Jumping on the anime-to-games bandwagon, Cartoon Network's latest hit Yu Yu Hakusho gets the video game treatment. Sure, there was a GBA title released earlier, but this is the first console title to brand the name. Those expecting more than your typical TV show-to-game treatment will be disappointed. The visuals are fair, audio is decent, but the game play is sluggish. For fighting fans, this is a definite pass, but for fans of the series, you may just pick it up if only to play as your favorite character from the series.

Using a cel shaded treatment, Yu Yu Hakusho delivers a look that closely resembles the anime. The characters move fluidly, sporting some well-done animations. Most of the fighting moves are ho-hum, but it is the special attacks that add the extra punch to an otherwise bland fighting engine. Backdrops in the game are the game's biggest disappointment, as most of the time you fight to a wall of color Vs. a unique and eye pleasing background. When you encounter levels with depth, you can actually destroy items in the room, which is pretty cool. Unfortunately, there are only eight arenas to battle in, so you will become too familiar with the rooms after a few rounds. It seems the developers tried to capture some of the flare that the DBZ franchise has on the PS2; unfortunately, it ends up looking like a poor man's DBZ than an original creation.

Audio ranges from fair to down right annoying, especially when the voices are concerned. The music is your basic J-Pop soundtrack that fits the fighting genre just fine. The punch, kick, and special effects do an adequate job, just do not expect anything too mind blowing. What hurt the game to the point of almost turning the sound down are the voices. Every punch, kick, special move seems to require a notion of noise. You will hear grunts, groans, screams, and yells on almost every button press. This, friends, takes a clear mind not to want to throw your controller through the TV. Overall, the game would have been better off with no voices at all, but even without, like the visuals, the game's audio is bland.

Fighting games generally require a great assortment of moves and variety in order to succeed. It is the large array of combos and attacks that make for some fantastic one on one battles and unparalleled depth. Yu Yu Hakusho delivers nothing that resembles the above mentioned, which leaves you with an uninspired button masher. To make things worse, the controls are sluggish and respond with a slight delay that make you think two steps ahead of your on screen action just to pull of cool moves. Lastly, all this is simply unforgivable as there is not much to the game, as you do not need to worry about high and low punches or kicks, as the game decides this for itself. The end result is a slow, sluggish, boring fighting game that may appeal to novices and children.

With only eight stages, poor controls, and moderate visuals, its solid line up of 25 characters cannot save this game's fate of falling below mediocrity. If you are a fan of the show, you may get more out of this game than I did. Not being a fan, I had to judge this purely as a fighting game, which doesn't even measure up to some of the PS one's fighters. This game is for Yu Yu Hakusho collectors only.