In fact it's all a bit too easy, really. Even the bosses aren't that hard. In theory you can pick up 'Chi' points to help you deal with opponents, and there are a variety of special 'king-fu' moves which you can use, but all these seem a bit pointless when you realise that merely hitting the X-button repeatedly is more than enough to see off your foes, and even the X-button is made redundant when you discover that half the time you can just walk round them. Top quality beat 'em up play it's not.

In theory T'ai Fu is a 3D game, but it doesn't provide a genuinely virtual world to explore. In fact, you're almost rail-roaded through the experience: the only paths you can take are the ones laid down by lines of power-ups. Were this otherwise then we might at least have had a more atmospheric creature on our hands, because the graphics are distinctive and lush, if not cutting-edge.

As we've already said, there are a few bugs to watch out for. If you do dare go down into T'ai Fu's woods today, don't stray from the path or you'll be in for a nasty surprise. No we're not talking wild animals here - we're talking Steve Austin running in slow motion on the spot. To make this irritating fault still more annoying is the weird moving camera angle which makes it difficult to keep to the right bloody path anyway. Doh!

Still, it's all right: T'ai Fu's only for kids, isn't it? Well, no. You simply won't be able to fob them off with this: it's distinctly dull, the fighting is crap, and just you try giving your nephew a game... in 20 minutes he'll be asking you to go out and play football instead.