The beat-'em-up is one of the oldest video game genres there is. We can deduce two things from this; firstly, gamers like beat-'em-ups. Secondly, because it's been around so long, the humble beat-'em-up has had more time than most to evolve. It's been refined and honed into the kind of slick, lightning-fast playable scrappers typified by the Dreamcast's Soul Calibur and Xbox favourite Dead Or Alive 3.

The X-Men are great characters to put in a beat-'em-up, as well. They're distinctive, and have loads of outlandish special moves that perfectly suit the bombastic nature of a damn good bundle. Which is probably why Capcom put a load of them in the Marvel vs. Capcom series to great effect.

In X-Men: Next Dimension, though, the heroic mutants get the whole game to themselves. And unlike in the Capcom title, they're fleshed out into 3D. With 25 characters from the comic series, there are a lot of interesting moves for fans to find, too. Famous sorts like Wolverine and Gambit mix it up with less well-known characters like Toad and Nightcrawler. Fans of the comics will be interested to see how their favourite mutants shape up in the game, and the fact that there are quite a few is a definite plus point. Their moves are well-chosen and reflect the characters well.

The combat itself takes its inspiration from many different beat-'em-ups. Some arenas are reminiscent of Soul Calibur, with limited room encouraging thoughtful use of space. Others allow the player to knock their opponent out of the arena, with the action continuing after an ungainly fall to a lower part of the level, as in Dead Or Alive 3.

This being the X-Men, though, you also get a few pyrotechnics - projectile attacks are common, exaggerated effects abound, and large hit counts are totted up and congratulated, as in the Marvel Vs. Capcom series. The ideas are all solid, tried and tested in some of the greatest beat-'em-ups ever made.

Good ideas need to be executed very well to reach their full potential, however, and that's sadly not the case with X-Men: Next Dimension. In fact, the fighting system's actually a bit sloppy in some ways. The characters feel slow and unresponsive to your controller input, effectively ruining the game from the off; the amount of time it takes for them to respond to your instructions is simply too long, making it feel like you're playing through an interpreter at times. There's none of the glorious fluidity that you get in Dead Or Alive 3, none of the swift grace that beat-'em-up fans expect, just awkward, clunky movement.

Similarly damaging to the game's prospects is the complete lack of feeling of contact when you land a blow upon your opponent. What's the point of controlling the super-powerful Juggernaut, or the blade-wielding Wolverine, if whatever moves you perform don't convince you that you're inflicting any damage whatsoever?

Not only does it not feel like you're hitting anyone, but the action's pretty glitchy on occasion, too. At one point, my character was behind his opponent, who was facing away from me - yet his forward-facing attacks still registered on me. That's a bit poor, isn't it?

As if a dodgy fighting engine wasn't bad enough, X-Men: Next Dimension features some poor graphics. In places, they're little better than something you'd expect to see on a PSone game circa 1997 - only a slightly higher resolution might convince you this isn't a re-issue from Sony's first console. Scant detail, bland textures and clunky animation all conspire to make this look a bit poor when placed next to other Xbox games. Some arenas are much better than others, but like it or not, this is going up against Dead Or Alive 3 - and despite the nice moments, it looks and feels ancient next to Tecmo's stunner.

One other annoyance is the fact that you can only walk about the arenas Soul Calibur-style by using the analogue stick, but then you can't jump. If you use the D-pad, you can jump, but not walk around properly - only sidestep. So you can't even use all the moves from the D-pad or thumbstick, you need to switch between the two.

X-Men: Next Dimension isn't the worst beat-'em-up we've ever played, and there are some nice X-Men moments for fans, but the fighting action just isn't as slick or satisfyingly intricate as much of the competition.

1. Lots of characters
2. Some interesting moves

1. Looks very poor at times
2. Fighting engine lacks polish
3. Feels very bland

Power
The Xbox is underused, with a lack of detail and several ropey effects on show.

Style
The style of the comics has been lost in translation to insipid, bland 3D.

Immersion
You'll have a play with each character, to see what they're capable of...

Lifespan
...but it's not as addictive or subtle as many other beat-;em-ups. You need to be a real X-Men fan.

Summary
Some awkward controls, a sluggish pace and uninspiring visuals make this an average beat-'em-up.