Lucifer Ring

Back in the day, one of the main challenges for any game designer was to work out how to make genres that originated in amusement arcades work on consoles as well.

Lucifer Ring didn't start its life in the arcades, but it's a brawler in the tradition of arcade classics like Double Dragon and Captain Commando. At the time of its 1998 release on PSX this arcade influence didn't work in the game's favour, but its move to PS Vita has given it a new lease of life.

It's still very straightforward to play, but that just makes Lucifer Ring ideal for gaming on the go, and this obscure re-release has the fringe benefit of giving game historians a glimpse at the brawler genre just before it entered its pre-Castle Crashers hibernation.

All audio and text is in Japanese, and while you don't have to be a genius to work out some of the options you'll probably be in the dark about the wider themes. So here's the story.

You are Nash, the hero of a land named Freisia. You're on a quest across four different parts of the kingdom to gather the four rings of Lucifer, so that you can open the gates of Hell. Your motivation for carrying out this ostensibly self-defeating task is never made clear.

The five levels and the enemies within sport typical Japanese aesthetics: it's all eyeballs on legs, muscly men in slips, references to Hell, and representations of gods from different cultures. Stages themselves don't get too crazy - until the final area - and while there are alternative routes to be found, you can't interact with the scenery very much.

Though the gameplay will be familiar to anyone who has encountered classics of the genre such as Streets of Rage or Final Fight, there's a little bit of strategy and replay value to be found.

Quite a few enemy types populate the game, all with different attacks to take into consideration. They put up a fair fight, even on the lowest difficulty setting, though you won't see more than three or four on-screen at once.

You can also collect different types of elemental swords to wield, each affecting the way you play slightly. The Ice Sword has the chance to freeze some enemies instantly, for example, while the Holy Sword is the most powerful overall.

You find them by exploring different parts of the world, and going back through the game multiple times to collect them all forces you to scour it of content.

Lucifer Ring is otherwise quite straightforward, and a perfect example of why the genre lay dormant for so long: even in 1998 it wasn't doing anything that hadn't been seen before.

There isn't a dodge move to escape enemy attacks, only a couple of combination attacks exist, and the super-moves (which can be used once a special meter is filled) are straight out of Golden Axe.

Occasionally you'll be hit from off-screen by an enemy throwing a weapon, and thanks to the creaking, low-resolution textures of enemies and scenery, it's sometimes hard to judge distance - especially against flying creatures or whenever you need to do some light platforming.

This said, it's great to have Lucifer Ring available. It plays well once you understand its quirks, it has good replay value, and it will fascinate the type of person actively interested in the history of the brawler.