Of course, beauty is only skin deep, as one wise individual once said (to which some wag, no doubt, replied: "Yeah. But so's penetration! Ha!"). Soul Calibur, being the paragon of gaming virtue that it is, complements its exemplary aesthetics with boundless depth and, damn it, sheer fun, within any bout you care to mention. For a start, it's arguably the first fighting game to properly embrace analogue control and make it work. You can still use the D-pad if you wish, but your individual scrapping technique can be enhanced by opting for the more flexible medium above. Rather than the simple 'dodge' buttons of VF3 and Tekken 3, it employs 'proper' eight-way movement. You press a direction and, dutifully, your on-screen charge moves in an accordant fashion. It's a superbly intuitive system.

It's hard to understate just how this simple addition revolutionises Soul Calibur's combat. Empowered by the ability to move with freedom, you circle and back away from your rival with ease. The onus remains to step forth and pummel him or her towards a sans-energy oblivion, but you do so at your own discretion. If you'd rather manoeuvre said foe into a position where a fatal ring-out becomes a tactical option, doing so can be achieved with instinctive ease. Unless, of course, your rival is wise to your sneaky ways...

Soul Calibur is a 'weapon-based fighting game', as they're known. Technically the sequel to Soul Blade, a PlayStation and coin-op favourite, its various swords, axes and knives are more than mere physical extensions of each lavishly-skinned fighter. The manner in which each offensive armament reacts in contact with another lends itself to fascinating bouts. How does a diminutive female with a short sword attempt to best a giant with an axe? Why, it's simple. She utilises her innate agility and pace to make darting attacks, retreating with a speed comparable to the deft slice or stab that preceded it. With practice, it's possible to learn how to parry, rather than block, almost any attack you may encounter. This, in turn, adds another dimension to each fight. Good beat 'em ups, at their core, are quintessentially reiterations of the old paper-scissors-stone game. The fun, however, is in learning that there are far more than three ways to attack or counter.