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Oh no! Not another Ninja Gaiden game! To be fair, this one is better than most. Sure, it's the usual old slam-bang, thank-you-ma'am martial arts action that we all know (too well) and love (sometimes), but the presentation and the graphic quality lift it a little out of the ordinary.

The smart though badly translated intro explains the plot. The evil Demon Emperor Gulf has plans to enslave the whole world's population (starting with New York, would you know it). And with this mighty dark army to back him up it looks like he's going to do it too. That is, until Ryu Hayabusa, last of the noble Dragon Clan, appears on the scene to dispense sword-based justice over five scrolly levels.

As well as the ability to run, jump and slash, Ryu can also monkey swing along the underside of ledges, shoot a grappling rope up in the air to climb up to lofty platforms and also unleash a special dragon's fame secret weapon if he's collected the right power-ups (oh, the game's got them as well).

Yes, as I said earlier the game scores zilch for originality, but it look superb (there's some great parallax on level one) and plays even better. Beat-'em-up fans disappointed by the low quality of Double Dragon 2 would do well to look here for their thumpin' thrills instead.