I know Kung-Fu

I like beat-em-ups. while they've somewhat fallen from favour these days nothing gives entertaining 2 player action like an old beat-em-up. What I want out of a beat em up is simple

1. Story. I want a premise for my fighting, a Tournament is fine but I'll want that expanded on. Each character must have more than just looks, I expect a character bio, personality traits and rivalries with other characters. I also want an ending, preferably an animated conclusion but text and pictures is fine. I remember the disappointment of Street Fighter Ex plus Alpha, where the endings were animated, but didn't seem to relate to any plot going on. It was annoying (Possibly the actual details were just left out on the translation)

2. Kung-Fu. This is the most important, and also in some ways hardest to define. I can't remember which one of my friends coined the phrase. All I know is that it was said during a bout of Street Fighter II, and it was at the point that we were both significantly good enough to really have a good fight.

Kung-Fu, in this context, which is only appropriate to myself and 2-3 other people, refers to the state in a fighting game when the combat flows. That's still quite vague isn't it. Think of it this way, if you remember the original Mortal Kombat, where every character could do the stock roundhouse/sweeps etc. ell an example of Kung fu would be ducking a roundhouse by doing a sweep and tripping your opponent. Its when you exchange blows but each block correctly high or low. In short its where a spectator could watch the screen and see it as a choreographed set piece rather than two people playing a game.

One of the things that left me cold about the more hardcore fighters Tekken and Virtua Fighter was that, while I'm told that when you have 2 people who really know the games it looks great, even after a bit of practice you look like someone hammering buttons. It also requires decent character models and animation (Why despite being cited as my example Mortal Kombat wasn't great for Kung-Fu)

SO, my top 3 list of games which lend themselves easily to Kung-fu.

3 - Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance/Armageddon - Yes, its 2 games, but its important to note that they ditched the odd combo system from Deception in favour of most of DAs fro Armageddon. While a rookie won't Eb pulling off style branch combos any time soon the way the game animates itself and the way the fights flows lends itself very quickly to kung-fu. Particularly on the weapon fighting styles. MK also has full rich stories for its characters and is never afraid of a downer ending.

2 - Soul Caliber 2 - Actually quite well respected in fighting circles what I like is the simple button allocations (Overhead slash, sideways slash, kick/punch and grab) with stick direction, position and frequency of button mash dictating what you see on screen. with the addition of a solid block and better, an easily applied shedding block that allows for a free hit fights look fantastic with very little effort or experience. The characters all have a little history and the overreaching plot fits everything in nicely.

1 - Dead or Alive 2 - Ok, could have been 3 as well. Dead or alive is the button masher's dream. Scorned by hardcore fans for being too simplistic (it unashamedly is) and for being quite obsessed with, ahem, CG women, hell the unlockable costumes is a major part of the game. Besides all this what you have is a game that still lets you feel like you're in control, but where the computer fills in much of the gaps to make for spectacular fights with little or no experience. Its like the computer wants the thing to look good. If you can master some counters this is amplified considerably. The characters once again have a back story and the single player is more of a story mode and will usually have several cutscene supported battles.

I do sometimes wonder when games are reviewed as too flashy or easy. Because to me the Kung-Fu factor is primary, if the characters look like they're randomly stumbling as opposed to performing ballet like martial arts I just enjoy it less. And surely fun is the most important part of gaming.