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Since the apocalyptic Way Of The Exploding Fist, beat-'em-up games have been released periodically. Street Fighter is yet another to add to the list.

The first backdrop is suitably Japanese, with temples, pagodas, statues and other bits of architecture. All you have to do is to knock your opponent flat or drain his energy until he quits. You can try high kicks to the head, or punches to the body and trips.

In true cartoon-strip style, every time you hit your opponent there is a bang and a small graphic explosion appears.

Of course, your opponent isn't just soaking up the punishment - he's trying to force your teeth down your throat as well. To avoid the blows you can either duck, move back, or execute a flying leap with about six somersaults through the air.

Unless somebody is knocked out, bouts last four minutes: If the opponent is still standing at the end, you lose. Matches are the best of three bouts. You normally win the first, and then lose the next two as the opposition steps up a gear. Losses are accompanied by a variety of cheeky remarks.

If, by some miracle, you win two bouts out of the three, you are congratulated and another fighter's data is loaded in ready for you to try your luck again.

The graphics are very good. Only four colours are used - which look very dim on a green screen monitor - but they are applied well with lots of detail, particularly in the backgrounds.

Animation is excellent - the fighters move very gracefully and have a lot of different poses. The scrolling is jerky, but you don't really notice this in the heat of battle.

Unfortunately there is practically no sound - just a few spot effects, and no tunes.

Superbly unoriginal, if you like this sort of game. Street Fighter is a must. Unlike Way Of The Exploding Fist, there are no complex combinations of keys to learn - you just hack away at your opponent, making sure you duck at the right times.

Pity there's no music, but you can't have everything I suppose, and the gameplay is excellent anyway.

But couldn't the creative juices have been channelled into something more original?