

Beowolf: Straight from the planet Orion, Beowolf has the deadliest fingers in the business - they're made of steel blades! As a special move he can turn himself into a spinning blade, but is surprisingly easy to dust.

Goldrock: Top of the pile on planet Raitan, Goldrock's one tough hombre made out of stone! He's fairly slow, though, and doesn't have too many moves at his disposal.

Tomahawk: Head hombre on planet Birdy. Tomahawk's a top-flight scrapper who's king in the air but not so hot on the ground. Watch out for his swooping attack of doom!

Medusa: Hero of the planet Golgon, Medusa may be fat but he's fit as well. Lumbering around the screen, he can suddenly change into a spinning wheel of death from which there is no escape!

Dio: Fresh from the planet Tree, Dio's the sensation of the sport. He may be a poxy little plan, but he's brill! With his snapping jaws he can actually eat his opponents for lunch, and we think he's fab!

Eyesight: Top man on planet Cyprus, Eyesight's boxing skills know no bounds. Great with his fists, he's not much good anywhere else.

Drason: Hotshot of the planet Rulgus, Drason the dragon is another with an uncanny talent for blowing fire out of his gob! Make sure to time your attacks or he'll burn your botty...

Zrygunte: Screaming in from the planet Sushi, where he's king lobster, Zrygunte knows how to grab his foe in a pincer grip of doom! Trouble is, if he misses he's wide open to attack! On dear...

An unusual twist, I suppose - monsters in a wrestling ring. Perhaps a clever way to jump on the whole wrestling games bandwagon. It's just a pity that Fighting Warriors is a pile of old crap.

Nothing about it is remotely exciting. The graphics, although looking quite nice in static screenshots, animate pathetically and the shadows beneath them are a complete joke: they flicker and they're all exactly the same size and shape!

Sound is pretty atrocious, especially the in-game tunes which are completely ill-fitting. Gameplay is dull, simplistic and annoying in equal parts. Half the time the monsters don't seem to respond to the controls and I simply couldn't be bothered to sit around and find out what the other half was life.

Actually, Beast Warriors has made me feel quite ill, so I don't want to write any more about it.

Hurrah! Here's a pretty nifty one-on-one scrapping game on the Megadrive, and it works really well! Obviously influenced by Street Fighter, this is basically a stripped down version of everybody's fave arcade thumper - and I have to say it works very well.

Graphics are fine, sound's a tad whiffy, but gameplay has been well designed for maximum laughs. On one player mode the game can become a tad samey, but find a chum to fight with and this cart really takes off! Everyone will find their own favourite character (mine's Dio!) and perfect their skills to take on all comers. When people start yelling while they play you know the game's a good 'un - and if one player mode was more fun, this game would definitely score a C&VG Hit!

As it is, it's the tops in two-player mode and guaranteed laughs for fist fighting pals everywhere!