The last time I had the pleasure of ripping the consciousness right out of an opponent was in this wee pup's predecessor, in one of the first fighting games where every blow looked like it landed with terrifying viciousness.

Which, in a brawler such as this, made for some juicy entertainment.

Comparatively, UFC 2 is the undisputed heavyweight champion of graphics. Each fighter is a peach and, if you squint just a little, the difference between this and live action is very small indeed.

So where have the hits gone? The fighters look like two village am-dram actors trying their best not to hurt each other's pretty faces.

For all the improvements made to UFC, this loss of realism is a real kick in the teeth. Or the space beside the teeth, judging by where most of my blows are landing.

Suck this up, however, and UFC 2 should bring hours of violent glee to the seasoned MMA gamer.

Tight changes have been made to the grapple mode (although its tutorial isn't the hottest) and defence tactics, and Ultimate Team makes its first foray into the octagon. The career mode offers no more or less than you'd expect (apart from the introduction of female fighters), and training now offers random, very idiotic external situations which may or may not benefit your fighter (what do you mean my gym has been condemned?!).

Online and you'd better have spent your offline time preparing wisely, because there aren't many forgiving fighters. If you don't know the grappling system inside out, you'll be picking your face up off the floor in seconds.

It's chin-beltingly fine and very, very pretty, but I'd have preferred un uglier edition if we'd retained better-rendered collision.