Def Jam Fight for New York is the sequel to EA's surprise ‘other platform' hit of last year, Def Jam Vendetta. I say surprise because at first glance it seems like a bizarre cocktail to say the least. Start with a wrestling game engine, mix in a generous amount of Hip-Hop artists and a dash B-Grade celebrity likenesses, add weapons, layer stylish finishing moves with some unique locations and finally, add Hip-hop music and Bling-Bling to taste. Shake and pour. It may not sound like a winning mix, but Def Jam Fight for New York (DJFNY from now on) goes down a treat and doesn't leave you with bad breath or a headache in the morning.

At its core, DJFNY is a fighting game grounded in reality more so than your average button smasher. That said it does have incredibly over the top moves that defy gravity and a host of ridiculous names that could only be found in a fighting game such as Xzibit, Flava Flav and Lil' Flip...I mean, who comes up with this stuff? Feeble attempts at ironic humour aside, by ‘realistic' I mean that no one shoots fireballs out of their hands or strings their opponents up by their entrails.

One important point of note is that the player isn't required to memorise endless 25-button combos in order to fight. Control is simply Y Button (Punch), X Button (Kick), A Button (Grab), and B Button (Run/Climb) with a strength modifier activated by pulling the Left Trigger and blocking with the Right Trigger. Add to that mix, counters and throws that are dependent on your timing and Left Thumbstick or D-Pad manipulation and you get a deep, yet very logical and easy to pick up control system.

The graphics in DJFNY are sensational, especially in fights held at night or in dimly lit arenas. The games' engine utilises a white light source to add highlights to the highly detailed game models that gives the whole scene a somewhat sketched or painted look in stills and a purely beautiful appearance when in motion. Character animations are equally well done and posses a real sense of weight that brings conviction to the bone-crunching blows, throws and grapples. In particular the Blazing moves are extremely violent, brutal and compelling to watch.

Blazing moves are special unblockable attacks that are available in fights when your momentum level reaches its peak. Momentum is increased with each blow or combo landed and rises faster in relation to how pimp-like your character looks in their choice of clothes, hairdo and most importantly jewellery. There are an amazing 82 Blazing moves to learn (bought with training points acquired after each fight) with an up, down, left or right movement of the Right Thumbstick able to be assigned to any one of four moves. That's right, performing a Blazing move is as simple as waiting for the momentum bar to fill, grabbing your opponent and pressing the Thumbstick in the desired direction.

By far the best feature of DJFNY is the Story Mode. In this mode you are given the opportunity to create a fighter from scratch and take them through a series of various fights linked together by story elements such as short cut scenes or phone and e-mail messages. It's a great opportunity to learn the intricacies of the game and experience all of the game modes on offer.

The actual story of the game is surprisingly good but still light on (it is a fighting game after all) and contains some great additions. My personal favourite moment was when Carmen Electra tries to pick you up at a Bar and ends up in a catfight with your current squeeze. If you choose the Baywatch star you will control her in the fight. If you remain faithful to your current girlfriend, then you will lay the smackdown on Carmens' fine arse! Just like every other Saturday night down at the local for me really. This is about the only control you have over the story however, and the underpinning theme of two warring gangs is diluted by your inability to guide your progress through the story. If you don't win every fight that's offered to you, you don't progress. It would have been a much deeper gaming experience if you could pick and choose your fights based on your opponents' allegiances and try and turn fighters from the rival gang over to your side. This happens, but you have no control over it.

It is no small effort however as the story mode will last for 10+ hours for your first run through. This time will vary drastically depending on how much time you spend pimping out your character. But before you make comparisons between DJFNY and Leisure Suit Larry, let me explain what I mean by ‘pimping out'.

Once you have created your base fighter in a cool identikit sequence at the beginning of the Story mode, DJFNY has an incredible array of character customisation. You can visit a clothing store and buy a huge assortment of clothes and accessories and wear most of these in multiple ways and styles. You can visit a jeweller and kit your fighter out in the most gaudy and expensive Bling-Bling imaginable in an attempt to impress spectators at your fights. You can visit a tattoo parlour and get numerous styles of ink work carved into every inch of your body. You can visit a barber and get your hair formed into all kinds of ludicrous styles and compliment it with an equally impressive array of facial hair creations. And finally you can visit the local gym and be trained by none other than Henry Rollins in the finer arts of arse-kicking. This is the place that you choose and develop your fighters' abilities and shape them into your desired combination of Street Fighter, Kick Boxer, Martial Artist, Wrestler or Submissions Specialist.

Not only can you use and develop your fighter into your ideal avatar, but you can use them in the games other modes of play which is a real bonus. My personalised fighter ended up as a 6'5” black street/wrestler/submission specialist with a huge afro, matching chops and red headband, bright red vintage Kung-Fu threads, 70's style gold-framed rose-tinted Aviator sunnies and enough diamond Bling-Bling to purchase a small African nation! As you can tell from my results, the customising options are quite varied and fun to experiment with. This alone provides plenty of incentive to complete the story mode more than once.

Other game modes on offer consist of one-on-one, free-for-all (all-on-all matches with 3 or 4 human or AI controlled players at once), 2-on-2 team matches, ring-out, cage and the more unusual, demolition, subway, window and Inferno matches! Each of these later modes introduces unique gameplay devices such as subway trains or windows to throw your opponent in front of or through. In DJFNY you are not spoiled for choice when it comes to fighters either, as in addition to any characters you create there are a total of 74 fighters to unlock.

This brings me to DJFNY's only real significant flaw. There is no support for Xbox Live or System Link play. This is a real shame as it would have been a blast to take your created fighter on-line to pit them against the creations of other gamers. Well we can only hope with EA's new embrace of Xbox Live that this feature will be available in future games in the franchise. The camera used in DJFNY is not perfect but it does a pretty good job of staying on target. Occasionally translucent spectators or pillars that aren't as transparent as they should be will obscure your view of the action and the frame rate may also jitter somewhat in certain arenas. Also in Free-For-All matches the camera will periodically zoom out to maintain a view of all fighters on the screen. This is essential when playing with other human opponents but can make the characters and movements quite hard to see at times. All of these graphical flaws are minor however and do very little to distract from the overall level of enjoyment of the game.

Finally I can not finish this review without mentioning the games musical score. Those of you who have been asking yourself the whole time while reading ‘What the hell is a Def Jam?' listen up and prepare to be educated. The ‘Def Jam' in the title refers to Def Jam Recordings, as it is the record company responsible for unleashing most of the Hip-Hop artists who appear both in likeness and in tune within the game. It is no surprise then that a plethora of licensed music is provided in DJFNY and by design, suits the game perfectly. Unfortunately, if the provided soundtrack lacks any of your favourite tunes you are stuck as there is no custom soundtrack option to add your own. It may be a bizarre concept with bizarre characters, but it is certainly in tune with the youth of today and overall a very good game.