Xena: Warrior Princess: The Talisman of Fate

Xena is an incredibly strong and skilful fighting machine – a martial arts and sword-fighting expert, with the ability to jump incredibly high in the air and pull off impossibly dangerous stunts. She is also independent, self reliant, and bewitchingly attractive to men – what more could you ask for in a woman?

Xena: Warrior Princess, the TV series, is already one of the most perfect, fully developed plots for an N64 game. Xena and her sidekick Gabrielle are on a quest to save their fantastical world from the forces of evil as an act of repentance for Xena's past sins as a warmonger. As they strive onwards, they come upon many an obstacle in the form of old enemies, baying for the blood of this female warrior who wronged them in her previous incarnation. Surrounded by animosity which takes the form of magical and mystical power, and powerful, accurate weaponry, Xena is attacked from all angles and her agility, quick wits and brilliant powers are called upon to pull rabbits out of hats to get her out of whatever sticky situation she finds herself in next.

Two Girl Action

Looking back into the annals of N64 history, there haven't been many good beat-'em-ups. We've struggled on with Mortal Kombat 4 as just about the only worth its salt. But not any more! Xena is a fantastically playable and versatile one to four-player game with not only accessibility as a pick-up-and-play title, but a great enough diversity in moves and abilities to keep you coming back for another battering again and again.

The range of abilities with which each character is blessed twist between practical, realistic weaponry, including staffs, crossbows and Xena's vicious bladed chakram, and more otherworldly and godly powers such as the ability to strike others down with lightning, fires summoned up from the belly of the earth and boulders seemingly dropped by the hand of God. Each character has their own particular brand of long, mid and close-range attack, which can be employed to great effect. The computer players are unwilling to play patsy to your moves and offer themselves as very competent and expert fighters, selecting and executing moves with accuracy. The range of moves available makes for challenging gameplay – the more you learn about your character, their style, and the tricks they have up their leather-cuffed sleeves, the more interesting the game becomes, so it's well worth having a few blasts on the practice round before challenging your mates to a four-player.

Up The Wall

Xena gives you an opportunity to utilise the walls, furniture, and trees as an aspect of your battle plan. You can run at and then jump off the walls, meaning you're unlikely to be cornered and beaten to a pulp by your opponent as you can simply jump over their heads and hurl your fury at them from behind. The fighting runs into a slight glitch at this point; it can be very difficult to turn your player around. Attempts at this often end in a simple reverse shuffle, backing into your opponent. There is no re-targeting facility and this can lead to minor difficulties, especially in the four-player game, where attempts to change the focus of your attacks from the person in front to the one behind you cutting the skin off your back with a giant sword are futile unless you jump over them.

There are 11 characters in all and six of them are women, which is a fantastic move in N64 fighters. Not just in a dungaree-wearing, armpit-hair feminist kind of a way either – gaming guys would be the first to admit that they'd prefer to watch Xena, Callisto and Velasca performing their high kicks and graceful lunges than see Ryu sweat it out in his pyjamas! There is also the final character to unlock – the enormous, devilish Despair. Not only is he an extremely powerful fighter, but he is the ultimate villain in the Quest mode.

Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick

The graphics of the game are fast-moving in deep 3-D and the costumes are well recreated. The faces look a bit like immobile 2-D masks tied on with string which, although only a minor feature, is slightly odd – especially if you put on the Big Head cheat! However, this is a minor detail when you can feast your eyes on the lightning strikes, fire funnels and energy blasts of the special moves, which all look quite spectacular. The action moves also look smooth, flawless, and dramatic; Gabrielle levitates and floats beautifully and hurls energy bolts, while Callisto throws her arms out to either side and summons up fire from beneath the feet of her assailants. This is high, mystical drama for a fighting game!

The swordplay makes impressive enough clangings, and the shrieks and roars of attack and defeat are as impressively human or monstrous as befits the character. The voice of the announcer sounds enough like the dulcet Kiwi tones of the lovely Lucy Lawless to have every male in the vicinity rubbing his thighs with glee. Although Xena is a fantastic fighter on the N64, it still doesn't quite measure up to some of those available on other consoles. Having said that, the game is one of, if not the, best on the N64, and is going to set a new precedent in fantastical N64 fighter action.

