How does it play?
Evil Zone is 3D in the same way that Tekken is. You don't get to roam all around the arena (unlike, for instance, Toshinden), but you can sidestep back and forth. The Manga animation is fast and fluid and perhaps the most significant feature is the ease at which you can pull off special manoeuvres. Whereas some beat 'em ups require up to 10 buttons to be bashed, here, you can press just a couple to fire off a missile or a laser bolt. Other neat moves include atomic explosions, teleporting and one where a character splits into multiple fighters. The type of attack you deploy depends very much on how far away you are from your opponent (at close range, the 'Capture' attack can prove deadly). When you access some moves, the camera perspective sometimes cuts dramatically, and you find yourself looking at a close-up of someone's thigh, with the opponent in the background. Nice.

Options?
Okay. There are 10 fighters and 11 different backdrops and the game has five modes of play. In Story, you choose a fighter and take on the others sequentially, while the others are Arcade, Verses, Survival and Practice. All the usual ones, really.

Can Evil Zone mix it with the best of them?
Tekken and Capcom's Street Fighter games will always find favour, but Evil Zone's Manga animation is distinctive, the spot effects are great and it's got enough chutzpah to win fight fans over.

*Fluid Manga animation
*Loads of easily accessed moves
*Great spot effects
*A bit too easy for some
*A very over-crowded genre