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Well, it all started off as a bit of a joke, really. John Twiddy of the Vivid Image team had programmed Last Ninja 1 and 2 for System 3. So when he and some of his mates started up Vivid Image, the name First Samurai was just a working name to wind up his previous employers. The name stuck and, two years later, the purple-trousered warrior appeared. Then, just when the game was ready for release the publishers sank without trace. Which left Viv with a Corker - and no-one to sell it.

Earlier this year UBI Soft won the rights to distribute First Samurai. And so, at long last, after years of hanging around, this brilliantly playable beat-'em-up-arcade-adventure-style-thingy is in the shops.

The game's set in a future at a time a Daemon King has taken over the role of being the nastiest person in the universe. A young Samurai, who's the sole survivor of one particularly nasty episode sets out on the vengeance trail. That's you that is, and all you have to defend yourself with is a magic sword and a weirdy floaty wizard.

At the start you're completely unarmed, apart from your "certified lethal to bats" chops, sweeps and jumps. Kill enough bats and you'll get a sword. Let the nasty things get you and you'll lose your sword and eventually a life.

It's difficult to describe how fab this game is. Despite being three years old by now it still puts any Street Fighter of this world to shame. It's stunning.

1. More massive than a particularly big, pregnant elephant.
2. Passwords on the disk version.
3. Gorgeous backgrounds and sprites.
4. Smoother-than-smooth scrolling.

1. No in-game music, only spiffy FX.