The history of games based on TV shows isn't particularly illustrious. South Park, by default, is the best of the bunchr but otherwise you're looking at a list that includes such horrors as Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune and Superman. So, it's a pleasant surprise to find that Xena: The Talisman of Fate is actually rather good - and a relief to see the N64's catalogue of worthy beat-'em-ups expanding to a decent size at last.

Aside from a hastily cobbled-together plot, the Talisman of Fate sticks doggedly to its money-spinning license. The characters are all regulars from the show, the arenas feature the surreal mix of Roman and Greek architecture that typifies the series, and the assorted screams and grunts are convincingly authentic - the best scream is Xena's own tongue- wobbling trill as she pummels her enemies in the face with a multi-kick combo. It's a shame the voices aren't those of the actual Xena cast, but then Titus' wallet probably only extends to so much.

The fighting itself is in the style of that old kick-punching chestnut, Mortal Kombat, with a high moves-per-minute count and an emphasis on button- hammering, effects-laden combos. It's very fast - real pain will spread through your fingers as they frantically tap at the pad, but it's the only way to even approach winning a fight. Thankfully, the control layout is intuitive enough to suit the pace - the D-pad or the analogue can be used, and having crouch and jump on Z and R is especially useful, making it easy to switch from normal body blows to leg sweeps and head pummels.

Wide-ranging moves, though, aren't Talisman of Fate's 'thing'. Disregard the 20-or-so standard abilities and you're left with a maximum of ten moves and six combos per character, most of which are indistinguishable from one another. It doesn't greatly affect the fighting - the sheer speed means you'll often have difficulty pulling off even three different moves from your overworked brain - but if you're looking for combo lists that stretch to multiple screens, or moves that vary wildly from sword slashes and leaping kicks, you'll be disappointed.

Still, the small number of moves actually benefits the fighting, making them surprisingly tactical. It's possible to create devastating custom combos by stringing moves together, breaking through your opponent's defences by alternating between head, chest and leg blows, or timing projectile attacks to catch them when they haven't got the time or space to dodge. The large, free-roaming 3D environments are gimmicky (characters automatically face each other, effectively making for 2D fights), but they give more room to manoeuvre, and avoid the claustrophobic feel of traditional, two-dimensional arenas.

If anything threatens to ruin the well-balanced fighting, though, it's the computer opponents. The age-old problem of 'repeated move wins every time' rears it ugly head, and lazy programming means that as soon as you're a certain distance away, the CPU opponents will whip out their projectile attack and repeat it, over and over again. Even worse, pulling out their weapon means they're fatally exposed for a second, so it's easy to sneak up and smack them as they go through their repetitive missile-throwing routine.

Otherwise, the computer opponents are surprisingly tough, deflecting whole barrages of moves time and again. But, like most beat-'em-ups, they cease to matter once you've completed the one-player game - which, in Xena's case, will take all of 15 minutes. Unless you're excited by the prospect of two slightly different lines of text for every character you complete the game with, you only need to play once through to see everything - and unlock Despair, a homed devil who can polish off any other character without raising a finger. There's little incentive to go back.

Which leaves Xena in the hands of its multiplayer, which, thanks to the balanced fighting, finely-tuned controls and smooth graphics, works a treat.

Human opponents are much tougher to beat than their CPU counterparts - mainly because a friend will immediately find ways to dodge your repertoire of computer-thrashing combos - and the limited moves make for fights where real skill is needed to find chinks in your opponent's armour. The wealth of bass-heavy crunching sound effects also helps to make bouts satisfyingly meaty.

Four-player games are a mess, though, making Super Smash Bros the only serious option for quadruple fighting fun. The camera can't keep still, the arenas are really too small for four people to run around in at the same time, and it's annoying to have almost every single move interrupted by someone nearby. This is also where the game cries out for colour-coded contact explosions - you're never sure who's on the receiving end of the punches and kicks, and, subsequently, it's often a surprise to see your character fall to the floor.

