XBox (also on PS2); Capcom; £39.99

www.capcom.com

By Richard Bell

GOOD news Street Fighter fans — the legendary arcade brawler that helped define the genre is celebrating its 15th anniversary.

Why is this good news, you ask? Well, to mark the milestone, those nice people at Capcom have put together a bumper disc that takes in Hyper Street Fighter II and Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike.

Hyper Street Fighter II is itself a compilation, but with a novel twist. Rather than simply including conversions of the five entries in the series — Street Fighter II; Champion Edition; Hyper Fighting, Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers; and Turbo — the game lets you mix and match characters from the different versions for a plethora of different match-ups and maximum replayability.

For example, why not pit Ryu from the original Street Fighter II and famed for his rapid light kick, against a second Ryu from Street Fighter II Turbo to see if he can pull out some of his trademark Super Combo counters?

The title comprises three modes of play — Arcade, Versus and Training — and also a gallery option featuring the various introductions, music soundtracks, images and character background information from all conversions of the series.

Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike offers a total of 19 characters, each with their own special abilities. Among them there’s Makoto, a karate expert from Japan, Twelve, a humanoid weapon developed to follow orders and destroy upon command, and Remy, a Frenchman, who is seeking to ease his grief through revenge.

As well as offering the same modes of combat as Street Fighter II, 3rd Strike has a Grade Judge System that assesses your performance at the end of each match and a Progressive Hit Frame System that enables more realistic ‘collision box’ detection.

Despite the leaps in computing power and graphical performance over the years, the Street Fighter series has always stayed true to its original form and shunned fancy 3D models and, instead, focussed on pure playability.

This is particularly evident in 3rd Strike and is complemented by some fine animation and detail-soaked characters that makes it look and play like an arcade machine.

VERDICT: Hyper Street Fighter II will get your adrenaline pumping, while Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike will knock you out.

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£499; www.tomtom.com

By Derek Uchman

REGULAR readers may remember our review of the Navman iCN650 in November, an excellent satellite navigation system for the car. However, we did have a few qualms, primarily the price: £800 seemed just too steep.

Well, for £300 less (or even more, if you shop around) you can get the Tom Tom GO, which is as good as the iCN650, and in one department at least, is actually superior.

Unlike the iCN650, the Tom Tom GO contains a battery pack, which means you don’t have to keep it plugged into the cigarette lighter when in use.

Not only does it make the dashboard tidier, but it also gives you much more flexibility over where you locate it. It can be stuck to a side window, for instance, where it won’t obstruct your view.

Handier still, though, the battery will allow you to program the device at home before you set off on a journey. It saves setting it up while sitting in the car.

Like many of the more upmarket in-car satellite navigation systems, the Tom Tom GO has a bird’s eye view of your route, and, of course, instructions are also spoken so you can keep your eyes on the road.

The touch screen is a joy to use — just tap it, and an icon-driven menu appears.

Tap the “Navigate To” icon and you are given a choice of plotting a route home, to a favourite address, a completely new location, point of interest, or, handily, a recent destination. Select one, let the Tom Tom GO do all the calculations, and you’re ready to go.

The maps aren’t always as up-to-date as we would like. For instance, it didn’t know Dundee’s Gellatly Street was partly one-way, and has been for a good while.

However, this is a bit of a quibble really, and should you find yourself in a situation where you can’t follow the instructions — don’t panic.

Just keep driving, and the Tom Tom GO will recalculate a new route from where you are. You’ll get there eventually!

VERDICT: Don’t let the bargain price, stylish looks and easy set-up fool you. This is a seriously capable and well-designed satellite navigation system.

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