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This is the story of three men, one woman, a ruthless gang, and a city where the streets are paved with blood and people will chop you into little pieces and flush you down the toilet as soon as look at you. This is not the sort of place to accidentally spill someone's pint or wee over their shoes.

The good people of Metro City (and there are a few) are looking to the new mayor to sort it all out, and make the place as lovely to live in as Milton Keynes (sic). Fortunately, the mayor is called Haggar, he used to be a street fighter, and he attends council meetings bare-breasted, all rippling muscle and sinew, with a freshly-killed sheep under each arm (Are you sure about that bit? - Ed). This is surely the main to sort that gang out, once and for all.

And then there's poor Jessica. Poor, innocent Jessica, with a bow in her hair and a collection of Chesney Hawkes seven-inches. She's been kidnapped by that self-same gang, the poor thing. But maybe those rotters have bitten off more than they can comfortably masticate this time...

These hard and flavoursome young men (well, two hard and flavoursome young men and one old codger with a chain of office round his neck!) are donning Reeboks and Joe Bloggs T-shirts, ready to do battle with that vicious mob and rescue young Jess.

You select which of these three dudes to play the part of. Each has their own special moves. Haggar is well hard, but the other two are a bit wimpy (particularly Guy). This gives the game extra appeal, because when you've finished it as Haggar, you can then try again as one of his wimpier compadres.

The gang you're up against is called the Mad Gears, for some reason best known to themselves, and consists of virtually every weirdo you've ever tried to avoid at parties. Your energy appears at the top of the screen, theirs appear at the bottom. You often get two or more of the swine ganging up on you at once. Some of them can be bumped off with a single piledriver or throw. Others are a lot more stubborn.

There are four levels, each consisting of three stages, and two bonus sections (after Levels Two and Three). Some of the hardest challenges on the cards include: Dammo, the Level One guardian, who looks like the singer out of Motley Crue after some strange medication. Edi E, the bent copper at the end of Level Three, who shoots at you (the get): the double-tag wresting team of Andre and Andore, a well nasty couple...

Dustbins and crates litter the place. Kick them to reveal energy-replacing food and weapons (pipe, knife, etc) which are pretty useless until you get the hang of using them. The whole thing is set in alleyways, bars, subway trains - all over the place really. Your objective is to rescue Jessica and dispatch the gang leader.

The graphics are something special - massive sprites and smooth scrolling that are definitely something to write home about (at length!). Games like this aren't everybody's cup of cocoa, but if you like mindless beat-'em-ups, you'll fall head over heels in love with this and want to have its babies.

Pacifists, old bores and ballet dancers beware: Final Fight is quite simply the best Amstrad beat-'em-up ever. "Oh yeah, come here and say that!" "Right!" Biff. Pow. Bang. Wallop. Crash. Etc.

Just look at at the size of those sprites! A commendable technical achievement and a very good game too. Arcade licences aren't easy to convert to an 8-bit, but US Gold has done a great job there.

Graphics 94%
Truly ginormous sprites and hilarious animation. Brilliant!

Sonics 52%
Pssssch. Psssssch. Pupp. Popp. Pssssch. Pssssssch.

Grab Factor 92%
It looks and plays brilliantly. Gets you hooked straight away.

Staying Power 95%
Once you've won as Haggar, try again as Guy or Cody.

Overall 93%
The king of the beat-'em-ups. And if anyone wants to argue, I'll see 'em in the car park afterwards.