One way or another, we're all trying to recapture our youth. We haven't hit mid-life crisis and bought a Porsche just yet, but playing videogames for a living? Guilty as charged. Playing the Xbox versions of coin-ops of yesteryear? Yep, that too.

Capcom Fighting Jam brings together five different groups of fighters from five very different Capcom coin-ops. Unlike a cringe-inducing family wedding however, these distant relations provide a much more appealing flock to get scrappy with.

Characters from Street Fighter II, lll, Alpha, Darkstalkers and the weird creatures of Red Earth are on offer. Each group of fighters has their own array of special moves unique to their particular era, though this is a double-edged sword. The original SF II characters go without these generic match-winners, instead relying on their super combo moves, executable once their combo meter is full after landing a string of successful blows, or they themselves receive a battering. These obviously involve complex button sequences, though the devastating results, unique to each character, are well worth learning, although the huge downside is that fighters from the later titles have a discernible advantage over the (seemingly simpler and therefore weaker) SFII characters.

Arcade and Versus mode are where you'll be spending most of your time (well, all of it actually, seeing as these are the disappointingly scant game modes on offer), where players take part in two-vs-two matches against another player or CPU opponents. You select two different fighters, but you don't get to see the opposition beforehand. It pays to pick two contrasting styles to protect against any eventuality, encouraging players to experiment with the whole complement of fighters. But although Capcom has provided a decent array of characters, the inherent imbalance of ability between them means you may well end up furiously learning up a couple of characters from Red Earth, and that's it. The pixellated sprite animations are pleasingly faithful, but look painfully out of place among today's games, as does the often frustratingly slow pace of the game.

Live is included as part of the deal, and further downloadable characters, stages and moves are promised. Which will make the purists squeal, though they may be the only parties really interested in this blast of ose-tnted nostalgia.

1. A great mix of characters from five different erea provide plenty of match-making variations and multiplayer combinations.
2. Combat is pleasingly familiar, and most characters have a couple of special moves instantly accessible to newcomers.

1. There's a tangible difference in strength levels between characters from earlier and later games, especially with stock special abilities.
2. Looks very dated. Granted, the sprites are cool, but pixellated visuals and annoyingly slow gameplay do the Xbox no favours.
3. Live multiplayer is on offer, though only for two players. A four-way tag option would have been nice. Further content on the way though.

An intriguing mix of characters from Capcom's back catalogue, but the 2D fighter has peaked for mainstream appeal.