What immediately strikes you are the stunning graphics. The word 'stunning' in fact sells them short. They are a picture perfect representation of the idealistic view of ancient Japan. Every tree, rock and building is artfully delivered to create a scrolling masterpiece. As your character moves from chapter to chapter you are taken to some of the places made famous in the original story and it seems every detail has been lovingly created within the game. This detail has been delivered at a price, however. Genji's storyline restricts you to predetermined course with little ability to deviate from the path laid out in the game. There are some minor detours for power-ups and health items but very early on you are struck by the game's linear nature.

The opening scene features with an amazing video sequence which lays the foundation for the game. Unfortunately, in later video sequences the quality seems inferior and tends to interrupt the game play rather than compliment it, as does the opening sequence. The central character of the game is Yoshitsune, whose mission is to restore the Genji clan to its former glory. The other playable character is a monk by the name of Benkei, whose weapon of choice is a whopping great reinforced caber.

Combat plays a huge part in the game; right from the word go you are drawn into the action. In its basic form, combat is a process of aligning yourself with your opponent (usually multiple opponents) and repeatedly pushing the action button to attack the enemy. Attacks are a series of scripted sword blows from overhand sweeps and back-handed strikes. There is also an occasional kick thrown in for good measure. Successful strikes are greeted with a satisfying spray of blood and your opponent is knocked back. Multiple blows are required to kill an enemy, with bosses taking many more blows to kill. Combat is very much about crowd control and keeping the closest enemy engaged, before swiftly turning to the one representing the next biggest threat.

To add spice to the combat, you also carry a magical stone which allows you - after so many successful hits to charge up the power - to unleash what is called in game 'Kamui'. This reduces combat in to a slow motion action sequence where you can pre-empt attacks, block and retaliate. The challenge is in choosing the right situation to apply this, although thankfully it recharges often.

Yoshitsune can also undertake some amazing jumps and tumbles. These can come in very handy when confronted by some of the bosses. By executing a well-timed jump you can avoid some of the more damaging special moves of the bosses. The jump is also useful in gaining access to some of hidden areas where you can collect power-ups and healing herbs.

The animation of the characters as we have said is very smooth, and in particular the combat moves feel very realistic - although fanciful. What does let the game down however is the hero himself. Close-up views of Yoshitsune reveal he looks... well... like a girl. The semi-feminine look is in line with the Manga tradition, however it is difficult to take him seriously when he has long flowing hair and doe eyes. The average enemy grunt and most of the boss enemies appear in fairly traditional period costume (except for the more fantastic creatures), whereas Yoshitsune's initial kit seems to have been purchased from some up-market store. Shunning traditional armour, he seems to have gone for a white morning suit-and-tails combo with the white enamel armour of a stormtrooper.

Controlling the combat is very straightforward, with the usual buttons (square and triangle) activating standard and special attacks. Control of the character is via the analogue stick. Unfortunately the great scenery means that any level of camera control has been sacrificed. Basically as you move about the camea moves to predetermined angles. Most of these are functional enough, although the level of zoom is inconsistent and distracting at times.

Sound in general and environmental sounds in particular are well suited to the excellent graphics. Voice acting is best described as average, however. Our hero sounds more like an English upper class school boy than a young Japanese warrior, and the cut scenes where you interact with other personalities are more Japanese than the hero. The cut scenes also have a text window where you can read the important instructions at your leisure, but with their line limit most of these sequences are an exercise of clicking through text windows. It would be more helpful for the flow of the game if these were dispensed with altogether.