Street Fighter Zzap Review

• GO!, £9.99 cassette, £14.99 disk, joystick only

Illegal street fights have become an international 'sport', and fighters from across the world are more than ready to take on any challenger. Ryu, a pugilist of Oriental origin, has set himself the task of taking on the best fighters from five countries to become the world champion street fighter.

Each contest is set against a horizontally scrolling background which contains the typically cosmopolitan landmarks that determine the opposing psychopath's country of origin. Both Ryu's own and his opponent's energy levels are displayed as horizontal bars, which are reduced in stature with every blow received.

A pair of Martial Artist sprites fight over who is the chunkiest.

Being well versed in the art of beating people to a pulp, Ryu has an array of offensive punches and kicks at his disposal as well as dodging manoeuvres, all of which are accessed using joystick or joystick and fire button combinations. Each bout is timed and the loser is the first to have all the stuffing (or the energy) knocked out of him. If neither fighter is horizontal at the end of the time limit, the one with more energy is judged the winner. Even if Ryu loses one bout, he still has the chance of victory, as the winner of the match has to be victorious in two rounds.

At the end of each level, the player gets a chance to earn extra points in a bonus level, which requires Ryu to smash through a pile of bricks. An energy bar oscillates rapidly between a maximum and minimum power level, and a press of the fire will smash a certain number of bricks depending on where the bar was stopped.

Two players can compete against each other in a preliminary battle, one taking the role of Ryu and the other becoming a martial artist going by the unlikely name of Ken. The winner of this bout is the one who then goes on to the street warriors, as in the single player option.

Scans