Best stick to two-player, then, where Xena offers suitably frantic fistery. It isn't as varied as Mortal Kombat 4, as original or fully-featured as Fighters Destiny, or as downright enjoyable as Super Smash Bros, but it'll give you something to do when a friend comes round for tea. And, after Superman, it proves that Titus' TV tie-ins needn't all be diabolical nonsense.

Fighting Talk

Ares' Circle Of Fire

This special is pitifully straightforward to achieve: just tap the right kick and right punch buttons together and your opponent will be caught in a burnin' ring of fire. And it bums, burns, burns.

Caeasar's Crowd Quake

The most criminally unfair move in the entire history of fighting games. Press right kick and right punch together and any fighters in the vicinity will immediately fall to the floor. Hmph.

Xena's Mad Kicking

A real crowd-pleaser, this. Push away and forward on the stick, then press right kick for a painful (and physically improbable) mid-air leg-stabbing action. Your enemy's face will never be the same.

Despair's Fire Boulder

Just one of this giant demon's 'ass-kicking' specialities. Back, toward and left punch will bring an elephant-sized slab of granite crashing down on your opposite number's bonce. Rockin'.

Despair Part

We're not sure why this big, red demon should be called 'Despair', as his huge sword allows him to come away smiling from almost every fight. A few taps of Left-C gets him swinging his blade, while pretty red trails dance their way under, over and through the victim. Thanks to the sheer power and speed of his weapon, Despair isn't a great choice in multiplayer, unless you're a fan of grossly unfair, one-sided fights.

The Princess Guide

Story

The traditional round of one-player fights, with a penultimate round against your own character, and a final showdown battle with a suitably imposing boss (in this case, the lovely Despair). As you progress, the opponents you meet aren't necessarily any more intelligent, though -they're just more resistant to your attacks. Win the final bout and a cheat code is yours.

Versus

A battle mode for up to four players, where it's everybody for themselves in an arena of your choosing. When you're fighting with more than two players, pressing A will switch your character's attention to another opponent (in the best wrestling tradition), but it's awkward and unwieldy, and, criminally, you won't automatically face a fighter who has just punched you in the back.

Roster

This is similar to the Versus mode, but each player has a 'roster' of up to four characters I which they can call on during the combat There's also the opportunity to incorporate computer-controlled players in your own team, and even form teams with other players. To take away some of the mayhem, coloured arrows point out who's on whose side. Even so, the sheer amount of stuff happening on screen can still make things confusing.

Fighting fans, Titus wants to get medieval on your collective asses with intense four-player combat starring everybody's favorite doughnut bumper from down under, Xena.

Not to be confused with Xena Warrior Princess, EA's 3D adventure for PlayStation, Xena Warrior Princess: The Talisman of Fate is a weapon-based fighter in the tradition of Wu-Tang Shaolin Style, minus the gratuitous blood and guts. In addition to Xena, the game includes such series favorites as loyal gal pal Gabrielle and Autolycus, played by Evil Dead star Bruce Campbell. There's also a Julius Caesar wannabe, a fan-wielding Oriental girl, a Greek goddess or two, and a nasty End Boss aptly named Despair.

Controls are reminiscent of Samurai Shodown, with strong and weak weapon attacks and kicks; however, the game has one important addition: a targeting button, A, that allows you to focus your attacks on the enemy of your choice. While two-player contests are interesting, the action really heats up during multiplayer matches, which can be fought as handicap, team or last-barbarian-standing contests. Thanks to excellent collision detection, a single move such as a leg sweep or roundhouse may take out two or three foes, a feat developers of multiplayer wrestling games have yet to learn.

Although the version we received is only 90 percent complete, the fighting engine is surprisingly polished for a first-generation effort. It includes plenty of "juggling" attacks in addition to more subtle moves which most developers don't get around to adding until the second or third installment of a game, such as ground attacks and wall escapes. There are also plenty of flashy projectile attacks involving pillars of flame, lightning, cyclones and--of course--Xena's trademark Chakran-bladed flying disk.

While the game is obviously aimed at Xena fans, there's plenty for non-fans to like, not the least of which is plenty of leather-clad babes. If you're an N64 gamer jonesing for Wu-Tang or Shao Lin-style multi-player combat, look no further.