Ultimate Fighting Championship

The words 'Ultimate Fighting' should, in the minds of most right-thinking people, mean boxers like Mohammed Ali, George Foreman, Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis: all undisputed champions of the noble art of boxing in their time. For fans of kick-arse pyjama-wearers, there's always the mighty Bruce Lee. So, a game based on the worryingly rule-free 'I'll-take-you-all-on'-fest that is the Ultimate Fighting Championship? "Yes please!" we all cry! Sounds like it could be the perfect beat-'em-up, doesn't it? Well, it isn't. Not even close.

Right That's It... Outside Now!

Ultimate Fighting Championship is, in fact, an irredeemable, cartridge-shaped piece of sewage. Why? Well, UFC is cack because the first time I played it, I managed to complete the 'Championship' mode in 24 minutes on Normal difficulty. Twenty-four! If you started this game from scratch the moment Phil and Peggy had their first argument in an episode of Eastenders, you would be finished just as the closing theme music started. Really.

Somewhat shocked at the game's lack of challenge, I put the game on Hard, just to test it, and it must have been harder because I lost. I can't really recall what made the game more difficult, as I had been repeatedly bashing the A button for so long, I had long since collapsed with exhaustion. Therein lies the most annoying part of the game: to become World Champion of a sport you may well know very little about, you simply have to use one move over and over again until your 'feared' adversaries head for the hospital. Pathetic. Please don't go anywhere near this stinking puddle of goat's wee disguised as a game. A quicker, more entertaining alternative to buying this game would be to pay somebody £25 to repeatedly stab you in the hand with a pair of garden shears, understand? Good. Now, we're all off to have some much-needed counselling...

What's the deal?

Who better than a real-life ultimate fighter to tell us just how realistic Crave's Ultimate Fighting Championship on the Dreamcast can be? "See, they have blood on the mat over there, and the art in the center of the ring is dead-on," bona-fide UFC competitor Matt Hughes told us during a recent demo session of the game at our office. "They have the strikes, submissions on the ground, takedowns--this is the closest thing I can think of. There's no way to make it more realistic."

So why is it a must-get game?

With its roster of real fighters--including, of course, Hughes--and thousands of moves, UFC does have that whole "realism" thing going for it. That means it's not as mindless as a wrestling title and not as hardcore as a Capcom fighter. This hybrid is a different kind of fighting game. Better still, it's fun.

Crave recently stopped by to show us an extremely early revision of UFC for the PS. Although it doesn't look nearly as impressive as the DC version (not surprising since the DC and PS versions are being developed by two different programming groups), it's pretty good for a PS game, and features all the UFC fighters, a ridiculous number of moves and fighting techniques to learn, and plenty of modes (although many weren't active in this build). Career mode will unlock even more fighters, many that aren't in the Dreamcast version. It's set for release in December.

Already a hit on the Dreamcast, Crave is bringing the octagon to the PlayStation this October. UFC for the PS will be the same no-holds-barred multi-styled brawling you've seen on both your television and that "other" console. Kick-boxing meets greco-Roman as fists fly and submission moves are applied. The create-a-player even has some lucky Canadian in the mix. Let's get it on!